UNIT -I

Introduction to Computer Networks

Data Communication:When we communicate, we are sharing information. This

sharing can be local or remote. Between individuals, local communication usually
occurs face to face, while remote communication takes place over distance.

Computer Network: A computer network is a set of computers connected

together for the purpose of sharing resources. The most common resource shared
today is connection to the Internet. Other shared resources can include a printer
or a file server. The Internet itself can be considered a computer network.

Components:
A data communications system has five components.

1. Message. The message is the information (data) to be communicated.

Popular forms of information include text, numbers, pictures, audio, and
video.
2. Sender. The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can
be a computer, workstation, telephone handset, video camera, and so on.
3. Receiver. The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can
be a computer, workstation, telephone handset, television, and so on.
4. Transmission medium. The transmission medium is the physical path by which a
message travels from sender to receiver. Some examples of transmission media
include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves
5. Protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications. It
represents an agreement between the communicating devices. Without a protocol,
two devices may be connected but not communicating, just as a person speaking
French cannot be understood by a person who speaks only Japanese.
Data Flow
Communication between two devices can be simplex, half-duplex, or full-duplex
as shown in Figure
Simplex:
In simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, as on a one-way
street. Only one of the two devices on a link can transmit; the other can only receive
(see Figure a). Keyboards and traditional monitors are examples of simplex devices.
The keyboard can only introduce input; the monitor can only accept output. The
simplex mode can use the entire capacity of the channel to send data in one
direction.
Half-Duplex:
In half-duplex mode, each station can both transmit and receive, but not at
the same time. When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice
versa The half-duplex mode is like a one-lane road with traffic allowed in both
directions.
When cars are traveling in one direction, cars going the other way must wait. In a
half-duplex transmission, the entire capacity of a channel is taken over by whichever
of the two devices is transmitting at the time. Walkie-talkies and CB (citizens band)
radios are both half-duplex systems.
The half-duplex mode is used in cases where there is no need for communication
 in both directions at the same time; the entire capacity of the channel can be
utilized for each direction.
Full-Duplex:
In full-duplex both stations can transmit and receive simultaneously (see
Figure c). The full-duplex mode is like a tW<D-way street with traffic flowing in
both directions at the same time. In full-duplex mode, si~nals going in one direction
share the capacity of the link: with signals going in the other din~c~on. This sharing
can occur in two ways: Either the link must contain two physically separate
t:nmsmissiIDn paths, one for sending and the other for receiving; or the capacity of
the ch:arillilel is divided between signals traveling in both directions. One common
example of full-duplex communication is the telephone network. When two people
are communicating by a telephone line, both can talk and listen at the same time. The
full-duplex mode is used when communication in both directions is required all the
time. The capacity of the channel, however, must be divided between the two
directions.
Network hardware

Types of Computer Networks:

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

5
 Local Area Network (LAN) :
 Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each other in a small area
such as building, office.
 LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers through a communication
medium such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.
 It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as hubs, network adapters,
and Ethernet cables.
 The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area Network.
 Local Area Network provides higher security.

Metropolitan Area Network(MAN) : A metropolitan area network, or MAN, covers a city. The best-
known example of a MAN is the cable television network available in many cities. This system
grew from earlier community antenna systems used in areas with poor over-the-air television
reception. In these early systems,
A large antenna was placed on top of a nearby hill and signal was then piped to the subscribers'
houses.

* A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger geographic area by

interconnecting a different LAN to form a larger network.
* Government agencies use MAN to connect to the citizens and private industries.
* In MAN, various LANs are connected to each other through a telephone exchange line.
* The most widely used protocols in MAN are RS-232, Frame Relay, ATM, ISDN, etc.
*It has a higher range than Local Area Network (LAN).
 Fig.: Metropolitan area network based on cable TV.

