Computer Networks,

The aim of the laboratory is getting familiar with basic networking and to have some practice with using simple equipment. Each student should practice preparing twisted pair cable and test it with the aid of dedicated tester. Properly prepared cables are needed to create connections between pairs of computers. Connected computers will be configured afterwards. To test the created simplest-case computer network the previously learned software tools will be applied. The first section of this document presents some simplified background.

1. Computer networks structures, net topologies

Fundamentals:
OSI reference model: Layer !pplication layer Layer " Presentation layer Layer # $ession layer Layer % Transport layer Layer & 'etwork layer Layer ( )ata link layer Layer * Physical laser $implified communication model+

,asic networking terms+ Communication protocol set of rules and conventions needed for information e-change and distribution among computers connected with the aid of transmission medium . Frame . an information unit/ which source and destination in the 0$1 model is the )ata link layer. 1t consists of a header/ data and ending. Packet - an information unit/ which source and destination in the 0$1 model is the transport layer. Datagram - an information unit/ which source and destination in the 0$1 model is the network layer. Segment - an information unit/ which source and destination in the 0$1 model is the application layer.

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1.2. Local Area Networks LAN

L!' 2Local !rea 'etwork3 consists of both hardware and software. 4ost important L!' elements are as follows+ 5 transmission medium/ eg. twisted pair/ coa-ial cable/ optical fiber/ 5 information transmission control mechanism it prevents conflicts occurring between users simultaneously tending to access the transmission medium 5 network interface . interface of devices connected to the network/ it conducts necessary tests and converts coded information. L!' networks enables easy access for multiple users sharing the same resources 2devices/ data and applications3/ e-change files/ users communication with the aid of electronic mail and other applications. LA t!pes: 'owadays there are three most popular cable L!' technologies+ Ethernet technology/ Token-6ing technology/ 7))1 27iber )istributed )ata 1nterface3 technology "thernet a family of L!' technologies8 three ma9or are+ Ethernet and 1EEE :;(.& . several sets of L!' specifications/ working at ma- with *; 4b<s. Ethernet *;; 4b<s 27ast Ethernet3 - L!' specification/ working at ma- with *;; 4b<s. Ethernet *;;; 4b<s 2=igabit Ethernet3 - L!' networks specifications *;;; 4b<s 2* =b<s3. #oken$%ing. Technology originaly developed in 1,4 laboratories in seventies8 stall widely used. >orkstations are connected directly to 4!? 24ultistation !ccess ?nit3 device/ which 9oin them in one common ring. FDDI. 7))1 27iber )istributed )ata 1nterface3 technology is now used in >!' networks. 1ts biggest advantage is huge bitrate 2*;; 4b<s3 and high reliability. 0ptical fiber is the transmission medium. There is a double ring topology in this approach. Primary 6ing is used for data transmission/ and the $econdary 6ing is not busy during normal work. 1n the L!' networks 7))1 is stall too e-pensive comparing to other solutions. Pr@ykAadowe metody komunikac9i . sposBb dostCpu do medium komunikacy9nego sieci+ CS&A'CD 2Carrier $ense 4ultiple !ccess with Collision )etection3 . )evice is transmitting only when it has e-clusive medium access. >hen two devices begin to transmit at the same time/ the collision occurs. Then devices stop transmission after detecting such situation. !fter waiting a random period of time the transmission is reactivated. This method causes limiting the effective bus length to (#;; meters 2with longer segments this mechanism no longer works3. #oken %ing . The dedicated packed is employed to transfer information. 1t is called Token. )evice tending to start the transmission have to get this packet. 1t changes one bit inside it 2converts into $7$ frame - start of frame3 and sends information. Token is then passed from one workstation to another according to topology. Logical ring is related to physical one. Changing of priority is also possible. #oken (us . This mechanism is similar to the previous one/ e-cept Token is transferred in different sequence. 0rder is dependent on the device address/ and not the physical location. Logical ring is not related to physical one. 'owadays this method is not very popular. (

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1.3. Networks topologies in Physical layer.

Ph!sical la!er $ I""" )*+,.* (ase + .* (ase 1 .* (ase # .* (ase F .* (road -2 .**(ase 3 .**45$ An!LA !bbreviations+ 333 (ase 66 $ FFF . stands for network transmission bitrate in 4bps G,aseH . stands for ,aseband G,roadH . stands for ,roadband II . means+ segment length times *;; m E-ample+*; ,ase # means ,aseband network with transmission bitrate up to *; 4egabits per second with ma- segment length of (;; meters. Coa/ial ca0le 26=#: !<?3 ma- segment length .)1m. Transmission bitrate *; 4b<s. C$4!<C) method. Coa/ial ca0le ma- segment length #;;m/ #wisted pair segment length .**m. Twisted pair types+ ?TP/ $TP/ $cTP/ 7TP. Transmission bitrate *; 4b<s. C$4!<C) method. Optical fi0re ca0les ma- segment length +*** m. $ingle and multimode optical fibres. Transmission bitrate *; 4b<s. C$4!<C) method. Coa/ial ca0le 26=#D<!<?<C!TE3 ma- segment length -2** m. 4ostly used for broadband transmission. Transmission bitrate *; 4b<s. C$4!<C) method. #wisted pair ma- segment length .**m. Transmission bitrate *;; 4b<s. C$4!<C) method. #wisted pair segment length 1*m. Transmission bitrate *;; 4b<s. !ccess upon request with priority method. :;(.*( standard.

