Computer Networks

Module 1
Introduction to Networking
 Outline
• Communication System
• Basic Concepts
• Line Configuration
• Transmission mode
• Types of Networks
• Network Topology
 What is Networking?

In simple term “ A network is simply a collection of computers

or other hardware devices that are connected together, either
physically or logically using special hardware and software in order to
exchange information.”

And Networking is term that describes the process involved in design,

implementation, management of network using network technology.
 Introduction to Communication System

• Data Communication is a process of exchanging data or information

and in case of computer networks it done in between two or more
devices over a transmission medium.
• Communication system consists of Hardware and Software.
• Hardware: Sender, Receiver and Intermediate devices
• Software: Set of rules and protocols that need to satisfied.
 Components of Data Communication
• Components:
• Message
• Sender
• Receiver
• Transmission Medium
• Protocols
Elements Of Communication System
 Data Flow

• Simplex

• Half-Duplex

• Full Duplex
 Network Criteria
• Performance:
➢Can be measured in terms of
• Transit time
• Response time
➢ Evaluated by two networking metrics: Throughput & Delay
• Reliability: measured by frequency of failure, time taken by link to
recover from failure and network robustness ion catastrophe

• Security: Securing data from unauthorized access, protecting data

from damage, implementing policies, recovery from breaches and data
loss.
 Physical Structures
Type of Connections:
• Point-to-Point connection:
• Provides dedicated link between two
devices
• Entire link capacity is reserved
between two devices
• Multipoint (Multidrop):
• More than two devices share a single
link.
• Capacity of channel is shared
• Channel is shared either Spatially or
Timeshared.
 Physical Topology
Physical Topology refers to a way in which network is laid out physically.

Topology is geometric representation of relationship of all the links and

linking devices (also called nodes) to one another.
There are Four basic Topologies:
• Mesh
• Star
• Bus
• Ring
 Mesh Topology
• Every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device.

• Link carries traffic only between the two devices it connects.

• Total number of physical links in a fully connected mesh network with n

nodes is equal to n(n-1).

• In case of communication in both direction : n(n-1)/2 duplex node links.

• Every device on network must have (n-1) input/output (I/O) ports.

 Mesh Topology
• Advantages
• No traffic problems
• Robust
• Privacy and security
• Point to point link: fault identification and isolation is easy
• Disadvantages
• Installation and reconnection difficult as devices interconnected.
• Bulk wiring
• Expensive: hardware cost
 Star Topology
• each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central controller,
usually called a hub.

• devices are not directly linked to one another.

• star topology does not allow direct traffic between devices.

• The controller acts as an exchange, it relays the data to the other connected
device.

• The star topology is used in local-area networks (LANs)

 Star Topology
Advantages
• Less expensive than mesh
• Reconfiguration and installation is easy.
• Robustness
• Easy fault identification as long as hub is working
Disadvantages
• Dependency on single point controller.
• Each node must be linked to hub: more cabling required compared to
other topologies except mesh.
 Bus Topology
• A bus topology is multipoint connection.

• One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices in a network.

• Nodes are connected to the bus cable by drop lines and taps.

• A drop line is a connection running between the device and the main cable.

• A tap is a connector that either splices into the main cable or punctures the
sheathing of a cable to create a contact with the metallic core.
 Bus Topology
Advantages
• Ease of installation: less cabling as compared to mesh and star.
• A bus uses less cabling than mesh or star topologies
Disadvantages
• It is Difficult to add new devices.
• Difficult reconfiguration and fault isolation.
• A fault in Backbone stops all transmission
• Limited cable length and number of nodes that can be connected.
 Ring Topology

• Each device has a dedicated point-to-point connection with only

the two devices on either side of it.

• A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device to

device, until it reaches its destination.

• Each device in the ring incorporates a repeater.

 Ring Topology
Advantages
• Easy to install and reconfigure.
• Easy adding and deleting of connections.
• Fault isolation simplified: devices can raise the alarm.
Disadvantages
• Unidirectional traffic can be a disadvantage.
• Breakdown in ring disables the entire network.
 Types of Networks
• Local Area Network (LAN)

• Metropolitan Area Network(MAN)

• Wide Area Network(WAN)

 Local Area Networks
• A local-area network (LAN) is a computer network that spans a
relatively small area.

• A local area network (LAN) is usually privately owned and links the
devices in a single office, building, or campus.

• LAN size is limited to a few kilometers.

 Local Area Networks
• LANs are designed to allow resources to be shared between personal
computers or workstations.
Example: hardware or software

• One of the computers may be given a large capacity disk drive and may
become a server to clients.

• LAN extends up to 10m to 1km

 Local Area Networks
• LANs are distinguished from other types of networks by their
transmission media and topology.

• Speeds: 100 or 1000 Mbps.