Wide Area Network (WAN) :

A wide area network, or WAN, spans a large geographical area, often a country or continent. It contains
a collection of machines intended for running user (i.e., application) programs. These machines are
called as hosts. In most WANs, the network contains numerous transmission lines, each one connecting
a pair of routers. If two routers that do not
share a transmission line wish to communicate, they must do this indirectly, via other routers. When a
packet is sent from one route to another via one or more intermediate routers, the packet is received at each
intermediate router in its entirety, stored there until the required output line is free, and then forwarded. A
subnet organized according to this principle is called a store-and-forward or packet-switched subnet.

Fig.: A stream of packets from sender to receiver

* A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large geographical area such as states or
countries.
* A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.
* A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it spans over a large
geographical area through a telephone line, fibre optic cable or satellite links.
* The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
* A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business, government, and education.

Personal Area Network (PAN):

• Personal Area Network is a network arranged within an individual person, typically within a range of
10 meters.
• Personal Area Network is used for connecting the computer devices of personal use is known as
Personal Area Network.
• Thomas Zimmerman was the first research scientist to bring the idea of the Personal Area Network.
• Personal Area Network covers an area of 30 feet.
 Personal computer devices that are used to develop the personal area network are the
aptop, mobile phones, media player and play stations.

Topologies
 What is Topology? :

• Topology defines the structure of the network of how all the components are interconnected to
each other.
• There are two types of topology: physical and logical topology.
• Physical topology is the geometric representation of all the nodes in a network.

1. Bus Topology:

• The bus topology is designed in such a way that all the stations are connected through a single
cable known as a backbone cable.
• Each node is either connected to the backbone cable by drop cable or directly connected to the
backbone cable.
• When a node wants to send a message over the network, it puts a message over the network.
All the stations available in the network will receive the message whether it has been addressed
or not.
• The bus topology is mainly used in 802.3 (Ethernet) and 802.4 standard networks.
• The configuration of a bus topology is quite simpler as compared to other topologies.

• The backbone cable is considered as a "single lane" through which the message is broadcast to all
the stations.
• The most common access method of the bus topologies is CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access).

Advantages and Disadvantages of

Bus Topology: Advantages of Bus Topology :

• It is cost effective.
• Cable required is least compared to other network topology.
• Used in small networks.
• It is easy to understand.
• Easy to expand joining two cables together.
 Disadvantages of Bus Topology :
• Cables fails then whole network fails.
• If network traffic is heavy or nodes are more the performance of the network decreases.
• Cable has a limited length.
It is slower than the ring topology.

2. Ring Topology :
• Ring topology is like a bus topology, but with connected ends.
• The node that receives the message from the previous computer will retransmit to the next node.
• The data flows in one direction, i.e., it is unidirectional.
• The data flows in a single loop continuously known as an endless loop.
• It has no terminated ends, i.e., each node is connected to other node and having no termination
point.
• The data in a ring topology flow in a clockwise direction.
• The most common access method of the ring topology is token passing.
Token passing: It is a network access method in which token is passed from one node to
another node.
Token: It is a frame that circulates around the network

Working of Token passing :

• A token moves around the network, and it is passed from computer to computer until it reaches the
destination.
• The sender modifies the token by putting the address along with the data.
The data is passed from one device to another device until the destination address matches. Once the token
• received by the destination device, then it sends the acknowledgment to the sender.
• In a ring topology, a token is used as a carrier.
•

Advantages and Disadvantages of

Ring topology : Advantages of Ring topology:

 Network Management: Faulty devices can be removed from the network without bringing the network
down.

 Product availability: Many hardware and software tools for network operation and
monitoring are available.

 Cost: Twisted pair cabling is inexpensive and easily available. Therefore, the installation cost is
very low.
  Reliable: It is a more reliable network because the communication system is not dependent
on the single host computer.

Disadvantages of Ring topology :

 Difficult troubleshooting: It requires specialized test equipment to determine the cable
faults. If any fault occurs in the cable, then it would disrupt the communication for all the
nodes.

