Computer Networks
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Networks
Any connection between two or more computers
e.g. Even when you connect two computers via a USB
cable
Networks use a set of low-level protocols (rules for
communication)
e.g. TCP/IP
Networks use standardized hardware
e.g. Twisted pair cabling & Ethernet hubs, ATM
switches & optical fibre cabling
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Simplex
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Half-Duplex
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Full-Duplex
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Concepts of Packets
Computer networks divide data into small blocks called
packets
Packets are send individually
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Local Area Network
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Metropolitan Area Network
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Wide Area Network
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Networks: Purpose
Sharing files
FTP, NNTP
Communicating
E-Mail, instant messaging, games
Executing programs remotely
rlogin, telnet
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TCP/IP
TCP/IP is actually two protocols:
TCP: Transport control protocol
Creates reliable transport (handles lost
messages), offers a logical stream of data
(reorders mixed up messages)
IP: Internet protocol
Defines addressing (e.g. [Link]), routing
protocols (how to get messages from source to
destination), etc.
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Internet Messaging
TCP is a reliable protocol
If a message does not arrive, it is re-sent
Messages must be acknowledged by their
recipients before a certain time expires
The message’s time-to-live (TTL) value
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Layered Architectures
Schemes for Organizing the
Responsibility of Networking Components
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The OSI Reference Model
A layered service model developed by the
International Standardization Organization
(ISO)
Defines 7 conceptual layers
Each serves a very specific purpose
OSI: Open System Interconnection
Developed as a reference to be used for all
future protocols
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The OSI Reference Model
The 7 layers are (highest to lowest level):
1. Application
2. Presentation
3. Session
4. Transport
5. Network
6. Data link
7. Physical
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The OSI Reference Model
Physical Layer
Represents the actual network hardware
Deals with problems such as:
Sending signals across wires
e.g. Charging a wire with a specific voltage
Converting bits to signals
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The OSI Reference Model
Data Link Layer
Represents the interface to the network
hardware
Deals with problems such as:
Transmission of groups of bits
e.g. Groups of bits might represent an ASCII text
string, a floating point number, or a chunk of
binary data
Verifying data integrity (using checksums)
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The OSI Reference Model
Network Layer
Handles the connection between sender and receiver
Deals with problems such as:
Determining a path from the sender node to the
recipient node (i.e. routing)
Determining the correct recipient (i.e. addressing)
Network congestion
Fragmenting data into packets
Reassembly of packets
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The OSI Reference Model
Transport Layer
Represents an end-to-end reliable
communication stream
Deals with problems such as:
Lost (unacknowledged) packets
Duplicate packets
Reordering packets
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The OSI Reference Model
Session Layer
Represents a dialogue between sender and receiver
Deals with problems such as:
Authentication of the sender node on the packet
assembler and disassembler (PAD)
This is a remote computer which provided the lower
layers in a shared manner, which required
authentication
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The OSI Reference Model
Presentation Layer
Specifies data representations so that both sides can
determine how to read data
e.g. How many bytes to use for floating point values
(including compressed as well as uncompressed
values, encryption)
e.g. What is the order of the bytes?
Uses an ISO-defined standard for these
representations: Abstract Syntax Notation 1 (ASN.1)
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The OSI Reference Model
Application Layer
Defines what data is stored in the message
(specific to each application)
e.g. An E-Mail application would store such
things as recipient, subject, and body text into
an E-Mail application-level message
e.g. A web server would put header
information (information about the server & the
document) as well as the document itself into
its application-level messages
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The TCP/IP Service Model
Researchers developing the TCP/IP protocol
suite also developed a layered reference
model
The TCP/IP reference model consists of 5
layers
3 software layers
1 software & hardware layer
1 hardware layer
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The TCP/IP Service Model
The 5 layers:
1. Application
2. Transport
3. Internet
4. Network Interface
5. Hardware
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The TCP/IP Service Model
Application Layer
Defines what data is stored in the message (specific
to each application)
e.g. An E-Mail application would store such things as
recipient, subject, and body text into an E-Mail
application-level message
e.g. A web server would put header information
(information about the server & the document) as well
as the document itself into its application-level
messages
Essentially, this layer is identical to the application
layer in the OSI reference model
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The TCP/IP Service Model
Transport Layer
Handles end-to-end communication
Divides the data into manageable chunks of
information (packets)
Provides reliable communication
Ensures that all packets are received
Provides error-free communication
Uses a checksum to verify data integrity
Implemented by the TCP protocol
Transport control protocol
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The TCP/IP Service Model
Internet Layer
Handles communication between machines
The path of a message is determined (routing)
The destination of a message is determined
(addressing)
Implemented by the IP protocol
Internet protocol
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The TCP/IP Service Model
Network Interface Layer
Handles low level interaction with hardware
Issues commands to the hardware to transmit a
number of bits (1 or 0)
Deals with hardware-specific concerns
Implemented by the device drivers for the hardware
installed into the operating system
this layer is identical to the data
Essentially,
link layer in the OSI model
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The TCP/IP Service Model
Hardware Layer
Actually transmits signals onto the network
Deals with issues such as:
How to transmit signals (e.g. electrify the wire)
How to detect problems (e.g. collisions)
Represents the actual network hardware
Essentially this layer is identical to the physical layer
in the OSI model
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TCP/IP Service Model: Overview
Major differences between OSI and TCP/IP:
TCP/IP has no presentation layer
The applications must agree on a data format (how
many bytes for a floating point, etc)
Thus, presentation/encoding is handled by the
application layer
TCP/IP has no session layer
Not significant: It does little in modern networks
In TCP/IP a session is typically managed by the
application layer
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