ADEKUNLE AJASIN UNIVERSITY, AKUNGBA-AKOKO

FACULTY OF SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

CSC 323 –Computer Networks

 CSC 323 – Computer Networks

CSC 323 – Computer Networks

Part Contents Page

Part 1 Network Classification…………………………………… 3

Part 2 Network Design ………………………………………… 15

Part 3 The Opened System Interconnection (OSI) Model ………….. 32

Part 4 Network Addressing…………………………………………… 42

Part 5 Introduction to Network Security……………………………… 48

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Part 1: Network Classification

A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes) connected by media links.

A node can be a computer, printer, or any other device capable of sending and/or
receiving data generated by other nodes on the network.
The links connecting the devices are often called communication channels.

Most networks use distributed processing in which a task is divided among multiple
computers. Instead of a single large machine being responsible for all aspects of processes,
separate computers (usually a personal computer or workstation) handle a subset. While
access to the systems is often controlled by a combination of specific codes such as account
number and PIN.

The former method has some advantages over the later one, such as:
Distributed databases: No one system needs to provide storage capacity for the entire
database. A distributed database is a database in which the data are stored and
manipulated on more than one computer.
Faster problem solving: Multiple computers working on parts of problem concurrently
can often solve a problem faster than a single machine working alone.

For example, networks of PCs have broken encryption codes that were previously
assumed to be unbreakable (on a single computer)

Collaborative processing: Both multiple computers and multiple users can interact on a
task. For example, in multi-user network games the actions of each player are visible to
and affect all the others.

Network Criteria
A network must be able to meet a certain number of criteria. These criteria are as stated
below:

1. Performance
Performance can be measured in many ways, including
Transit time: is the amount of time required for a message to travel from one device

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to another.
Response time: is the elapsed time between an inquiry and a response

Performance factors
The following factors determines the performance of typical networks
Number of users: Having a large number of concurrent users can slow response time
in a network not designed to handle heavy traffic loads.
Type of transmission medium: The medium defines the speed (data rate) at which
data can travel through a connection.

For example, 10Base-T Ethernet has a data rate of 10 Mbps while the increasingly
popular 100Base-T network can move data 10 times faster.

Hardware: The types of hardware included in a network affect both speed and
capacity of transmission.

For example, an Intel Core i5 processor with a high speed can process data faster than
the previous processor in the family.

Software: The software used to process data at the sender, receiver and intermediate
nodes also affects network performance.
Throughput: The throughput is the measurement of how fast data can pass through a
point.
2. Reliability
In addition to the accuracy of delivery, network reliability is measured by
Frequency of failure: This is defined as the number of times a network fails in a
specified period of time.
Recovery time of a network after a failure: This is defined as the time it takes to
restore service.
Catastrophe: Networks must be protected from catastrophic events such as fire,
earthquake, or theft. One protection against unforeseen damage is a reliable system to
back up network software.
3. Security
Unauthorized access: A network needs to protect sensitive data from unauthorized
access. Protection can be accomplished at a number of levels.
• At the lowest level are user identification codes or passwords.

• At the higher level are encryption techniques in which data are

systemically altered in such a way that they are unintelligible to an
unauthorized user.

Viruses: Because a network is accessible from many points, it can be susceptible to

computer viruses. A virus is an illicitly introduced code that usually damages the
system. A good network is protected from viruses by specially designed hardware and
software.

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Network Classification
Networks can be classified based on three considerations
1. Geographical Coverage
2. Type of Topology
3. Modes of Connection

1. Geographical Coverage
Today when we speak of networks, we are generally referring to three primary categories
based on its geographical coverage:
a) Local area networks (LANs)
b) Metropolitan area networks (MANs)
c) Wide area networks (WANs)
The category a network falls into is determined by its size, its ownership, the distance it
covers, and the physical architecture.

The reason such classifications are interesting is that the size of a network often has
implications for the underlying technology that can be used, with a key factor being the
amount of time it takes for data to propagate from one end of the network to the other.

a) Local area networks (LANs)

A local area network is usually privately owned and links the devices in a single office,
building, or campus. It’s typically extend to less than 1km2

b) Metropolitan area networks (MANs)

A metropolitan area network is designed to extend over an entire city. It may be a single
network such as cable television network, or it may be a means of connecting a number of
LANs into a larger network so that resources may be shared LAN-to-LAN as well as device-
to-device. This usually span tens of kilometers.

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c) Wide area networks (WANs)

A wide area network provides long-distance transmission of data, voice, image, and video
information over large geographical area that may comprise a country, a continent, or
even the whole world. It’s usually refer to as worldwide network.

Internetworks
When two or more networks are connected, they become an Internetworks, or internet.
The individual networks are joined into Internetworks by the use of routers.

internet vs Internet
a. The term internet (lowercase i)
It is a generic term used to mean an interconnection of networks.

b. The term Internet (uppercase I)

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It is the name of specific worldwide network.

2. Type of Topology
A network’s topology refers not only to the physical layout of its computers, cables, and
other resources, but also to how those components communicate with each other.
Topology, layout, diagram, and map are some of the many terms used to describe this
basic design.

There are 3 topologies in the network designs of today:

a. Bus Topology
b. Star Topology
c. Ring Topology

a. Bus Topology
This consists of a series of computers (nodes) connected along a single cable segment. It
is also known as Linear Bus. The bus topology is by far the simplest and at one time was
the most common method for connecting computers.

Inherent in this simplicity, however, is a weakness: a single cable break can halt the entire
network, since all components of the bus topology connect via a backbone, a single cable
segment that (theoretically) interconnects all the computers in a straight line.

When a computer has data to send, it address that data, breaks it into packets, and sends it
across the network as electronic signal. These signals travel the length of the cable
segment, and all connected computers receive them. However, because of the address
given to the packets, only those computers for which these signals are destined accept the
data.

b. Star Topology
The topology of computers connected by cable segments to a central concentration point
(Hub) is called Star Topology. Because of the weakness in other topologies, the star has
become the dominant topology in today’s network.

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This topology got its start in the early days of mainframe computing when all nodes were
attached to a central point, which was a front-end processor, itself attached to the
mainframe.

One benefit of a star topology is its inherent centralization of resources. However,

because all computers connect to one location, the star topology requires a more intricate
cable installation. Another drawback is that the hub defines a single, central point for
failure: if the hub fails, all other computers and devices attached to that hub lose network
access.

When a computer sends a signal, the hub receives and retransmits it down every other
cable segment to all other computers or other devices attached to that hub. All computers
hear the signal and check the destination address, but only the computer to which that
data is addressed processes the data.

c. Ring Topology
A ring configuration is one where the links or bearers are looped in and out of each node.
The usual benefit is that if any part of the ring gets broken, the network will continue to
operate. This type of configuration is most often used where high reliability is needed.

As a computer receives a signal, it either acts on it or regenerates it and passes it along.

Signals travel in only one direction around the ring.

Token passing is one method for sending data around a ring. A small packet, called a
token, passes around the ring to each computer in turn. If a computer has information to

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send, it modifies the token, adds address information and the data, and sends it around the
ring, that information travels around the ring until it either reaches its destination or return
to the sender.

3. Mode of Connection
This classification is further divided into two models
a. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Connection [Distributed Networks]
b. Client-Server Connection [Centralized Networks]

a. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Connection [Distributed Networks]

A peer-to-peer (P2P) (A Distributed Network Architecture) is composed of participants
that make a portion of their resources (such as processing power, disk storage or network
bandwidth) directly available to other network participants, without the need for central
coordination instances (such as servers or stable hosts).
Example:
File-sharing
distributed computing
media streaming

The peers in the P2P distributed network forms an overlay network.

This architecture allows peers to create new service or application without the intervention
from the network infrastructure or central instance.

The popularity of P2P service has caused P2P traffic to consume over 80% of Internet
resources from the year 2012. It has surpassed various used-to-be dominate network
applications such as ftp, web, etc.

There are various types of P2P protocol and application that are being used in Internet,
nowadays:

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Some underlying problems of current Peer-to-Peer Networks using internet:

Disregarding underlying networks: Current P2P does not have the information of the
underlying network, peers are randomly selected. Thus, the selected peer has small
possibility of being the peer of the shortest path from the underlying network perspective.
No guarantee of QoS: The current P2P cannot support/guarantee quality of service
(QoS)
Lack of reliability: Current P2P has high large number of users leaving and joining the
P2P in a short period of time. The P2P application and service rely on interaction with
one or more peers. If the selected peer abruptly leaves the P2P service, P2P service can
suffer from service discontinuity.
Network load concentration on specific peers/networks: P2P resources are not evenly
distributed throughout the network. Unpredictable behaviour of P2P peers makes it
impossible to predict traffic flow.
Security and privacy concerns: The network participants of P2P are individual who are
not verified.

b. Client-Server Connection [Centralized Networks]

This is a model that is designed around two logical channels of communication between a
server and user(s) processes, in which the resources such as printer, hard disk, data, program
etc reside in the server and the user(s) access them and every action/request is centrally
processed by the server: The server also provides security and network policy enforcement.

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In some cases, the client units do not even include a local hard-drive or floppy-drive unit. The
bootup process is performed through onboard BIOS, and no data is stored at the client
machine.