 Failure: The breakdown in one station leads to the failure of the overall network.

 Reconfiguration difficult: Adding new devices to the network would slow down the network.

 Delay: Communication delay is directly proportional to the number of nodes. Adding

new devices increases the communication delay.

3. Star Topology:

• Star topology is an arrangement of the network in which every node is connected to the central
hub, switch or a central computer.
• The central computer is known as a server, and the peripheral devices attached to the
server are known as clients.
• Coaxial cable or RJ-45 cables are used to connect the computers.
• Hubs or Switches are mainly used as connection devices in a physical star topology.
• Star topology is the most popular topology in network implementation.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Star topology of Star topology:

Advantages of Star topology :

 Efficient troubleshooting: Troubleshooting is quite efficient in a star topology as
compared to bus topology.In a bus topology, the manager has to inspect the kilometers of
cable. In a star topology, all the stations are connected to the centralized network.
 Limited failure: As each station is connected to the central hub with its own cable,
therefore failure in one cable will not affect the entire network.
 Familiar technology: Star topology is a familiar technology as its tools are cost-effective.
  Easily expandable: It is easily expandable as new stations can be added to the open ports on
the hub.

 Cost effective: Star topology networks are cost-effective as it uses inexpensive coaxial cable.
 High data speeds: It supports a bandwidth of approx 100Mbps. Ethernet 100BaseT is
one of the most popular Star topology networks.

Disadvantages of Star topology :

 A Central point of failure: If the central hub or switch goes down, then all the connected
nodes will not be able to communicate with each other.
 Cable: Sometimes cable routing becomes difficult when a significant amount of routing is
required.

4. Tree topology

• Tree topology combines the characteristics of bus topology and star topology.
• A tree topology is a type of structure in which all the computers are connected with each other in
hierarchical fashion.
• The top-most node in tree topology is known as a root node, and all other nodes are the
descendants of the root node.
• There is only one path exists between two nodes for the data transmission. Thus, it forms a
parent -child hierarch

Advantages and Disadvantages of Tree topology:

Advantages of Tree topology:

 Support for broadband transmission: Tree topology is mainly used to provide broadband
transmission, i.e., signals are sent over long distances without being attenuated.
 Easily expandable: We can add the new device to the existing network. Therefore, we can say that
tree topology is easily expandable.
 Easily manageable: In tree topology, the whole network is divided into segments known as star
networks which can be easily managed and maintained.
 Error detection: Error detection and error correction are very easy in a tree topology.
 Limited failure: The breakdown in one station does not affect the entire network.
 Point-to-point wiring: It has point-to-point wiring for individual segments
.
Disadvantages of Tree topology
 Difficult troubleshooting: If any fault occurs in the node, then it becomes difficult to troubleshoot the
problem.
 High cost: Devices required for broadband transmission are very costly.
 Failure: A tree topology mainly relies on main bus cable and failure in main bus cable will
damage the overall network.
 Reconfiguration difficult: If new devices are added, then it becomes difficult to rec

5. Mesh topology
• Mesh technology is an arrangement of the network in which computers are interconnected
with each other through various redundant connections.
• There are multiple paths from one computer to another computer.
• It does not contain the switch, hub or any central computer which acts as a central point of
communication.
• The Internet is an example of the mesh topology.
• Mesh topology is mainly used for WAN implementations where communication failures are a
critical concern.
• Mesh topology is mainly used for wireless networks.
• Mesh topology can be formed by using the formula:

Number of cables = (n*(n-1))/2;

Where n is the number of nodes that represents the network.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Mesh topology : Advantages of

Mesh topology:
 Reliable: The mesh topology networks are very reliable as if any link breakdown will
not affect the communication between connected computers.
 Fast Communication: Communication is very fast between the nodes.
 Easier Reconfiguration: Adding new devices would not disrupt the communication
between other Devices Disadvantages of Mesh topology
 Cost: A mesh topology contains a large number of connected devices such as a
router and more transmission media than other topologies.