 Metropolitan Area Networks
• Metropolitan Area Network usually covers area inside a town or a city.
• It is designed for customers who need a high-speed connectivity,
normally to the Internet, and have endpoints spread over a city or part
of city.
Example: cable TV network
• MAN extends up to 30-40 km.
• Speed of 34–155 Mbit/s.
• MAN uses Guided Media or Unguided media.
Metropolitan Area Networks
 Wide Area Networks
• A wide area network (WAN) provides long-distance transmission of
data, image, audio, and video information over large geographic areas
that may comprise a country, a continent or even the whole world.

• WAN (Wide Area Network) is a group of computers and other network

devices which are connected and not restricted to a geographical
location.

• Internet is WAN.
 Wide Area Networks

• WAN speed varies based on geographical location of the servers. WAN

connects several LANs.

• WAN connection speeds can be 10Mbps or 100Mbps.

• WAN mainly uses Guided Media or Unguided media.

Wide Area Networks
 Switching
An internet is a switched network in which a switch connects at least two
links together

The two most common types of switched networks are circuit-

switched and packet-switched networks.
• Circuit-Switched Network
• Packet Switched network
Switching

A Circuit Switched network

A Packet Switched network

The Internet Today
 Network Models

Protocol Layering:

• ISO OSI Model

• TCP/IP model
 Design Issues for Layers
Addressing - whom am I going to talk to? i.e., how do we identify
senders and receivers?

Rules for data transfer: Simplex (one-way channels), half-duplex (two-

way communication but not simultaneously) and full duplex (2 way)

Logical channels: usually at least 2. One for normal mode and one for
urgent transmission.
 Design Issues for Layers
Reconstituting messages: Out of order messages need to be
numbered.(Flow Control)

Error control: This is all about communicating along imperfect channels

and error correction in such cases. (Issues: Attenuation, delay distortion
and noise).

Large messages: Procedures for disassembling, transmitting and

reassembling. What to do when messages are very small (compared to
packet)?
 Design Issues for Layers
Multiplexing: One connection per conversation or many on one
connection. Important in physical layer where only a few lines are
available

Routing: What to do when there are multiple paths between

communicating machines
 Connection Less Services

• No session connection between sender and receiver.

• No reliability
• Short messages
• Does not maintain state information.
• Less overhead
• Example: Walkie-Talkie
 Connection Oriented Services

• Requires session connection (analogous to a phone call).

• Reliable network service.
• Set up virtual links between the end systems through a network.
• Long messages.
• High overhead and places greater demands on B/W.
• Example: Email
 The OSI model

• Over the past couple of decades many of the networks that were
built used different hardware and software implementations, as a
result they were incompatible, and it became difficult for networks
using different specifications to communicate with each other.

• The Open System Interconnection (OSI) model includes a set of

protocols that allows any two systems to communicate regardless of
their architecture.
 The OSI model

• The OSI model is a concept that describes, how data communications

should take place.

• OSI is also called as the framework for design of network systems.

• It divides the process into seven steps called layers.

The OSI model
The OSI model
 Physical Layer

• The physical layer deals with the physical characteristics of the

transmission medium.

• This layer consists of simply the wire or media by which the network
signals are conducted.

• The physical layer of the OSI model defines connector and interface
specifications, as well as the medium (cable) requirements for
transmission to occur.
 Physical Layer
Functions of physical layer:

• Physical characteristics of interfaces and medium.

• Representation of bits: Conversion from binary to electrical or
optical.
• Data rate.
• Synchronization of bits.
• Physical topology
• Line configuration: point to point or multipoint.
Physical Layer
 Data Link Layer

• The data link layer transforms the physical layer, a raw transmission
facility, to a reliable link.
• Node to node delivery (Hop to Hop Delivery)
• The data link layer uses the MAC address to define a hardware or
data link address for multiple stations to share the same medium and
still uniquely identify each other.
• Concerned with network topology, network access, error notification,
ordered delivery of frames, and flow control.
 Data Link Layer
Functions of Data Link layer:
• Framing

• Physical addressing: adding header to frame to identify sender and

receiver address.

• Flow control

• Error control

• Access control
Data Link Layer
Data Link Layer
Hop-to-Hop Delivery
 Network Layer
• This layer establishes the route between the sending and receiving
stations.

• Responsible for delivery of individual packets from source to

destination.

• Two systems connected on same link-no network layer.

• Two systems on different link-need network layer

 Network Layer
• It handles the routing of data (sending in the right direction to the
right destination on outgoing transmissions and receiving incoming
transmission at the packet). The layer does routing & forwarding of
data.

• Network layer addresses can also be referred to as logical

addresses.
 Network Layer
Functions of network layer:
• Logical addressing:
➢ Data link layer physical addressing-handles addresses locally.
➢ Packet crosses network boundary-IP addressing.