1.3. Ca les types and categories

Coa-ial cable 2nonsymmetrical cable3 . similar to a usual tv antenna cable/ 6=#: !<?/ 6=#: C<?. Twisted pair 2symmetrical cable3 . usually a copper cable consisting of several pairs of wires twisted together in pairs 2( up to even few thousands pairs of twisted wires3 put in the same shield. 0ther names for twisted pair cables depending on ma- bitrate are for e-ample+ .*(AS"$#/ .**(AS"$# or .***(AS"$#. 'owadays it is a most popular transmission medium. Twisted pair cables are higly reliable and low cost. Cables classification+ Categor! . used in telephony networks Categor! + - data transmission up to % 4b<s/ Categor! - - data transmission up to *; 4b<s 2*;,aseT3/ &-# twists<feet Categor! 7 - data transmission up to *" 4b<s 2T63/ #-: twists<feet Categor! 1 - data transmission up to *;;-*#; 4b<s 27ast Ethernet/ 7))1/ C))1/ *;;E=anyL!'3/ :-*; twists<feet There are basically ( types of twisted pair cables+ shielded 8S#P9 F#P: and unshielded 8;#P:, $ome common abbreviations are listed below+ ?TP . Unshielded Twisted Pair $TP . Shielded Twisted Pair $cTP . Screened Twisted Pair 7TP . Foil tape screen Twisted Pair &

Computer Networks,

1n general/ the shielded ones are covered with shield and are better protected/ which provides low transmission losses and gives better resistance to interference. Jowever ?TP cables are still widely used. 4a- length of ?TP segments are about *;; m/ whereas for $TP it is (#; m. These limits can be easily e-tended with the aid of repeaters. The impedance of the twisted pair is *;; ohms in both cases. 6K-%# connector is needed to plug twisted pair cable into computer network card interface. 6K**-*% connectors are used in telephony networks. There are some pictures with cables and connectors below+

1t is $TP cable category # on the right.

6K%# connector unshielded8 with : pins

6K** telephonic connector with % pins

*;;,aseT network adapter/ *- 6K%# connector versus (- 6K%# socket Transmission media types in networks of different logical topologies+
10Base T Media Topology Segment length e!i"es per segment e!i"es per networ% Twisted Pair Star, Tree 100 m 10Base 2 Coaxial Bus 185 m 10 Base 5 Coaxial Bus 457 m

#$

#0

100

10$4

10$4

10$4

2. Connecting computers with twisted pair cable

2.1. Ca le and connector structure
The easiest way of constructing local area network is connecting two computers equipped with network interface cards with the aid of cable. 0ne can do it with coa-ial cable %

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or with the twisted pair cable. Type of cable depends on the computer network cards type. There are computers equipped with the twisted pair enabled cards in the laboratory. Therefore in order to connect two computers the * meter long/ cross-over cable should be prepared. Then the correctness of fabricated cables will be tested with dedicated equipment. $chematic construction of 6K-%# connector is presented on the figure below+

?sual twisted pair pin-wires connections+ *.white-orange (. orange &. white-green %. blue #. white-blue ". green . white-brown :. brown 1n the twisted pair transmission medium there are different types of wires pairs assigned to different tasks. 1t has significant importance when trying to connect two computers directly without any patch panel/ hub or switch/ etc. The reason is that the one pair is used for sending data and another one is supposed to e-pect receiving frames/ therefore connecting two computers with the ordinary twisted pair cable would cause a situation when both computers would e-pect frames on the same pair of wires. To eliminate need for using patch panel or other equipment one should switch appropriate pairs of wires to create the so called cross-over cable. There are two pairs of wires switched in this type of cable. 0n the one end of cable we prepare the connector in a usual way with standard positions of wires like for the computer-patch panel or computer-hub/ etc connection. 0n the other end/ we change the position of two pairs of wires/ in a manner that signal send from one computer on the * and ( pins could be received by the other computer on the & and " pins. The correct way of preparing the cross-over cable is presented in the figure below+

Cross-over connector pin scheme+ *. white-green (. green &. white-orange %. blue #. white-blue ". orange . white-brown :. brown

2.1. Practical tips

The following procedure can be helpful during mounting connectors with the cables. *. Cut the end of the cable to make it LsmoothH at the cross section. #

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(. 6emove * cm of the e-ternal isolation shield. )o not remove individual wires isolation. &. 7orm the desired configuration of wires according to schemes provided above. %. Push the cable into the connector to the very bottom.

#. Put connector together with the cables hold deep in the connector into the squee@ing device.

". $quee@e the device . thatMs itN

3. Local network connection configuration

The properties of each installed network card interface are presented in the 'etwork Connections dialog window. This window can be invoked through the Control Panel or by the 'etwork 'eighborhood conte-t menu 2depending on the >indows version3. To configure Local !rea Connection/ one should right click and choose Properties option. )ialog window Local !rea Connection Properties presents information about network card/ clients/ services and protocols.

"

Computer Networks,

1n order to link the communication based on the TCP<1P protocol/ one should configure the properties of this protocol. 7irst/ mark the connection element+ Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and press Properties button. The TCP<1P 1nternet protocol Properties window enables the manual configuration of 1P address settings/ subnet mask and default gateway. 1n standard/ the 1P address is automatically assigned by the )JCP 2)ynamic Jost Configuration Protocol3 server/ but it is enough to switch the option button to change it from dynamic to static mode. )uring laboratory classes one can choose 1P class C addresses with appropriate subnet mask. >orking in pairs/ the task is to configure two cooperating workstations with the following settings+ Computer O* 1P address+ *D(.*":.*.( Computer O( 1P address+ *D(.*":.*.& $ubnet mask+ (##. (##. (##.; )efault gateway+ *D(.*":.*.* The prepared and saved configuration should be tested . communication between computers should be checked. 1n order to do that ping application employment should be enough. Jowever/ the full network interface configuration can be also presented with the aid of ipconfig or ifconfig tools.