 Management: Mesh topology networks are very large and very difficult to maintain and
 manage. If the network is not monitored carefully, then the communication link failure
goes undetected.
 Efficiency: In this topology, redundant connections are high that reduces the efficiency of the
network.

6. Hybrid Topology
 The combination of various different topologies is known as Hybrid topology.
 A Hybrid topology is a connection between different links and nodes to transfer the data.
 When two or more different topologies are combined together is termed as Hybrid topology and if
similar topologies are connected with each other will not result in Hybrid topology. For example,
if there exist a ring topology in one branch of ICICI bank and bus topology in another branch of
ICICI bank, connecting these
two topologies will result in Hybrid topology.

NETWORK SOFTWARE
1. Protocol hierarchy
2. Design issues for layers
3. Connection oriented services
4. Connection less services
5. Relationship to services to protocols
6. Services primitives

LAYERED TASKS

We use the concept of layers in our daily life. As an example, let us consider
two friends who communicate through postal maiL The process of sending a letter to a
friend would be complex if there were no services available from the post office. Below
Figure shows the steps in this task.
 Sender, Receiver, and Carrier
In Figure we have a sender, a receiver, and a carrier that transports the letter. There is a
hierarchy of tasks.
At the Sender Site

Let us first describe, in order, the activities that take place at the sender site.
 Higher layer. The sender writes the letter, inserts the letter in an envelope, writes
the sender and receiver addresses, and drops the letter in a mailbox.
 Middle layer. The letter is picked up by a letter carrier and delivered to the post office.
 Lower layer. The letter is sorted at the post office; a carrier transports the letter.
0n the Way: The letter is then on its way to the recipient. On the way to the recipient's local post
office, the letter may actually go through a central office. In addition, it may be transported by
truck, train, airplane, boat, or a combination of these.

At the Receiver Site

 Lower layer. The carrier transports the letter to the post office.
 Middle layer. The letter is sorted and delivered to the recipient's mailbox.
 Higher layer. The receiver picks up the letter, opens the envelope, and reads it.

The OSI Reference Model:

The OSI model (minus the physical medium) is shown in Fig. This model is based
on a proposal developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as a first
step toward international standardization of the protocols used in the various layers
(Day and Zimmermann, 1983). It was revised in 1995(Day, 1995). The model is
called the ISO-OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Reference Model because it
 deals with connecting open systems—that is, systems that are open for
communication with other systems.
The OSI model has seven layers. The principles that were applied to arrive at the
seven layers can be briefly summarized as follows:
1. A layer should be created where a different abstraction is needed.
2. Each layer should perform a well-defined function.
3. The function of each layer should be chosen with an eye toward defining
internationally standardized protocols.
4. The layer boundaries should be chosen to minimize the information flow across the interfaces.
5. The number of layers should be large enough that distinct functions need not be
thrown together in the same layer out of necessity and small enough that the
architecture does not become unwieldy.

OSI REFERENCE MODEL

Physical Layer
The physical layer is concerned with transmitting raw bits over a communication
channel. The design issues have to do with making sure that when one side sends a 1
bit, it is received by the other side as a 1 bit, not as a 0 bit.
The Data Link Layer:
The main task of the data link layer is to transform a raw transmission facility into a
line that appears free of undetected transmission errors to the network layer. It
accomplishes this task by having the sender break up the input data into data frames
(typically a few hundred or a few thousand bytes) and transmits the frames
sequentially. If the service is reliable, the receiver confirms correct receipt of each
frame by sending back an acknowledgement frame.
Another issue that arises in the data link layer (and most of the higher layers as well)
is how to keep a fast transmitter from drowning a slow receiver in data. Some traffic
regulation mechanism is often needed to let the transmitter know how much buffer
space the receiver has at the moment. Frequently, this flow regulation and the error
handling are integrated.