• Routing : Routing packets to destination via connecting devices

over large networks.
Network Layer
Network Layer Example
Source-to-destination delivery
 Transport Layer

• The transport layer is responsible for the delivery of a

message from one process to another.

• Transport layer recognizes relationship between the packets

and makes sure that the whole message arrives intact and
in order.

• It is responsible for constructing stream of data segments,

sending and checking for correct delivery.
 Transport Layer

• If data is sent incorrectly, this layer has the responsibility to

ask for retransmission of the data.

• This layer acts as an interface between the bottom and top

three layers.
 Transport Layer

Responsibilities of transport layer:

• Service-point addressing: Port Address(process to process).
➢ Network layer gets each packet to correct computer.
➢ Transport layer gets each packet to correct process on
that computer.
• Segmentation and reassembly: Message divided into
segments-sequence number
• Retransmission in case of lost segment.
 Transport Layer

Responsibilities of transport layer:

• Connection control: Connection-less or connection-oriented.

• Flow control : flow control at this layer is performed end to

end rather than across a single link.

• Error control: error control at this layer is performed

process-to-process rather than across a single link.
Transport Layer
Reliable process-to-process delivery of a
message

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 Session Layer

• The services provided by the first three layers (physical, data

link, and network) are not sufficient for some processes.

• The session layer defines how to start, control and end

conversations (called sessions) between applications.

• It provides coordination of the communication in an ordering

manner.
 Session Layer

• The session layer offers provisions for efficient data transfer.

Responsibilities of the session layer:

• Dialog control : The session layer allows two systems to enter
into a dialog.

• Synchronization: allows to add checkpoints.

Session Layer

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 Presentation Layer

• The presentation layer ensures that the information that the

application layer of one system sends out is readable by the
application layer of another system.

• If necessary, the presentation layer translates between

multiple data formats by using a common format.

• The presentation layer basically allows an application to read

(or understand) the message.
 Presentation Layer

Responsibilities of presentation layer:

• Translation: Changes data so that another computer can read
it.

• Compression: Makes data smaller to move data in same

amount of time.

• Encryption: Encodes data to protect from interception.

Presentation Layer

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998

 Application Layer

• The application layer enables the user, whether human or

software, to access the network.

• It provides user interfaces and support – email, shared

database , access to remote file etc.

• It differs from the other layers in that it does not provide

services to any other OSI layer, but rather, only to
applications outside the OSI model.
Application Layer
Summary of Layer Functions

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 TCP/IP Model
• Developed prior to OSI model

• TCP/IP is a hierarchical protocol made up of interactive

modules, each providing specific functionality, but they are
not interdependent

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 TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE
• TCP/IP protocol suite is made of five layers:
Application Layer

Transport Layer

Network Layer

Data Link Layer

HOST-to-NETWORK Layer
Physical Layer

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TCP/IP PROTOCOL SUITE

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 Network Layer
• TCP/IP does not support any specific protocol

• All standard and proprietary protocols supported at this level.

• At this level TCP/IP supports Internetworking protocol(IP).

IP in turn uses 4 supporting protocols.

▪ ARP
▪ RARP
▪ ICMP
▪ IGMP

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998

 Network Layer

• Internetworking Protocol (IP)

✓ IP is transmission mechanism used by TCP/IP
✓ Unreliable and connection-less protocol- best effort delivery
✓ No error checking or tracking.
✓ Transports data in packets called datagrams.
✓ Does not keep track of routes and no facility reordering.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998

 Network Layer
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
• Associates logical address with physical address.
• ARP is used to find physical address of node when logical
address is known.

Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP)

• RARP is used to find logical address of node when physical
address is known.
• Usually used when computer is connected to network for the
first time.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998

 Network Layer
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)

• Used by hosts and gateways to send notification of datagram

problem to sender.

Internet Group Message Protocol (IGMP)

• Used to facilitate simultaneous transmission of message to

group of recipients.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1998

 Transport Layer

• IP is host to host protocol

Transport layer has three protocols:

• UDP (User Datagram Protocol)
• TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
• SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol)

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 Transport Layer

User Datagram Protocol (UDP):

• Process to Process
• Adds only port address , error control , checksum etc. to data from
upper layers.

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 Transport Layer
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
• Reliable stream protocol.
• Data is divided into segments.
• Segment contain sequence number for reordering.
• At receiving end , TCP collects each datagram and reorders it based
on sequence numbers

Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)

• Combines features of TCP and UDP

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Addressing

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Relationship of layers and addresses in TCP/IP

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MAC Address
IP Address
Addresses (Example)
 References

• “Data Communication and Networking”, Behrouz Forouzan 5e

• “TCP/IP Protocol Suite “, Behrouz Forouzan 4e.
• “Computer Networks “, A.S.Tanenbaum 5e.