Network (Transmission) Media

Most networks today use cables to interconnect various devices. Employing a variety of
signaling techniques, network cables ferry signals among computers, allowing them to
communicate with one another.

Although network cables play a vital role in most networks, many different kinds of cables
may be used to build networks, each with its own distinguishing set of signal-carrying
characteristics.

However, not all computers or networked devices attach to networks by cables; a growing
portion of the networking population uses wireless technologies, either because physical
obstructions or distance limitation makes cables unsuitable or because users are mobile.

Primary Cable Types

All forms of cabling are similar in that they provide a medium across which network
information can travel in the form of a physical signal, whether it is a type of electrical
transmission or some sequence of light pulses.
Coaxial cable
Twisted-pair (TP) cable
Fiber-optic cable

General Cable Characteristics

All cables share certain fundamental characteristics, such as:
1. Bandwidth rating: Each type of cable can transport only so much data over a given
period of time; this is measured in terms of bandwidth, which describes how many bits or
bytes of information a cable can carry over a unit of time.
2. Maximum segment length: Each type of cable can transport data only so far before its
signal begins to weaken beyond where it can be read accurately. This phenomenon is

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called attenuation.
3. Maximum number of segments per internetwork: Each type of cable is also subject to
latency, which measures the amount of time a signal takes to travel from one end of the
cable to another. Most networks are subject to some kind of maximum tolerable delay,
after which it is assumed signals can no longer arrive.
4. Maximum number of devices per segment: Each time a network is attached to a cable,
a phenomenon called insertion loss occurs – that is, each physical connection adds to the
attenuation of signals on a cable segment. It is therefore necessary to restrict the
maximum number of devices so the signals that traverse it are kept clean and strong
enough to remain intelligible to all devices.
5. Interference Susceptibility: Each type of cable is more or less susceptible to other
signals present in the environment; such interference may be electromagnetic or other
broadcast signals.
6. Connection hardware: Every type of cable has associated connectors that influence the
kinds of hardware to which the cable can connect and affect the cost of the resulting
network.
7. Material Costs: Each type of cable has an associated cost per unit length. This is a good
way to compare cables of the same type to one another.

Coaxial Cable
For many years, coaxial cable was the predominant form of network cabling. Relatively
inexpensive and reasonably easy to install, coaxial cable was the networker’s choice. Recent
improvements in electronics and signaling technologies conspired to knock coaxial cable off
its pedestal.

The majority of coaxial cable in use today is for carrying broadband signals for cable TV or
from a home satellite dish to the satellite receiver.

Simply put, coaxial cable consists of a single conductor at the core, surrounded by an
insulating layer, braided metal shielding , and an outer cover (usually called the sheath, or
jacket).

Coaxial cable is less susceptible to interference and attenuation than twisted-pair cabling but
more susceptible then fiber-optic cable, this is due in part to the beneficial influence of coax
cable’s shielding, which absorbs environmental interference and diminishes its impact on

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coax cable’s ability to transport information.

Twisted-Pair Cable
The most basic form of twisted-pair (TP) wiring consists of one or more pairs of insulated
strands of copper wire twisted around one another. These twists are important because they
cause the magnetic fields that form around a conducting wire to wrap around one another and
improve TP’s resistance to interference, while also limiting the influence of signals travelling
on one wire over another (called crosstalk).

There are two primary types of TP cable:

i. Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP): this simply contains one or more pairs of insulated
wires within an enclosing insulating sheath.
ii. Shielded twisted-pair (STP): this encloses each pair of wires within a foil shield, as well
as within an enclosing insulating sheath.

TP wiring, whether shielded or unshielded, comes in many forms. Many networks commonly
use one-, two-, four-, six-, and eight-pair wiring; some forms of TP wiring may bundle as
many as 50 or 100 pairs within a single cable.

Fiber-Optic Cable
Fiber-optic cable trades electrical pulses for their optical equivalent, which are pulses of light.
Because no electrical signals ever pass through the cable, fiber-optic media is as immune to
interference as any medium can get. This also makes fiber-optic cables highly secure. They
emit no external signals that might be detected, unlike electrical or broadcast media, thereby
elimination the possibility of electronic eavesdropping.

Fiber-optic cable is a good medium for high-bandwidth, high-speed, long-distance data

transmissions because of its lower attenuation characteristics and vastly higher data-handling
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capacities.

Fiber-optic cable consists of a slender cylinder of glass fiber, or a bundle of glass-fibers

called the core, surrounded by a concentric layer of cladding material and then by an outer
sheath.

In any fiber-optic cable, each light –conducting core can pass signals in only one direction (so
that one end is always the sender and the other always the receiver). This means that most
types of fiber-optic cable incorporate two strands, each contained within separate cladding;
but such cables may be enclosed within a single sheath.

Installation of fiber-optic networks is somewhat more difficult and time –consuming than
copper media installation, but this is changing as advances in connector technology make
field termination of fiber-optic cables almost as fast and easy as copper terminations.

Intangible media
Intangible media are the media usually used to transmit data wirelessly, since no tangible
medium is involved. Although, it is very common in the LAN technologies but it has also
continue to play an increasing role in all kinds of networks. Some of these media are:
Infrared method which uses infrared light beams to send signals between pairs of devices.
Single –Frequency Radio uses low-powered, two-way radio communications, much like
those used in taxi-cabs, police communications, and other private radio system.
Spread-Spectrum Radio addresses several weaknesses of single-frequency
communications, whether high or low power. Rather than using single-frequency, spread-
spectrum uses multiple frequencies simultaneously, thereby improving reliability and
reducing susceptibility to interference. Also, using multiple frequencies makes
eavesdropping more difficult because of how individual frequencies are used together for
spread-spectrum communications.

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Part 2: Network Designs

The major purpose of network design is to allow for the transmission of data between nodes.
There are 2 methods of data transmission within the standard networks topologies,
particularly in the LAN design.

1. Asynchronous Transmission: A method of transmitting data in which each transmitted

character is sent separately, rather than within a synchronized bit stream. The character
has integral start and finish called “start and stop” bits so that each character can be sent
at an arbitrary time. It is the most rudimentary type of communication as the originating
and receiving machines do not have to be synchronized.

It is very cheap and reliable and common among PCs and minicomputers, its
disadvantage is the large number of extra bits needed for the data to be interpreted.

2. Synchronous Transmission: A transmission process in which computers (nodes) rely on

exact timing and synchronized bits to maintain data synchronization. Unlike the
asynchronous transmission which depend on the start and stop bits in the data stream to
determine where data begins and ends; synchronous transmission depend on time. Both
the sender and the receiver coordinate this timing scheme to separate groups of bits and
transmit them in blocks known as frames. Both nodes must be synchronized for
communication to occur.

Network Architecture
A network’s architecture generally refers to its overall structure, including topology, physical
media, and channel access method. Here are the specifics of different network architecture
standards, including Ethernet, token ring, and FDDI.

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1. Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)

The Ethernet is easily the most successful local area networking technology of the last 30
years. Developed in the mid-1970s by researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
(PARC), the Ethernet is a working example of the more general Carrier Sense Multiple
Access with Collision Detect (CSMA/CD) local area network technology. As indicated by
the CSMA name, the Ethernet is a multiple-access network, meaning that a set of nodes send
and receive frames over a shared link. You can, therefore, think of an Ethernet as being like a
bus that has multiple stations plugged into it. The “carrier sense” in CSMA/CD means that all
the nodes can distinguish between an idle and a busy link, and “collision detect” means that a
node listens as it transmits and can therefore detect when a frame it is transmitting has
interfered (collided) with a frame transmitted by another node.

The Ethernet has its roots in an early packet radio network, called Aloha, developed at the
University of Hawaii to support computer communication across the Hawaiian Islands. Like
the Aloha network, the fundamental problem faced by the Ethernet is how to mediate access
to a shared medium fairly and efficiently (in Aloha the medium was the atmosphere, while in
Ethernet the medium is a coax cable). That is, the core idea in both Aloha and the Ethernet is
an algorithm that controls when each node can transmit.

Hub Hub

Ethernet Hub

An Ethernet segment is implemented on a coaxial cable of up to 500m. This cable is similar

to the type used for cable TV, except that it typically has an impedance of 50 ohms instead of
cable TV’s 75 ohms. Any signal placed on the Ethernet by a host is broadcast over the entire
network; that is, the signal is propagated in both directions, and repeaters forward the signal
on all outgoing segments.

Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) Frame Format

64 48 48 16 Variable 32
Preamble Dest address Src address Type Body CRC
Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) Frame Format

Each Ethernet frame is defined by the format given in the Figure below. The 64-bit preamble
allows the receiver to synchronize with the signal; it is a sequence of alternating 0s and 1s.
Both the source and destination hosts are identified with a 48-bit address. The packet type
field serves as the demultiplexing key; that is, it identifies to which of possibly many higher-
level protocols this frame should be delivered. Each frame contains up to 1500 bytes of data.

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Minimally, a frame must contain at least 46 bytes of data, even if this means the host has to
pad the frame before transmitting it. The reason for this minimum frame size is that the frame
must be long enough to detect a collision.