The Network Layer:

The network layer controls the operation of the subnet. A key design issue is
determining how packets are routed from source to destination. Routes can be based
on static tables that are ''wired into'' the network and rarely changed. They can also
be determined at the start of each conversation, for example, a terminal session (e.g.,
a login to a remote machine). Finally, they can be highly dynamic, being determined
anew for each packet, to reflect the current network load.
If too many packets are present in the subnet at the same time, they will get in one
another's way, forming bottlenecks. The control of such congestion also belongs to
the network layer. More generally, the quality of service provided (delay, transit
time, jitter, etc.) is also a network layer issue.
When a packet has to travel from one network to another to get to its destination,
many problems can arise. The addressing used by the second network may be
different from the first one. The second one may not accept the packet at all because
it is too large. The protocols may differ, and so on. It is up to the network layer to
overcome all these problems to allow heterogeneous networks to be interconnected.
In broadcast networks, the routing problem is simple, so the network layer is often
thin or even nonexistent.

The Transport Layer:

The basic function of the transport layer is to accept data from above, split it up into
smaller units if need be, pass these to the network layer, and ensure that the pieces all
arrive correctly at the other end. Furthermore, all this must be done efficiently and in
a way that isolates the upper layers from the inevitable changes in the hardware
technology. The transport layer also determines what type of service to provide to
the session layer, and, ultimately, to the users of the network. The most popular type
of transport connection is an error-free point-to-point channel that delivers messages
or bytes in the order in which they were sent. However, other possible kinds of
 transport service are the transporting of isolated messages, with no guarantee about
the order of delivery, and the broadcasting of messages to multiple destinations. The
type of service is determined when the connection is established.
The transport layer is a true end-to-end layer, all the way from the source to the
destination. In other words, a program on the source machine carries on a
conversation with a similar program on the destination machine, using the message
headers and control messages.

The Session Layer:

The session layer allows users on different machines to establish sessions between
them. Sessions offer various services, including dialog control (keeping track of
whose turn it is to transmit), token management (preventing two parties from
attempting the same critical operation at the same time), and synchronization (check
pointing long transmissions to allow them to continue from where they were after a
crash).
The Presentation Layer:
The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information
transmitted. In order to make it possible for computers with different data
representations to communicate, the data structures to be exchanged can be defined
in an abstract way, along with a standard encoding to be used ''on the wire.'' The
presentation layer manages these abstract data structures and allows higher-level
data structures (e.g., banking records), to be defined and exchanged.

The Application Layer:

The application layer contains a variety of protocols that are commonly needed by
users. One widely-used application protocol is HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol),
which is the basis for the World Wide Web. When a browser wants a Web page, it
sends the name of the page it wants to the server using HTTP. The server then sends
the page back. Other application protocols are used for file transfer, electronic mail,
and network news.

The TCP/IP Reference Model:

The TCP/IP reference model was developed prior to OSI model. The major design
goals of this model were,
1. To connect multiple networks together so that they appear as a single network.
2. To survive after partial subnet hardware failures.
3. To provide a flexible architecture.
Unlike OSI reference model, TCP/IP reference model has only 4 layers. They are,
1. Host-to-Network Layer
2. Internet Layer
3. Transport Layer
4. Application Layer

