Network Architecture
Topics
• Peer to Peer Network Structure
• Client-Server Network Structure
• Networking Dilemma
• OSI Reference Model
• TCP/IP Reference Model
Peer-to-peer Network Architecture
•Also referred to as ad hoc networks (not controlled over
infrastructure)
•One-tier system connects computers of the same capabilities
and functions
•In a peer-to-peer network, every user must also act as a
network administrator, controlling access to the resources on
their machines
•Advantages:
•Easy to install and configure
•Machines don’t depend on the presence of a dedicated
server
•Users control their own shared resources
•Inexpensive to purchase and operate
•Need no additional equipment or software beyond a suitable
operating system
•No dedicated administrators are needed
•Work best for networks with 10 or fewer users
Disadvantages:
•Network security applies to only a single resource at
a time
•Users might be forced to use as many passwords as
there are shared resources
•Each PC must be backed up to protect shared data
•When a shared resource is accessed, performance
of the PC where the resource resides is reduced
•There is no centralized organizational scheme to
locate or control access to data
•Access to a shared resource is unavailable if PC
where resource resides is turned off/crashes
•Doesn’t usually work well with more than 10 users
Client server Network Architecture(Two-tier)
•A network architecture in which each computer or
process on the network is either a client or a server.
Clients
•Applications that run on single user workstations that
provides presentation services and appropriate
computing, connectivity and database services and
interfaces relevant to business needs
•Rely on servers for
•Files
•Devices
•Processing power
•Example: E-mail client
•An application that enables you to send and receive
e-mail
Servers
•run on one or more multi-user processors with
memory to provide computing, connectivity and
database services and interfaces relevant to business
needs
•Computers or processes that manage network
resources
•Disk drives (file servers)
•Printers (print servers)
•Network traffic (network servers)
•Example: Database Server
•A computer system that processes database
queries
Client Server Models
•Where to push the application to
•Fat clients
The bulk of computer resources are on the client
The client knows how the data is organized and
where it is
Different clients access the same applications
different ways
•Fat servers (thin-client) e.g n-computing
The bulk of computer resources are on the server
The server more complicated
The clients are less complex
More of the code runs on the server
The network interaction is minimized
The client is almost just like an interface
Networking Dilema
It is easy to design and run a peer to peer network due to its simplicity, but
due to complexity (involving many issues) of a client server network such
as:
•Many different types of transmission media (twisted pairs, coaxial cables,
fibre optics, infrareds, radio waves etc)
•Variety of hardware (NICs, PCIs, hubs, repeaters, bridges, switches,
routers)
•Protocols (IP, ICMP, SMTP, UDP, TCP)
•Applications (web browsers, e-mails)
•Packet size
•Packet structure
•Speed of transmission
•Synchronization of senders & receivers
•Error detection and correction
•Physical circuitry of the sender and receiver
All these call for a common set of agreed cobination of issues to make
communication effective by a way of standization. We look at two
OSI Reference Model (Layered)
• OSI (open systems interconnection) model was developed by
international standards organization (ISO)
• It splits the hardware and software of networks into seven layers.
• A layer is a collection of related functions that provide services to
the layers below it and receives services above it.
Layer Name
7 Application
6 Presentation
5 Session
4 Transport
3 Network
2 Data Link
1 Physical
The bottom 3 layers of ISO provide network services and the upper 4
layers provide services to the end users
(1) Physical layer (Media, signal and
binary transmission)
• concerned with the hardware itself
• transmits raw bit stream over physical cable
• defines cables, cards, and physical aspects
• defines NIC attachments to hardware, how
cable is attached to NIC
• defines techniques to transfer bit stream to
cable
• e.g. NICs, Cables, amplifiers, repeaters, hubs,
RJ-11, RJ-45
(2) Data link Layer (Physical
Addressing/configuration)
• defines the methods used to transmit and receive data on the
network
• Turns raw bits 100101 into frames and vice versa at the receiving end
• the receiving end packages raw bits from the Physical layer into data
frames for delivery to the right Network layer (give direction)
• responsible for error-free transfer of frames to other computer via
the Physical Layer
• Consists of two sub layers:
• Logical Link Control (LLC) defines how data is transferred over the
cable and provides data link service to the higher layers.