2. Token Rings (IEEE 802.5)

Alongside the Ethernet, token rings are the other significant class of shared-media network.
There are more different types of token rings than there are types of Ethernets; this section
will discuss the type that is for years the most prevalent, known as IEEE 802.5 Token Ring

As the name suggests, a token ring network consists of a set of nodes connected in a ring as
shown below. Data always flows in a particular direction around the ring, with each node
receiving frames from its upstream neighbour and then forwarding them to its downstream
neighbour. This ring-based topology is in contrast to the Ethernet’s bus topology.

Token ring network

Like the Ethernet, however, the ring is viewed as a single shared medium; it does not behave
as a collection of independent point-to-point links that just happen to be configured in a loop.
Thus, a token ring shares two key features with an Ethernet: First, it involves a distributed
algorithm that controls when each node is allowed to transmit, and second, all nodes see all
frames, with the node identified in the frame header as the destination saving a copy of the
frame as it flows past.

The word “token” in token ring comes from the way access to the shared ring is managed.
The idea is that a token, which is really just a special sequence of bits, circulates around the
ring; each node receives and then forwards the token. When a node that has a frame to
transmit sees the token, it takes the token off the ring (i.e., it does not forward the special bit
pattern) and instead inserts its frame into the ring. Each node along the way simply forwards
the frame, with the destination node saving a copy and forwarding the message onto the next
node on the ring. When the frame makes its way back around to the sender, this node strips
its frame off the ring (rather than continuing to forward it) and reinserts the token in this way,
some node downstream will have the opportunity to transmit a frame.

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Token Ring (IEEE 802.5) Frame Format

8 8 8 48 48 Variable 32 8 8
Start Access Frame Dest Src Data Checksum End Frame
Delimiter Control Control address address Delimiter status
Token Ring (IEEE 802.5) Frame Format

The 802.5 frame format, which is depicted in Figure below, uses differential Manchester
encoding in the start and end delimiters. After the start delimiter comes the access control
byte, which includes the frame priority and the reservation priority. The frame control byte is
a demux key that identifies the higher-layer protocol. Similar to the Ethernet, 802.5 addresses
are 48 bits long. The standard actually allows for smaller 16-bit addresses, but 48-bit
addresses are typically used. When 48 bit addresses are used, they are interpreted in exactly
the same way as on an Ethernet. The frame also includes a 32-bit CRC. This is followed by
the frame status byte, which includes the A and C bits for reliable delivery.

3. Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)

In many respects, FDDI is similar to 802.5 and IBM Token Rings. However, there are
significant differences—some arising because it runs on fiber, not copper, and some arising
from innovations that were made subsequent to the invention of the IBM Token Ring.

Unlike 802.5 networks, an FDDI network consists of a dual ring—two independent rings that
transmit data in opposite directions as illustrated in Figure (A) below. The second ring is not
used during normal operation but instead comes into play only if the primary ring fails, as
depicted in Figure (B) below. That is, the ring loops back on the secondary fiber to form a
complete ring, and as a consequence, an FDDI network is able to tolerate a single break in the
cable or the failure of one station.

A B
Dual-fiber ring: (a) normal operation; (b) failure of the primary ring.

As in 802.5, each network adaptor holds some number of bits between its input and output
interfaces. Unlike 802.5, however, the buffer can be of different sizes in different stations,
although never less than 9 bits and never more than 80 bits. It is also possible for a station to
start transmitting bits out of this buffer before it is full.

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FDDI Frame Format

8 8 48 48 Variable 32 8 24
Start of Control Dest addr Src addr Body CRC End of Status
Frame Frame
FDDI Frame Format

The FDDI frame format, depicted in Figure above, differs in very few ways from that of
802.5. The major significant differences are the presence of a bit in the header to distinguish
synchronous from asynchronous traffic, and the lack of the access control bits of 802.5.

4. Wireless (IEEE 802.11)

Wireless networking is a rapidly evolving technology for connecting computers, the
possibilities for building wireless networks are almost endless, ranging from using infrared
signals within a single building to constructing a global network from a grid of low-orbit
satellites. This section is centred around the emerging IEEE 802.11 standard. Like its
Ethernet and token ring siblings, 802.11 is designed for use in a limited geographical area
(homes, office buildings, campuses), and its primary challenge is to mediate access to a
shared communication medium—in this case, signals propagating through space.

802.11 was designed to run over three different physical media—two based on spread
spectrum radio and one based on diffused infrared. The radio-based versions currently run at
11 Mbps, but may soon run at 54 Mbps.

Example of wireless network

Wireless (IEEE 802.11) Frame Format

Most of the 802.11 frame format, which is depicted in the Figure below, is exactly what we
would expect. The frame contains the source and destination node addresses, each of which
are 48 bits long; up to 2312 bytes of data; and a 32-bit CRC. The Control field contains three
subfields of interest (not shown): a 6-bit Type field that indicates whether the frame carries
data, is an RTS or CTS frame, or is being used by the scanning algorithm; and a pair of 1-bit
fields—called ToDS and FromDS. (DS = Distribution System)

16 16 48 48 48 16 48 0 -18,496 32
Control Duration Addr 1 Addr 2 Addr 3 SqlCtrl Addr 4 Payload CRC
Wireless (IEEE 802.11) Frame Format

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The peculiar thing about the 802.11 frame format is that it contains four, rather than two,
addresses. How these addresses are interpreted depends on the settings of the ToDS and
FromDS bits in the frame’s Control field

Wireless Networks
The increased use of wireless technologies in various forms has enabled both individuals and
businesses to perform many, if not all, of the functions normally associated with traditional
wired systems. No longer do people need to be tied with their desks or fixed locations in
order to communicate effectively, and their ability to roam around while communicating
effectively has many advantages of conducting business in the modern world, such as:

 Increased mobility
 Greater flexibility
 Convenience
 Cheaper cost
 Rapid Installation and Scalability

Wireless technology in the computer world has been around now for a number of years. The
first wireless connections were established almost 31/2 decades (35 years) ago. Then, the rate
of adoption was very slow as the market penetration was achieved in only a few specialized
vertical sectors, such as warehousing, education, and retail.

Today, however, the market is transformed with a wide choice of equipment available,
particularly at the 2.4GHz. The prices of the equipment and the services has crashed
significantly, there are now global standards for the WLAN devices and frequencies used. All
these have contributed to the wireless technologies popularity.

Wireless Technologies
The following are some of the commonly used wireless technologies:
i. WiFi/WLAN
ii. Bluetooth
iii. ZigBee
iv. Z-Wave
v. Wireless HART

i. WiFi/WLAN
TheWireless Fidelity (WiFi) is define as any "wireless local area network" (WLAN) product
based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE)802.11 standards. The
most popular form of wireless connectivity is within the area of Local Area Networks
(LANs) where traditional cabled systems are being enhanced, extended or even totally
replaced by wireless technology in the form of Wireless LANs (WLANs) or WiFi systems.

WiFi is a technology that allows electronic devices to connect to a wireless LAN (WLAN)

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network, mainly using the 2.4 gigahertz (12 cm) UHF and 5 gigahertz (6 cm) SHF ISM radio
bands. A WLAN is usually password protected, but may be open, which allows any device
within its range to access the resources of the WLAN network.

Devices that can use Wi-Fi technology include personal computers, video-game
consoles, smartphones, digital cameras, tablet computers, digital audio players, smart
televisions and modern printers. Wi-Fi compatible devices can connect to the Internet via a
WLAN network and a wireless access point. Such an access point (or hotspot) has a range of
about 20 meters (66 feet) indoors and a greater range outdoors. Hotspot coverage can be as
small as a single room with walls that block radio waves, or as large as many square
kilometres achieved by using multiple overlapping access points.

Wi-Fi is less secure than wired connections, such as Ethernet, precisely because an intruder
does not need a physical connection. Web pages that use TLSare secure, but unencrypted
Internet access can easily be detected by intruders. Because of this, Wi-Fi has adopted
various encryption technologies. The early encryption WEP proved easy to break. Higher
quality protocols (WPA, WPA2) were added later. An optional feature added in 2007.

Wireless networking relies on the broadcast method of communication. It sends out a signal
and anyone with a suitably configured receiver will be able to access and understand the
information.

A WLAN requires two basic components:

i. A wireless access point (AP)
ii. A wireless adapter (WA)

i. Access Point: An AP acts like a base station, which transmits and receives data and/or
voice signals via radio waves. The AP provides the link between the devices requiring
connection and the network itself. Each device has a wireless adapter, and there are,
consequently, more wireless adapters on a network than APs

ii. Wireless Adapters: the WA, often referred to as a wireless Ethernet card, is usually
situated in the end-user’s device, whether that is a notebook computer, personal digital
assistant (PDA) or other mobile devices. These adapters are capable of transmitting and
receiving digital signals, and are found in various formats depending on the host device,
e.g. PC cards for notebook.

ii. Bluetooth
Another interesting wireless networking specification is known as Bluetooth. This
specification was originally put forward by a consortium made up of Ericsson, IBM, Intel,
Nokia and Toshiba as a short-range, wireless radio technology designed to coordinate
communications between network devices and the internet.

The meshing together of personal computers, cell phones, web devices, LAN devices, and
other intelligent devices in a common forum is referred to as convergence. The Bluetooth
specification is intended to promote convergence of these systems.

The key objective of the consortium has been to make Bluetooth a reliable replacement for
existing cable links that currently connect IT and telecommunication devices together, e.g.