Host-to-Network Layer:
The TCP/IP reference model does not really say much about what happens here,
except to point out that the host has to connect to the network using some protocol
so it can send IP packets to it. This protocol is not defined and varies from host to
host and network to network.
Internet Layer:
This layer, called the internet layer, is the linchpin that holds the whole architecture
together. Its job is to permit hosts to inject packets into any network and have they
travel independently to the destination (potentially on a different network). They
may even arrive in a different order than they were sent, in which case it is the job of
higher layers to rearrange them, if in-order delivery is desired. Note that ''internet'' is
used here in a generic sense, even though this layer is present in the Internet.
The internet layer defines an official packet format and protocol called IP (Internet
Protocol). The job of the internet layer is to deliver IP packets where they are
supposed to go. Packet routing is clearly the major issue here, as is avoiding
congestion. For these reasons, it is reasonable to say that the TCP/IP internet layer is
similar in functionality to the OSI network layer. Fig. shows this correspondence.
The Transport Layer:
The layer above the internet layer in the TCP/IP model is now usually called the
transport layer. It is designed to allow peer entities on the source and destination
hosts to carry on a conversation, just as in the OSI transport layer. Two end-to-end
transport protocols have been defined here. The first one, TCP (Transmission
Control Protocol), is a reliable connection- oriented protocol that allows a byte
stream originating on one machine to be delivered without error on any other
machine in the internet. It fragments the incoming byte stream into discrete messages
and passes each one on to the internet layer. At the destination, the receiving TCP
process reassembles the received messages into the output stream. TCP also handles
flow control
to make sure a fast sender cannot swamp a slow receiver with more messages than it can handle.

Fig.1: The TCP/IP reference model.

The second protocol in this layer, UDP (User Datagram Protocol), is an unreliable,
connectionless protocol for applications that do not want TCP's sequencing or flow
control and wish to provide their own. It is also widely used for one-shot, client-
server-type request-reply queries and applications in which prompt delivery is more
important than accurate delivery, such as transmitting speech or video. The relation
of IP, TCP, and UDP is shown in Fig.2. Since the model was developed, IP has been
implemented on many other networks.

Fig.2: Protocols and networks in the TCP/IP model initially.

The Application Layer:

The TCP/IP model does not have session or presentation layers. On top of the
transport layer is the application layer. It contains all the higher-level protocols. The
 early ones included virtual terminal (TELNET), file transfer (FTP), and electronic
mail (SMTP), as shown in Fig.6.2. The virtual terminal protocol allows a user on one
machine to log onto a distant machine and work there. The file transfer protocol
provides a way to move data efficiently from one machine to another. Electronic
mail was originally just a kind of file transfer, but later a specialized protocol
(SMTP) was developed for it. Many other protocols have been added to these over
the years: the Domain Name System (DNS) for mapping host names onto their
network addresses, NNTP, the protocol for moving USENET news articles around,
and HTTP, the protocol for fetching pages on the World Wide Web, and many
others.

Comparison of the OSI and TCP/IP Reference Models:

The OSI and TCP/IP reference models have much in common. Both are
based on the concept of a stack of independent protocols. Also, the functionality of
the layers is roughly similar. For example, in both models the layers up through and
including the transport layer are there to provide an end-to-end, network-
independent transport service to processes wishing to communicate. These layers
form the transport provider. Again in both models, the layers above transport are
application-oriented users of the transport service. Despite these fundamental
similarities, the two models also have many differences Three concepts are central to
the OSI model:
1. Services.
2. Interfaces.
3. Protocols.
Probably the biggest contribution of the OSI model is to make the distinction
between these three concepts explicit. Each layer performs some services for the
layer above it. The service definition tells what the layer does, not how entities
above it access it or how the layer works. It defines the layer's semantics.
A layer's interface tells the processes above it how to access it. It specifies what the
parameters are and what results to expect. It, too, says nothing about how the layer
works inside.
Finally, the peer protocols used in a layer are the layer's own business. It can use any
protocols it wants to, as long as it gets the job done (i.e., provides the offered services). It
can also change them at will without affecting software in higher layers.
The TCP/IP model did not originally clearly distinguish between service, interface, and
protocol, although people have tried to retrofit it after the fact to make it more OSI-like. For
example, the only real services offered by the internet layer are SEND IP PACKET and
RECEIVE IP

ARPANET
This may be considered as the breakthrough for many of current ideas, algorithms and
Internet technologies. It started Paul Baran in 1960s funded by Advanced Research Projects
Agency (ARPA), an organization of the united States Defense Department and, therefore,
named as Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) predecessor of the
modern Internet. It was world’s first fully operational packet switching computer network
and the world’s first successful computer network to implement the TCP/IP reference
model that was used earlier by ARPANET, before being used in the Internet. The
ARPANET is the first network that planed the seed of interent.