• Medium Access Control (MAC) defines who can use the network
when multiple computers are trying to access it simultaneously
• e.g CSMA/CD, bridges, switches, NIC, Ethernet
(3) Network layer (Path determination
and logical addressing)
• Routes data to different network routes
• Adds unique addressing information to packets
• translates logical network address and names to
their physical address (e.g. computer name ==>
MAC address)
• responsible for addressing, routing and managing
network problems
• e.g. IP, IPX, ICMP, AppleTalk, routers, switches
(4)Transport layer (End-to-end
communication)
• Interface between hardware& software.
• manages the flow control of data between parties across
the network(transports information)
• divides streams of data into chunks or packets; the
transport layer of the receiving computer reassembles the
message from packets
• provides error-checking to guarantee error-free data
delivery, with on losses or duplications
• provides acknowledgment of successful transmissions;
requests retransmission if some packets don’t arrive error-
free
• E.g. switches, UDP, TCP, ICMP, SPX, NetBIOS / NetBEUI
(5) Session Layer (Inter host
communications)
• establishes, maintains and ends sessions across the
network
• responsible for name recognition (identification) so only
the designated parties can participate in the session
• provides synchronization services by planning check points
in the data stream => if session fails, only data after the
most recent checkpoint need be transmitted
• manages who can transmit data at a certain time and for
how long
• Examples are interactive login and file transfer connections,
the session would connect and re-connect if there was an
interruption; recognize names in sessions and register
names in history - e.g. Telnet, FTP, NetBIOS, TCP,
(6) Presentation (Network
Translator)
• Translates from network to application format and vice-
versa
• all different formats from all sources are made into a
common uniform format that the rest of the OSI model can
understand
• responsible for protocol conversion, character conversion,
data encryption / decryption, expanding graphics
commands, data compression
• sets standards for different systems to provide seamless
communication from multiple protocol stack
• provides encryption compression and terminal emulation
e.g. a gateway
• ASCII, EBCDIC,
(7) Application
• applications specifically written to run over the
network
• Applications that allow access to network services
• Applications that directly represent the services
that directly support user applications
• handles network access, flow control and error
recovery
• Examples Word, Spreadsheet, and e-mail, http DNS,
FTP, SNMP, DHCP, SMTP, Telnet
TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
• Developed by the US Defense Advanced Research
Project Agency (DARPA)
• For packet switched network (ARPANET)
• Used by the global Internet
Contains
• Application layer
• transport layer
• Internet layer
• Network access layer
Protocol Operation of Sending and Receiving a Message/Data
1. The Application layer protocol, HTTP, delivers the HTML formatted
web page data to the Transport layer.
2. Transport layer breaks data into TCP segments each with header label
containing information about how process running on the destination
computer should receive the message and also contains the information
to enable the destination process to reassemble the data back to its
original format, encapsulates and sends it to Internet layer.
3. The Internet layer, IP protocol encapsulates the TCP segment into an
IP packet by adding IP header that contains source and destination host
IP addresses, as well as information necessary to deliver the packet to
its corresponding destination process then sent to Network access layer
4. The Network Access layer encapsulates it in a frame header and
trailer. Each frame header contains a source and destination physical
address. The physical address uniquely identifies the devices on the
local network. The trailer contains error checking information. Finally
the bits are encoded onto the Ethernet media by the server NIC.
Advantages of Layered Architecture
• Any given layer can be modified or upgraded without effecting the
other layers.
• Modularization by means of layering simplifies the overall design.
• Different layers can be assigned to different standards, committees,
and design teams.
• Different mechanisms (packet-switching, circuit-switching) may be
used without efiecting more than one layer.
• Different machines may be plugged in at different layers.
• The relation between different control functions can be better
understood.
• Common lower levels may be shared by different higher levels.
• Functions (especially at lower levels) may be removed from software
to hardware and microcodes.
• Increases the compatibility of difierent machines.
Disadvantages of Layered
Architecture
• Total overhead is higher
• Two communicating machines may have to
use certain functions which they could do
without layers
• As technology changes, the functions may not
be in the most cost-efiective layer