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mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), PCs, printers, etc. Bluetooth offers a
single short range radio link with an approximate range of 10 metres or less. It does not
require line of sight, and can provide communication links between devices hidden in
briefcases, pockets and trunks of cars, as required. In addition to data, Bluetooth can also
transmit voice.

Bluetooth works by means of what are known as “Piconets” which are effectively small
islands of discrete networks. Each piconet can support up to 8 devices simultaneously and
two or more piconets can be bridged to create large networks. However, the maximum
operating range for devices within a piconet are just 10metres unless additional power
modules are used, which can increase the range to a maximum of 100 metres in ideal
conditions.

Bluetooth uses FHSS technology, and thus offers stable and reliable performance, even
through noisy environments. Data rates however are relatively low, providing up to 1Mbps
throughout.

iii. ZigBee Technology

ZigBee is a new open-standard wireless protocol developed by ZigBee Alliance (consisting
of over 270 companies). ZigBee is particularly targeted at low-power, low-cost and
low data rate wireless sensor and control networks, aimed at interoperability, it is
easy to implement and can support up to 65,000 nodes depending on the type of topologies
used
ZigBee has a transmission range of 10 - 100metres. Comparing ZigBee with WiFi and
Bluetooth, ZigBee stack is lighter weighted (about 120 KB). It has a maximum throughput
of 250Kbps while Bluetooth (except 802.11n) and Wi-Fi transmit at 3Mbps and 54Mbps
respectively. While WiFi devices (e.g. WiFi VoIP phones) are reported to have 8 – 12hours
of battery lives and Bluetooth devices with a battery life of a few days, many ZigBee
devices can boast of a battery life of up to 5years. The huge power saving resulted from
relatively short-range of transmission, low data transfer rates and simple protocol stack of
ZigBee.

ZigBee Technology Applications

The history of ZigBee started back in 1998 when it was first conceived and supported
from development perspective. Though, it was n o t u n t i l December 2004 that ZigBee
Alliance published its first ratified specification. It only supported home control lighting.
However, ZigBee Alliance no longer supports 2004 specification. In 2006, the 2004
specification was modified to support group addressing, encryption and frame
authenticity. In 2007, ZigBee 2007 and ZigBee Pro was published. ZigBee 2007 added new
security model to ZigBee 2006 with “trust centre” while ZigBee-Pro has additional
software features, more scalability, data fragmentation, stochastic addressing (automated
address allocation mechanism) and enhanced security. ZigBee 2007 and ZigBee-Pro are
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interoperable.

The characteristics of WiFi, Bluetooth and ZigBee technologies are summarized and
compare in table below
Characteristics of WiFi, Bluetooth and ZigBee

Features WiFi IEEE 802.11 Bluetooth IEEE ZigBee IEEE 802.15.4

802.15.1
Application Wireless LAN Cable Control and Monitor
Replacement
Frequency Bands 2.4GHz 2.4GHz 2.4GHz, 868MHz,
915MHz
Battery Life (Days) 0.1-5 1-7 100-7,000
Nodes Per Network 30 7 65,000
Bandwidth 2-100Mbps 1Mbps 20-250Kbps
Range (Metres) 1-100 1-10 1-75 and more
Topology Tree Tree Star, Tree, Cluster
Tree, and Mesh
Standby Current 20 * 10-3 amps 200 * 10-6 amps 3 * 10-6 amps
Memory 100KB 100KB 32-60KB

iv. Z-Wave
Z-Wave is a proprietary low-power and low data wireless communication technology
specifically designed for home automation and control. Initially developed by a Danish
company, Zen-Sys, it was later acquired by Sigma Designs in 2008 and is now been
standardized by Z-Wave Alliance. It uses the 868MHz ISM band and hence
unsusceptible to interference due to 802.11 and 802.15.1 devices. Z-Wave uses 9.6kbps and
40kbps with 1% duty cycle limitation and allows up to 100 meters outdoor range. It also
supports source-routed mesh networking and allows 232 maximum nodes.

Comparing ZigBee and Z-Wave, they are similar in many respects including areas of
application. They are both designed for low power and low through-put. They also both
support mesh topology. However, ZigBee is more robust and provides a higher data rate.

Z-Wave chips are embedded in consumer electronic products such as TV, remote controls
and lighting and thus they can easily form a WSN to enhance home automation, for
monitoring and controlling residential, and to light commercial environments

v. WirelessHART
It is an open wireless industrial sensor network standard that is based on the
Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) Protocol using the 802.15.4 – 2006
standard. Officially released in 2007 and majorly used for industrial control process and
monitoring, WirelessHART is a secure and TDMA-based (usng10ms time slot) mesh
networking technology that operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band [11]. Other key features of
WirelessHART includes network wide time synchronization, channel hopping, channel
blacklisting, and industry standard AES-128 ciphers and keys.

WirelessHART provides a centralized WSN. The eight types of network devices defined by
WirelessHART are network manager, network security, gateway, access point, field device,
adapter, router and handheld device. These devices are connected t o support n e t w o r k
f o r m a t i o n , maintenance, reliability, routing and security. The network manager is

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centralized and maintains up-to-date routes and communication schedules for the network,
thereby guaranteeing the network performance.

Features common to WirelessHART, Bluetooth, WiFi and ZigBee include the sharing of the
unrestricted 2.4 GHz ISM band. But then, they are different from each other in some other
aspects. Both WirelessHART and ZigBee are based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard.
WirelessHART additionally uses channel hopping and channel blacklisting (useful to
minimise persistence noise which is common in industrial set up) while ZigBee only utilizes
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) provided by IEEE 802.15.4. Like ZigBee,
WiFi too does not support channel hopping. Like WirelessHART, Bluetooth supports time
slots and channel hopping. But while Bluetooth is targeted at Personal Area Network (PAN)
with a limited range of 10 metres and only supports star topology, WirelessHART network
supports all types of network topology to enhance network scalability. These features make
WirelessHART more suitable for industrial applications.

Wireless Network Topologies

Three network topologies are specified for wireless network; star, tree and mesh. The depth
of a network depends on the network topology and is determined by the number of routers
(hops) in the network from the coordinator to the farthest node

i. Star Topology
This topology consists of a coordinator and several end devices as shown in figure below. It
has no router and therefore a star network has a depth of one. End devices communicate
with each other in the network only through the coordinator. Instead of end devices (in
figure below), routers can be used. However, router message relay functions will not be
used, only its application functions will be used. The end devices or routers now become
children to the coordinator

Star Topology

The major advantage of a wireless star network is its simplicity. The main disadvantage is
that it does not provide alternative route for packet transmission and reception. All
transmission and reception go through the coordinator. This may increase the burden on the
coordinator and hence cause congestion in the network.

ii. Tree Topology

In the tree topology, the coordinator (at the top) is connected to several routers and end
devices. In this case, the routers and the end devices are coordinator’s children. The router is
used to extend the network; a router can therefore connect to several other routers and/or

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end devices to form the router’s children as shown in figure below. Only the coordinator
and the routers can have children and hence can become parents in a tree topology. The end
devices cannot have children and therefore cannot become parents.

Tree Topology

A child is only permitted to communicate directly with its parent and not with any
other nodes. Parents can communicate directly with their parents and children.

Like in star, there are no alternative paths to destinations. If a parent is down, its
children cannot communicate with other nodes in the network. And even if two nodes in the
network are geographically close, their direct communication is not guarantee.

iii. Mesh Topology

In mesh, the coordinator is also at the top like that of tree. It consists of a coordinator,
several routers and end devices connected as shown in figure below. Routers are used to
extend network range like in tree. As shown, packets pass through multiple hops to reach
destinations and communication between any source and destination in the network is
realistic. Hence it is also called a peer-to-peer multi-hop network.

Mesh Topology

Moreover, a mesh network provides alternative paths for packet to reach its
destination if a path fails. With reference to this, mesh network is usually also being
described as a “self-healing” network. Thus adding or removing a node is made easier.
Compared to star and tree network configurations, mesh network is more complex and
therefore requires more overhead and uses more complex routing protocols.

Wireless Technologies Applications

Wireless technology has find its applications in wide variety of wireless personal area
networked systems such as home/industrial automation and monitoring systems due to

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attracting features to various industries and sectors. Some of the areas in which its
applications are found are:

i. Home Automation: This defines wireless applications for automated residential

management. Wireless applications can be used to remotely control doors,
lightings, security alarm, heating, cooling and other residential applications.

ii. Commercial Building Automations: wireless applications provide means for easy
management and maintenance of buildings. An example is found in the monitoring
of fire-door positions and smoke detectors operation. With wireless applications all
the smoke detectors in a building can be remotely monitored and managed from a
central location.

iii. Smart Energy: wireless applications enable wireless communication between home
area networks (HAN) and advanced metering infrastructure thereby enhancing quick
reading of water, gas and electrical meters. It also helps utility companies to
effectively manage services provided to their customers especially during peak
demands.

iv. Health Care: This profile enables remote monitoring of patients in the hospitals and
health care centres. Hence, mobility of patients does not affect monitoring. For
example, patients’ blood pressure can be monitored remotely using ZigBee wireless
sensor technology.

v. Industrial Process Monitoring and Control: With wireless applications, industrial

processes are now being controlled and monitored wirelessly. An example is found
in industrial inventory tracking where equipment are tagged with wireless sensors
and can be located by a wireless applications node.

vi. Remote Control for Consumer Electronics: Most remote controllers for consumer
electronics now uses radio frequency (RF) instead of infrared (IR) with the help of
ZigBee RF4CE technology. The limitation of IR remote controller line of sight
operation is therefore eliminated.

vii. Telecommunication Applications: Here, wireless applications devices are

embedded in smart phones and PDAs thus enabling their communication with other
wireless applications enabled devices

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Network Connecting Devices

a. Repeater
Multiple Ethernet segments can be joined together by repeaters. A repeater is a device that
forwards digital signals, much like an amplifier forwards analog signals. It is therefore a
device that extends the maximum length of cable that can be used in a single network. The
repeater simply regenerates the data appearing on one cable, on the other.