ARPANET was built to accommodate research equipment on packet switching technology

and to allow resource sharing for the Department of Defense’s contractors. The network
interconnected research centers, some military bases and government locations. It soon
became popular with researchers for collaboration through electronic mail and other
services.

• It is basically a WAN. It was developed by the ARPA (Advanced Research Project

Agency) in 1968 which is the research arm of 000.
• ARPANET was designed to service even a nuclear attack.
• Before ARPANET, the networks were basically the telephone networks which operated
on the circuit switching principle.
• But this network was too vulnerable, because the loss of even one line or switch would
terminate all the conversations.
• ARPANET used the concept of packet switching network consisting of subnet and host
computers.
• The subnet was a datagram subnet and each subnet consists of minicomputers called IMPs
(Interface Message Processors).
• Each node of the network used to have an IMP and a host connected by a short wire.
• The host could send messages of upto 8063 bits to its IMP which would break them into
 packets and forward them independently toward the destination.
• The subnet was the first electronic store-and-forward type packet switched network. So
each packet was stored before it was forwarded.

THE INTERNET
The Internet has revolutionized many aspects of our daily lives. It has affected the
way we do business as well as the way we spend our leisure time. Count the ways
you've used the Internet recently. Perhaps you've sent electronic mail (e-mail) to a
business associate, paid a utility bill, read a newspaper from a distant city, or looked
up a local movie schedule-all by using the Internet. The Internet is a communication
system that has brought a wealth of information to our fingertips and organized it for
our use.

A Brief History :
A network is a group of connected communicating devices such as computers and
printers. An internet (note the lowercase letter i) is two or more networks that can
communicate with each other. The most notable internet is called the Internet
(uppercase letter I), a collaboration of more than hundreds of thousands of
interconnected networks. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the
Department of Defense (DoD) was interested in finding a way to connect computers
so that the researchers they funded could share their findings, thereby reducing costs
and eliminating duplication of effort. In 1967, at an Association for Computing
Machinery (ACM) meeting, ARPA presented its ideas for ARPANET, a small
network of connected
computers.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internetworking Protocol (lP). IP would
handle datagram routing while TCP would be responsible for higher-level functions
such as segmentation, reassembly, and error detection. The internetworking protocol
became known as TCPIIP.
The Internet Today
The Internet has come a long way since the 1960s. The Internet today is not a simple
hierarchical structure. It is made up of many wide- and local-area networks joined by
connecting devices and switching stations. It is difficult to give an accurate
representation of the Internet because it is continually changing-new networks are
being added, existing networks are adding addresses, and networks of defunct
companies are being removed.

Internet service provider (ISP), company that provides Internet connections and
services to individuals and organizations. In addition to providing access to the
Internet, ISPs may also provide software packages (such as browsers), e-mail
accounts, and a personal Web site or home page.

POP protocol is used in the application layer protocol, and it delivers best ability to
fetch and receive all email by users.
 International Internet Service Providers:

At the top of the hierarchy are the international service providers that
connect nations together.
National Internet Service Providers:

The national Internet service providers are backbone networks created and
maintained by specialized companies. There are many national ISPs operating in
North America; some of the most well known are SprintLink, PSINet, UUNet
Technology, AGIS, and internet Mel. To provide connectivity between the end
users, these backbone networks are connected by complex switching stations
(normally run by a third party) called network access points (NAPs). Some national
ISP networks are also connected to one another by private switching stations called
peering points. These normally operate at a high data rate (up to 600 Mbps).
Regional Internet Service Providers:

Regional internet service providers or regional ISPs are smaller ISPs that are
connected to one or more national ISPs. They are at the third level of the hierarchy
with a smaller data rate.