A network with a repeater

However, no more than four repeaters may be positioned between any pair of hosts, meaning
that an Ethernet has a total reach of only 2500m.

b. Bridge
Like repeaters, bridges also connect two network segments and can connect dissimilar
physical media. However, bridges can also do the following:
Limit the traffic on each segment
Eliminate bottlenecks
Connect different network architectures, such as Ethernet and token ring, forward
frame between them.
A frame is the unit of data with which bridges work. Frames contain physical address
information and are defined at layer 2 of the OSI model, which is where bridges operate.
A bridge functions primary to filter traffic between network segments. As a network segment
receives a frame, the bridge looks at the physical destination address of the frame before
forwarding the frame to other segments.

A network with a Bridge

If the frame’s destination is on another network segment, the bridge retransmits the frame out

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through the appropriate port. However, if the destination is on the same network segment that
receives the frame, the bridge assumes the frame has already reached its destination and
discards it. As a result, network traffic is greatly reduced.

c. Switches
A switch is a high-speed multiport bridge. A switch is an intelligent hub that maintains a
switching table and keeps track of which hardware addresses are located on which
network segments.
Almost all the features of bridges are present in switches; the major primary difference
between bridges and switches is in the implementation details. Whereas a bridge may
have only two or three ports permitting the connection of only two or three network
segments, a typical switch may have between four and hundreds of ports; this allows
switches to interconnect many network segments.

A network with a Switch

Another primary difference between bridges and switches is the speed at which they
perform their tasks. A bridge has a general –purpose CPU that runs a software program
that implements the bridging. A switch uses a specialized processor that is
preprogrammed to perform the switching function. Therefore, a bridge performs its
functions in software, while a switch performs its functions in hardware.

d. Router
Router operate at the Network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI model and the protocol data unit
routers work with is called a packet. Routers are advanced devices that connect separate
networks to form an internetwork.
A connecting device such as router acts as switch. When a packet arrives from one of
its ports, the packet is forwarded through another port to the next switch (or final
destination). This process called switching occurs at the connecting device:
It is clear that the passage of a message from a source to a destination involves many
decisions. When a message reaches a connecting device, a decision needs to be made
to select one of the output ports through which the packet needs to be sent out. In
other words, the connecting device acts as a switch that connects one port to another
port.

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A network with Routers

There are two type of switching

1. Circuit switching: The whole message is sent from the source to the destination without
being divided into packets.
An example is a telephone system in which the path was established between a caller and
a receiver when the telephone number of the receiver is dialed by the caller. When the
receiver responded to the call, the circuit was established. The voice message could now
flow between the two parties, in both directions, while all of the connecting devices
maintained the circuit. When the caller or receiver hung up, the circuit is disconnected.

The telephone network is not totally a circuit-switched network today as we now have
VoIP using packet switching method.

2. Packet switching: The message divided into manageable packets at the source before
being transmitted. The packets are assembled at the destination. It can be Connectionless
service or Connection- oriented service

An example is an email sent through an internet from a sender to a receiver.

e. Gateways
A gateway is an intricate piece of networking equipment that translates information
between two dissimilar network architectures or data formats. Example of a gateway is a
system that converts Microsoft Mail to Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) for
transmission over the internet.

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Although routers work at the Network layer of the OSI model and can route packets of
the same protocol (such as TCP/IP over networks with dissimilar architectures (such as
Ethernet and token ring), gateways can route packets over networks with different
protocols. Gateways can change the actual format of the data, whereas routers only
repackage the data into difference frames.

f. Modems
A modem is a tool used to connect computers over a telephone line or TV cable line,
effectively extending a network beyond a local area. Because a modem can use existing
telephone lines, it remains one of the most popular methods to connect remote users to a
network or the internet.
A modem converts a digital signal received from a computer into an analog signal that can be
sent along regular telephone lines.

This conversion is called modulation. A modem modulates the digital signal into an analog
signal. Then, at the other end of the line, another modem demodulates the analog signal back
to digital. Thus, the term Modulator/DEModulator, or modem is used. Modem speed is
measured in the number of bits per second (bps) that can be transmitted.

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Protocol and Standard

Three terms are often heard in data communications and networking:
Protocols
Standards

 Protocol
A Protocol is a set of rules that governs data communications. A protocol defines
 What is communicated,
 How it is communicated,
 When it’s communicated.

Protocols Elements
Syntax: refers to the structure or format of the data,
• Meaning the order in which they are presented.

Semantics: refers to the meaning of each section of bits.

• How is a particular pattern to be interpreted,

• What action is to be taken based on that interpretation?

Timing: refers to two characteristics:

• When data should be sent

• How fast they can be sent.

 Standards
Data communications standards fall into two categories:
De facto: meaning by fact or by convention

• Are those that have not been approved by an organized body but have
been adopted as standards through widespread use.

De jure: meaning by law or by regulation

• Are those have been legislated by an officially recognized body.

Some Data Communications/Networks Standard Organizations

ISO: International Organization for Standardization (www.iso.ch)
ITU-T: International Telecommunications Union –Telecom Group (www.itu.int)
ANSI: American National Standards Institute (www.ansi.org)
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (www.ieee.org)
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force (www.ietf.org)
IETF operates through a series of working groups. The Requests for Comment (RFCs) that
form the basis for Internet standards are developed by IETF and its working groups.

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Part 3: The Opened System Interconnection (OSI) Model

The ISO was one of the first organizations to formally define a common way to connect
computers. Their architecture, called the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) architecture
and illustrated in Figure below, defines a partitioning of network functionality into seven
layers, where one or more protocols implement the functionality assigned to a given layer.

The ISO, usually in conjunction with a second standards organization known as the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU),1 publishes a series of protocol specifications
based on the OSI architecture.
This series is sometimes called the “X dot” series since the protocols are given names like
X.25, X.400, X.500, and so on. There have been several networks based on these standards,
including the public X.25 network and private networks like Tymnet.

Summary of the OSI Model layers and functions

Starting at the bottom and working up, the physical layer handles the transmission of raw bits
over a communications link. The data link layer then collects a stream of bits into a larger
aggregate called a frame. Network adaptors, along with device drivers running in the node’s
OS, typically implement the data link level. This means that frames, not raw bits, are actually
delivered to hosts. The network layer handles routing among nodes within a packet-switched
network. At this layer, the unit of data exchanged among nodes is typically called a packet
rather than a frame, although they are fundamentally the same thing. The lower three layers
are implemented on all network nodes, including switches within the network and hosts
connected along the exterior of the network. The transport layer then implements what we
have up to this point been calling a process-to-process channel. Here, the unit of data
exchanged is commonly called a message rather than a packet or a frame. The transport layer
and higher layers typically run only on the end hosts and not on the intermediate switches or
routers.

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There is less agreement about the definition of the top three layers. Skipping ahead to the top
(seventh) layer, we find the application layer. Application layer protocols include things like
the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which defines a protocol by which file transfer applications
can interoperate. Below that, the presentation layer is concerned with the format of data
exchanged between peers, for example, whether an integer is 16, 32, or 64 bits long and
whether the most significant bit is transmitted first or last, or how a video stream is formatted.
Finally, the session layer provides a name space that is used to tie together the potentially
different transport streams that are part of a single application. For example, it might manage
an audio stream and a video stream that are being combined in a teleconferencing application.

The Internet (TCP/IP) Model

The Internet model which is also known as the TCP/IP stack model is made of four layers.
The Internet architecture, which is also sometimes called the TCP/IP architecture after its two
main protocols, is depicted in Figure below. The Internet architecture evolved out of
experiences with an earlier packet-switched network called the ARPANET. Both the Internet
and the ARPANET were funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), one of
the R&D funding agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Internet and ARPANET
were around before the OSI architecture, and the experience gained from building them was a
major influence on the OSI reference model.

1. Network Interface
This layer combines the Physical and Data Link layers and routes the Data between devices
on the same network. It also manages the exchange of data between the network and other
devices.

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2. Internet Layer
This layer corresponds to the Network layer in OSI model. The Internet Protocol (IP) uses
the IP address, consisting of a Network Identifier and a Host Identifier, to determine the
address of the device it is communicating with

3. Transport Layer
This layer corresponds to the OSI Transport layer. This is the part of the protocol stack
where the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) can be found.

TCP works by asking another device on the network if it is willing to accept information
from the local device.

4. Application Layer
Layer 4 combines the Session, Presentation and Application layers of the OSI model.
Protocols for specific functions such as email (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, SMTP) and
file transfer (File Transfer Protocol, FTP) reside at this level.

A typical full description of an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model is

shown below.

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Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

The Transmission Control Protocol is designed to provide reliable data transfer between a
pair of devices on an IP internetwork. Much of the effort required to ensure reliable delivery
of data segments is of necessity focused on the problem of ensuring that data is not lost in
transit. But there's another important critical impediment to the safe transmission of data: the
risk of errors being introduced into a TCP segment during its travel across the internetwork.
Detecting Transmission Errors Using Checksums If the data gets where it needs to go but is
corrupted and we do not detect the corruption, this is in some ways worse than it never
showing up at all. To provide basic protection against errors in transmission, TCP includes a
16-bit Checksum field in its header. The idea behind a checksum is very straight-forward:
take a string of data bytes and add them all together. Then send this sum with the data stream
and have the receiver check the sum. In TCP, a special algorithm is used to calculate this
checksum by the device sending the segment; the same algorithm is then employed by the
recipient to check the data it received and ensure that there were no errors.

The checksum calculation used by TCP is a bit different than a regular checksum algorithm.
A conventional checksum is performed over all the bytes that the checksum is intended to
protect, and can detect most bit errors in any of those fields. The designers of TCP wanted
this bit error protection, but also desired to protect against other type of problems.

TCP Characteristics
1. Stream orientation: When two application programs transfer large volumes of data, the
data is viewed as a stream of bits, divided into 8-bit octets or bytes. So, TCP allows the
sending process to deliver data as a stream of bytes and allows the receiving process to
obtain data as a stream of bytes.
2. Virtual circuit connection: Before transfer can start, both the sending and receiving
application programs interact with their respective operating systems, informing them of
the desire for a stream transfer.
3. Buffered transfer: Application programs send a data stream across the virtual circuit by
repeatedly passing data octets to the protocol software.
4. Packetizing: TCP groups number of bytes together into packet called segment.
5. Full duplex connection: Connection provided concurrent transfer in both directions.
6. Reliable Service: It uses an acknowledgment mechanism to check the arrival of data.
Using Traditional Technique known as “Positive Acknowledgement with
Retransmission (PAR)”

Receiver sends acknowledgement when data arrives

Sender starts timer whenever transmitting
Sender retransmits if timer expires before acknowledgement arrives

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Streams Transfer in TCP

The movement of the data in one direction

 At the sending site, the buffer has three types:
1. White section- contains empty chambers that can be filled by the sending process.
2. Gray area holds bytes that have been sent but not yet acknowledged. TCP keeps these
types in the buffer until it receives an acknowledgment.
3. Pink area contains bytes to be sent by the sending TCP.
 At the receiving site, the circular buffer is divided into two areas:
1. White area contains empty chambers to be filled by bytes received from the network.
2. Pink area contains received bytes that can be read by the receiving process.

Sending and receiving buffers

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Features of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

Numbering system: The bytes of data being transferred in each connection are numbered
by TCP. The numbering starts with a randomly generated number.
For example: if the random number happens to be 1057 and the total data to be sent are
6000 bytes, the bytes numbered from1057 to 7056.
Flow Control: TCP provides flow control. The receiver of the data controls the amount
of data to be sent by the sender.
Error Control: TCP implement an error control for error detection such as loss or
corrupted segments.
Congestion Control: TCP implement congestion control. The amount of data sent by a
sender is not only controlled by receiver (flow control), but also determined by the level
of congestion in network.

Note: Congestion Control and Flow Control, what is the difference? Flow control involves
preventing senders from overrunning the capacity of receivers. Congestion control involves
preventing too much data from being injected into the network, thereby causing switches or
links to become overloaded. Thus, flow control is an end-to-end issue, while congestion
control is concerned with how hosts and networks interact.

The Numbering System Fields:

1. Sequence Number
– After bytes have been numbered, TCP assigns a sequence number to each
segment.
– The sequence number for each segment is the number of the first byte carried
in that segment.
For example: Suppose a TCP connection is transferring a file of 5000 bytes. The first byte is
numbered 10,001. What are the sequence numbers for each segment if data are sent in five
segments, each carrying 1000 bytes?

2. Acknowledgment number
– The sequence number in each direction shows the number of the first byte carried
by the segment.
For example: If a party uses 5643 as an acknowledgment number, it has received all bytes
from the beginning up to 5642.

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A packet in TCP is called Segment

A typical TCP packet consists of the following portions:
Source Port: The 16-bit port number of the process that originated the TCP segment on the
source device.
Destination Port: The 16-bit port number of the process that is the ultimate intended
recipient of the message on the destination device.
Sequence Number: For normal transmissions, the sequence number of the first byte of data
in this segment. In a connection request (SYN) message, this carries the initial sequence
number (ISN) of the source TCP.
Acknowledgment Number: When the ACK bit is set, this segment is serving as an
acknowledgment.
Data Offset: Specifies the number of 32-bit words of data in the TCP header.
Reserved: 6 bits reserved for future use; sent as zero.
Window: Indicates the number of octets of data the sender of this segment is willing to accept
from the receiver at one time.
Checksum: A 16-bit checksum for data integrity protection, computed over the entire TCP.
Urgent Pointer: Used in conjunction with the URG control bit for priority data transfer.

A packet in TCP is called Segment

TCP Packet Control

– This field defines 6 different control bits or flags

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These bits enable flow control, connection establishment and termination

Users Datagram Protocol (UDP)

Unlike TCP that provides connection-oriented service, UDP provides Connectionless service.
Meaning that;

Each user datagram send by UDP is an independent datagram.

There is no relationship between the different user datagram even if they are coming
from the same source process and going to same source destinations program.
The user datagram are not numbered
No connection establishment
No connection termination
No packetizing
– The process cannot send a stream of data to UDP and expect UDP to chop
them into different related user datagram.
– Instead each request must be small enough to fit into one user datagram.

The protocol provides application programs with ability to send and receive messages by
allowing multiple, application programs on a single machine to communicate concurrently to
give a best-effort service to the networks. In that case;
Message can be delayed, lost, or duplicated
Messages can arrive out of order
Messages can arrive faster than the recipient can process them
Application accepts full responsibility for errors

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A datagram is,

"a self-contained, independent entity of data carrying sufficient information to be routed from
the source to the destination computer without reliance on earlier exchanges between this
source and destination computer and the transporting network”

Although UDP does not implement flow control or reliable/ordered delivery, it does a little
more work than to simply demultiplex messages to some application process—it also ensures
the correctness of the message by the use of a checksum. (The UDP checksum was optional
in the IPv4 Internet, but it has become mandatory with IPv6.)

TCP/IP (UDP) Reference Model

UDP Format
User Datagram consists of two parts:
UDP Header: Divided into four 16-bit fields
UDP Data area

Users Datagram Protocol Format

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Source and Destination ports: contains 16 bits each used to demultiplex datagrams among
the processes waiting to receive them.
Length: contains a count of octets in UDP datagram including the UDP header and the
user data.
Checksum: optional and need not to be used at all
If UDP CHECKSUM field contains zeroes, receiver does not verify the checksum
Checksum: A small integer value sent with a packet and used to detect errors that can
result when a packet is transmitted from one machine to another.

Layering UDP above IP means that a complete UDP message, including UDP header and
Data, is encapsulated in an IP datagram as it travels across an internet.

UDP Encapsulation and Decapsulation

Some typical uses of UDP

Remote File Server NFS typically UDP
Streaming Multimedia proprietary typically UDP
Internet Telephony proprietary typically UDP
Network Management SNMP typically UDP
Routing Protocol RIP typically UDP
Name Translation DNS typically UDP

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Part 4: Network Addressing

Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4)
At the network layer, we need to uniquely identify each device on the Internet to allow
global communication between all devices.
No one is permitted to connect a computer to the Internet unless they use approved network
and application addresses.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is responsible for
managing the assignment of network layer (i.e. IP addresses) and application layer addresses
(e.g. www.aaua.edu.ng).

This is same as telephone system each telephone subscriber has a unique telephone number if
we consider the country code and the area code as part of the identifying scheme. For
example, the telephone number 011 86 731 220 8098 uniquely identifies a number in the city
of Changsha in Hunan Province in China.

ICANN sets the rules by which new domain names (e.g. .com, .org. .ca, .uk, .ng) are created
and IP address numbers assigned to users. It’s therefore directly manages a set of Internet
domains (e.g. .com, .org) and authorizes private companies to become domain name
registrars for those domains. Once authorized, a register can approve requests for application
layer addresses and assign IP numbers for those requests.

Important Note:

An IPv4 address is 32 bits long

The IPv4 addresses are unique and universal
The address space of IPv4 is 232 or 4,294,967,296

Example 1
Change the following IPv4 addresses from binary notation to dotted-decimal notation.
a. 10000001 00001011 00001011 11101111
b. 11000001 10000011 00011011 11111111
c. 11100111 11011011 10001011 01101111
d. 11111001 10011011 11111011 00001111

Solution
We replace each group of 8 bits with its equivalent decimal number and add dots for
separation:

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a. 129.11.11.239
b. 193.131.27.255
c. 231.219.139.111
d. 249.155.251.15

Example 2
Change the following IPv4 addresses from dotted-decimal notation to binary notation.
a. 111.56.45.78
b. 221.34.7.82
c. 241.8.56.12
d. 75.45.34.78
Solution
We replace each decimal number with its binary equivalent:
a. 01101111 00111000 00101101 01001110
b. 11011101 00100010 00000111 01010010
c. 11110001 00001000 00111000 00001100
d. 01001011 00101101 00100010 01001110

Example 3
Find the error, if any, in the following IPv4 addresses:
a. 111.56.045.78
b. 221.34.7.8.20
c. 75.45.301.14
d. 11100010.23.14.67

Solution
a. There should be no leading zeroes (045).
b. We may not have more than 4 bytes in an IPv4 address.
c. Each byte should be less than or equal to 255.
d. A mixture of binary notation and dotted-decimal notation.

Classful Addressing
The IP addresses started a few decades ago with the concept of classes. This architecture is
called Classful Addressing.

In the mid-1990s, a new architecture, called classless addressing, was introduced that
supersedes the original architecture.

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In classful addressing, IP address space is divided into five classes:

Class A
Class B
Class C
Class D
Class E

Finding the class of address

Example 1
Find the class of each address:
a. 00000001 00001011 00001011 11101111
b. 11000001 10000011 00011011 11111111
c. 10100111 11011011 10001011 01101111
d. 11110011 10011011 11111011 00001111

Solution
a. The first bit is 0. This is a class A address.
b. The first 2 bits are 1; the third bit is 0. This is a class C address.
c. The first bit is 1; the second bit is 0. This is a class B address.
d. The first 4 bits are 1s. This is a class E address.

Example 2
Find the class of each address:
a. 227.12.14.87
b. 193.14.56.22
c. 14.23.120.8
d. 252.5.15.111

Solution
a. The first byte is 227 (between 224 and 239); the class is D.
b. The first byte is 193 (between 192 and 223); the class is C.
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 CSC 323 – Computer Networks

c. The first byte is 14 (between 0 and 127); the class is A.

d. The first byte is 252 (between 240 and 255); the class is E.

IPv4- Two level Addressing

If n bits in the class defines the net
Then
32-n bits defines the host.

Netid & Hostid

Classes A, B and C are divided into netid and hosted, but Class D and E are not divided into
these parts.

These parts are of varying lengths.

Net: It is used to identify the network that a computer belongs to.
Host: Host (sometimes referred to as Node) identifies the actual computer on the network.

Example:
Two level addressing can be found in other communication:
A fixed line telephone system inside Nigeria can be thought as two parts:
Area code  netid
Area code: defines the area

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Local Part  hostid

Local Part: defines a particular telephone subscriber in that area.

Example 1
An address in a block is given as 73.22.17.25. Find the number of addresses in the block,
the first address, and the last address.

Solution
Since 73 is between 0 to 127, the class of the address is A. The value of n for class A is 8.
This is a possible configuration of the network that uses this block.
1. The number of addresses in this block is N = 232-n = 16,777,216.
2. To find the first address, we keep the leftmost 8 bits and set the rightmost 24 bits all to
0s. The first address is 73.0.0.0/8, in which 8 is the value of n.
3. To find the last address, we keep the leftmost 8 bits and set the rightmost 24 bits all to 1s.
The last address is 73.255.255.255.

Example 2
An address in a block is given as 180.8.17.9. Find the number of addresses in the block,
the first address, and the last address.

Solution
Since 180 is between 128 and 191 the class of the address is B. The value of n for class B is
16. It is a possible configuration of the network that uses this block.
1. The number of addresses in this block is N = 232−n = 65,536.
2. To find the first address, we keep the leftmost 16 bits and set the rightmost 16 bits all to
0s. The first address is 18.8.0.0/16, in which 16 is the value of n.
3. To find the last address, we keep the leftmost 16 bits and set the rightmost 16 bits all to
1s. The last address is 18.8.255.255.

Network Mask (2-Level Addressing)

The router in the internet normally uses an algorithm to extract the network address from the
destination address of a packet.

A network mask (Default Mask) is a classful addressing: It is 32 bits number with n leftmost
bits all set to 1s and (32-n) rightmost bit all set to 0s.

Mask for class A = 255. 0. 0. 0

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 CSC 323 – Computer Networks

Mask for class B = 255. 255. 0. 0

Mask for class C = 255. 255. 255. 0

How to calculate Network Address:

Network Address = Destination Address ANDed with Network Mask (Default Mask)

Example
A router receives a packet with the destination address 201.24.67.32. Show how the router
finds the network address of the packet.

Solution
Since the class of the address is C, we assume that the router applies the default mask for
class B, 255.255.255.0 to find the network address.

Destination Address = 201 . 24 . 67 . 32

Network Mask = 255 . 255 . 255 . 0
Network Address = 201 . 24 . 67 . 0

The above calculation should be done using its binary numbers and then ANDed them.

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Subnettting Mask (3-Level Addressing)

The process of dividing network into several smaller networks (subnets) with each
subnetwork having its own subnetwork address is called Subnetting.

Subnet Mask is used when a network is divided into several subnetworks while a Network
Mask is used when network is not subdivided.

Note: Subnetting increases the length of the netID and decreases the length of hostID.

When we divided a network to s number of subnetworks, each of equal numbers of hosts, we

can calculate the subnetid for each subnetwork as:

nsub  n  log2s
n is the length of netid
nsub is the length of each subnetid
s is number of subnets which must be a power of 2

Example:
A class B network is divided into four (4) subnetworks. What is the subnet mask of the
network?

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Solution:
The class B network is divided into four subnetworks.
The value of n = 16 (Class B network)
The value of n = n = n = n = 16 + log 4 = 18.
1 2 3 4 2
This means that the subnet mask has eighteen 1s and fourteen 0s. In other words, the subnet
mask is 255.255.192.0
This is different from the network mask for class B which is 255.255.0.0

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 CSC 323 – Computer Networks

Part 5: Introduction to Network Security

It’s a dangerous world out there in the World Wide Web. Just as your mother may have told
you to never talk to strangers, the same advice holds true for the virtual world. You may
know to be wary of giving strangers your business bank account details. But can you be sure
the website you’re logging into is that of your bank and not a forgery created by
cybercriminal? Cybercriminals use many different methods to lure you into parting with your
confidential personal or business information.

With the introduction of the computer, the need for automated tools for the protection of files,
and other information stored on the computer has become evident. This is especially true for a
shared system, such as a time sharing system, and the need is even more acute for systems that
can be accessed over a public telephone network, data network or the internet. The generic
name for the collection of tools designed to protect data and thwart hackers is computer
security.

In the lecture, we will be more interested in network security. This deals with the security of
information during its transmission from user on one computer network to another. Of
course, computer security is important too, since if someone can access your computer’s
resources, he/she will have access to the network, and other computers attached to this network.
Thus, computer and network security measures go hand in hand. However, we will limit our
discussion in this lecture to network security.

Network security problems can be divided roughly into four intertwined areas: confidentiality,
authentication, nonrepudiation and integrity control.
1. Confidentiality: This is also called secrecy, and has to do with keeping information
out of the hands of unauthorized users. This is what usually comes to mind when people
think about network security.
2. Authentication: This deals with determining whom you are talking to before
revealing sensitive information or entering into a business deal.
3. Nonrepudiation: This deal with signatures: How does jumia.com.ng prove that Douglas
i n d e e d placed an order for a book, which Douglas c l a i m s he never placed?
4. Integrity: How does one ensure that the message received was really the one sent, and
not something that a malicious adversary modified in transit or concocted?.
The attacks that compromise network security also be classified as passive attacks and active
attacks.

1. Passive Attacks: These attacks are in the nature of eavesdropping on, or monitoring of,
transmissions. The goal of the opponent is to obtain information that is being transmitted.
Two types of passive attacks are release of message contents where an eavesdropper tries to learn
the contents of what is being transmitted. This can be prevented by encryption (Not part of this
lecture). A second type of passive attack is called traffic analysis, where the opponent tries to
observe the pattern, frequency and length of messages being exchanged which could be used in
guessing the nature of the communication that is taking place. Passive attacks are very difficult
to detect since they do not involve the alteration of the data. The emphasis, therefore, is on
prevention via a good encryption algorithm.

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2. Active A t t a c k s : Active attacks involve some modification of the data stream or the
creation of a false stream. These attacks present the opposite characteristics of passive
attacks. It is difficult to prevent active attacks absolutely because to do so would require
physical protection of all communications facilities and paths at all times. Instead, the goal is
to detect them and to recover from any disruption or delays caused by them.

Some of the network security threats

1. Computer Virus and Worms
i. Computer virus: A computer virus is a small piece of software that can spread from one
infected computer to another. The virus could corrupt, steal, or delete data on your
computer—even erasing everything on your hard drive. A virus could also use other
programs like your email program to spread itself to other computers.

ii. Trojan horse: Users can infect their computers with Trojan horse software simply by
downloading an application they thought was legitimate but was in fact malicious. Once
inside your computer, a Trojan horse can do anything from record your passwords by
logging keystrokes (known as a keystroke logger) to hijacking your webcam to watch and
record your every move.

iii. Malicious spyware: Malicious spyware is used to describe the Trojan application that
was created by cybercriminals to spy on their victims. An example would be keylogger
software that records a victim’s every keystroke on his or her keyboard. The recorded
information is periodically sent back to the originating cybercriminal over the Internet.
Keylogging software is widely available and is marketed to parents or businesses that
want to monitor their kids’ or employees’ Internet usage.

iv. Computer worm: A computer worm is a software program that can copy itself from one
computer to another, without human interaction. Worms can replicate in great volume and
with great speed. For example, a worm can send copies of itself to every contact in your
email address book and then send itself to all the contacts in your contacts’ address books.
Because of their speed of infection, worms often gain notoriety overnight infecting
computers across the globe as quickly as victims around the world switch them on and
open their email. This happened with the Conficker worm (also known as Downadup),
which, in just four days, had more than tripled the number of computers it infected to 8.9
million.

2. Botnet
A botnet is a group of computers connected to the Internet that have been compromised by a
hacker using a computer virus or Trojan horse. An individual computer in the group is known
as a “zombie“ computer. The botnet is under the command of a “bot herder” or a “bot
master,” usually to perform nefarious activities. This could include distributing spam to the
email contact addresses on each zombie computer, for example. If the botnet is sufficiently
big in number, it could be used to access a targeted website simultaneously in what’s known
as a denial-of-service (DoS) attack. The goal of a DoS attack is to bring down a web server

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by overloading it with access requests. Popular websites such as Google and Twitter have
been victims of DoS attacks.

3. Eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the most obvious form of unauthorised access, involving “snooping” on
information carried by the network. The term originates from the idea that an “eavesdropper”
could overhear what people inside a house were saying by standing under the eaves of the
house and listening at an open window.

In networks, eavesdropping might be achieve very simply by borrowing someone’s computer

terminal while they are away from their desk and using it to examine data accessible via a
network. Alternatively, there are more sophisticated ways, such as tapping into the cabling
that the network uses to carry its signal.

Eavesdropping is a significant problem for networks that make use of radio transmission, or
where the network cabling itself can radiate enough of an electrical signal to allow messages
to be intercepted.

4. Rootkit
A rootkit is a collection of tools that are used to obtain administrator-level access to a
computer or a network of computers. A rootkit could be installed on your computer by a
cybercriminal exploiting a vulnerability or security hole in a legitimate application on your
PC and may contain spyware that monitors and records keystrokes.

5. Social engineering
A social engineering attacks are not relying on technology or protocols to succeed, but
instead it relies on the human nature. Users generally trust each other and that is where this
type of attacks start. It may comprise of false sites that ask for the information from the
unsuspecting web surfers. And this type of attack is known as phishing. A social engineering
attacks might be prevented by just training the users not to provide their credentials who asks
for the information on the web page.

6. DoS & DDoS

The DOS- denial of service attack overwhelms the network host with the stream of bogus
data which keep it to process the designed data. The DoS attacks will be launched against the
computers and against the network devices. The DoS attack is the security threat which
implies that the larger attacks are in progress. Then the DoS attack is a part of the attack that
the hijacks communication from the user who already authenticated to the resource. When the
users computers are blocked by a DoS attack, then the attacker access the resource and
receive the needed information and returns the control to a user who does not know what
occurred in it.

The distributed denial of service is the attack occurs when the multiple system is used to
flood the resources or bandwidth of a group of servers or one server. The main purpose of

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this attack is to saturate a resource so that it is not available longer for the legitimate use. It is
used as the decoy to hide more malicious attack which attempts to steal sensitive information
or other data. The specialized software called DDS can able to block the traffic that has a
legitimate content but the bad intent.

7. Man in the middle

The man in the middle attack occurs when the person keeps a logical connection or
equipment between 2 communicating parties. These 2 communicating parties assume they are
directly communicating with each other, but the information is being sent to a man in the
middle who forwards it to the proposed recipient. This attack is very harmful to the
organizations. Most of the organizations will adopt measures such as strong authentication as
well as latest protocols, including IPSec with the tunnel endpoint authentications.

8. Packet sniffing
The attacker can use the protocol analyzer to launch the attack by the packet sniffing. This is
the process in which an attacker gathers the data sample with a software or hardware device
which allows data inspection at a packet level. The attacker may see the IP addresses,
unencrypted passwords, sensitive data and MAC addresses. After a vulnerability is
discovered, the attacker will begin an active attack. The perfect method to prevent this attack
is to forbid anything except the trusted network administrators from placing the packet
analyzer on a network. Most of the packet analyzers can identify the presence of the packet
analyzer, unless an attacker uses software to make the attack invisible.

9. Physical Attacks
Along with the many ways that a network can be attacked by electronics means, there are
many ways that it can be attacked physically; this can be as a result of malicious activity, or a
consequence of natural events, or by accident. In general, physical attacks tend to result in
denial of service. These kinds of attacks include:
i. Fire (either accidentally or deliberately)
ii. Flood
iii. Earthquake damage
iv. Theft of equipment
v. Damage to buried cables, for example caused by workmen digging up roads (also
known as “Black Hole Event”)

Network Security Threats’ Mitigation techniques:

Take a deep look to protect against the threats. The mitigate techniques and methods are
mainly depends upon the type of threats. Listed below are some of the mitigation techniques:

1. Network Enumeration
Network Enumeration is a process of gathering information about a network such as the
hosts, connected devices, along with usernames, group information and related data. Using

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protocols like ICMP and SNMP. Network enumeration offers a better view of the network for
either protection or hacking purposes.

Network enumeration tools scan ports to gather information. They may also fingerprint the
operating system. All of these are done for the purpose of looking more closely at how a
network is set up and how data traffics are handled.

Network enumeration is considered as part of ethical hacking for security work. Some
vulnerability scanners can perform network enumeration to try to protect a computer system
or network. The idea is that, with network enumeration, vulnerabilities can be discovered,
which can then be used by the network/system administrators to fix the system.

2. Training and awareness

It is considered as the most convenient and comfortable form of security. User training is
considered as the least expensive and most effective mitigation techniques. It is the best way
to keep the users from making mistakes that will lead to a success of the social engineering
attack is educating how to handle them. It is important to know the procedures, protocols and
policies for the security of a network. Or else training users give a real advantage of the
relatively low cost.

3. Patch management
When an application or an operating system is released, it is not perfect from the security
perspective. Then after the release, updates and security patches are released on the ongoing
basis, which can add to software to make them more secure or provide it more functionality.
The windows update systems which are installed in the latest servers and clients can be
configured to install as well as download the patches automatically from the site. The
windows server updates services to download the patches to servers and then test it before
applying to the bulk of the clients on the network.

4. Security Policies and procedures

The security procedures and policies must be outlined clearly in writing in the organization. It
should define acceptable behaviours on networks and organization computers. Who uses the
computers has to read the procedures and policies and also sign the form for agreeing it.
Some of the policies should include:
a. Building Layers of Security
b. Authentication (Selecting Passwords)
c. The Encryption Alternative (Normal encryption and digital signature methods)
d. The use of firewall
e. Bring your own device prohibition

5. Virtual Private Network

One method of ensuring high security networking is to create what are known as “Virtual
Private Networks”. The concept of Virtual Private Networking (VPN) is designed to enable
businesses and organizations to use the public internet backbone as an appropriate channel

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for private data communication without having to build and maintain their own private global
network. With encryption and encapsulation technology, a VPN carves out a private
passageway through the internet. VPNs allow remote offices, mobile users, and even business
partners and customers to use the Internet, rather than expensive private lines to connect to
the company networks.

6. Disaster Recovery Plan (Incident response)

When the intruder has enacted an attack on the network, then the first instinct gets the user
back to work regardless of what it takes. It makes a more sense in the short run, but in case of
long run it might be a wrong move. The reinstall software which is damaged by the attack,
then this re-installation may cover the track of an attacker and prevent it from prosecuting
and finding it.

It is essential to understand the security threats which affect the networks. And be familiar
with the affecting networks like DoS attacks, worms, viruses, smurf, social engineering and
man in the middle attacks. It is necessary to learn each type of these attacks operates and how
to secure it. Additionally, understand the mitigation techniques such as incident response,
procedure and policies, patch management and training and awareness. Understand efficient
and effective method of protecting against the social engineering threats and also other
network weaknesses. Understand the security patches must be used to update the applications
and operating systems

However, considering network security in isolation is not the whole story. Network security
should be considered as part of an overall analysis of the potential impact on the business or
organization if it suffers a major disaster, be it of natural, accidental or malicious origin. A
business that fails to look at the consequences of such disaster, and what steps it would take
to ensure that it can recover and continue in business may well find itself out of business in
the future.

The types of things that a business continuity plan might cover include:
i. Provision of off-site data centres
ii. Availability of alternative office space
iii. Provision of temporary switchboards and network connectivity.

Reading Texts:
1. Larry Peterson & Bruce Davie. Computer Networks: A System Approach. 3rd Edition.
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
2. Emad Aboelela. Network Simulation Experiment Manual. 4th Edition. University of
Massachusetts, Dartmouth (USA).
3. Michel Barbeau & Evangelos Kranakis. Principles Ad-Hoc Networking. Carleton
University, Canada.
4. NCC Education. Enterprising Networking. 2nd Edition. NCC Education Limited.
Machester M20 2EZ.

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