Local Internet Service Providers:

Local Internet service providers provide direct service to the end users. The
local ISPs can be connected to regional ISPs or directly to national ISPs. Most end
users are connected to the local ISPs. Note that in this sense, a local ISP can be a
company that just provides Internet services, a corporation with a network that
supplies services to its own employees, or a nonprofit organization, such as a college
or a university,that runs its own network. Each of these local ISPs can be connected
to a regional or national service provider.
Types of Transmission Medias
1. Guided Transmission Media
2. Unguided Transmission Media Guided Transmission Media :
It is defined as the physical medium through which the signals are
transmitted. It is also known as Bounded media
There are several types of cable which are commonly used with LANs. In
some cases, a network will utilize only one type of cable, other networks will use a
variety of cable types. The type of cable chosen for a network is related to the
network’s topology, protocol, and size. Understanding the characteristics of different
types of cable and how they relate to other aspects of a network is necessary for the
 development of a successful network.

1. Twisted Pair Cable : Twisted pair is a physical media made up of a pair of cables
twisted with each other. A twisted pair cable is cheap as compared to other
transmission media. Installation of the twisted pair cable is easy, and it is a
lightweight cable. The frequency range for twisted pair cable is from 0 to 3.5KHz.

Types of Twisted pair:

•Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

•Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

Twisted pair cabling comes in two varieties: shielded and unshielded. Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) is the most
popular and is generally the best option for school networks.
 Figure 2.1 Unshielded Twisted Pair
The quality of UTP may vary from telephone-grade wire to extremely high-speed cable. The cable has four
pairs of wires inside the jacket. Each pair is twisted with a different number of twists per inch to help
eliminate interference from adjacent pairs and other electrical devices. The tighter the twisting, the higher the
supported transmission rate and the greater the cost per foot. The EIA/TIA (Electronic Industry Association /
Telecommunication Industry Association) has established standards of UTP and rated five categories of wire.

Type Use
Category 1 Voice Only (Telephone Wire)
Category 2 Data to 4 Mbps (LocalTalk)

Category 3 Data to 10 Mbps (Ethernet)

Category 4 Data to 20 Mbps (16 Mbps Token Ring)
Category 5 Data to 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)

Table Categories of Unshielded Twisted Pair

Advantages Of Unshielded Twisted Pair:

• It is cheap.
• Installation of the unshielded twisted pair is easy.
• It can be used for high-speed LAN.
Disadvantage:
• This cable can only be used for shorter distances because of attenuation.

Unshielded Twisted Pair Connector

The standard connector for unshielded twisted pair cabling is an RJ-45 connector. This is a plastic
connector that looks like a large telephone-style connector (See fig. 2.2). a slot allows the RJ-45 to
be inserted only one way. RJ stands for Registered Jack, implying that the connector follows a
standard borrowed from the telephone industry. This standard designates which wire goes with each
pin inside the connector.
Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable :
A shielded twisted pair is a cable that contains the mesh surrounding the wire that allows the higher transmission
rate.

A disadvantage of UTP is that it may be susceptible to radio and electrical frequency interference.
Shielded twisted pair |(STP) is suitable for environments with electrical interference; however, the
extra shielding can make the cables quite bulky. Shielded twisted pair is often used on networks
using Token Ring topology.

Characteristics Of Shielded Twisted Pair:

• The cost of the shielded twisted pair cable is not very high and not very low.

• An installation of STP is easy.

• It has higher capacity as compared to unshielded twisted pair cable.

• It has a higher attenuation.

• It is shielded that provides the higher data transmission rate.

Disadvantages
• It is more expensive as compared to UTP and coaxial cable.

• It has a higher attenuation rate.

1. Coaxial Cable

Coaxial cable is very commonly used transmission media, for example, TV wire is usually a coaxial
cable.
Coaxial cabling has a single copper conductor at its center. A plastic layer provides insulation
between the center conductor and the braided metal shield (See fig. 3). The metal shield helps to
block any outside interference from fluorescent lights, motors, and other computers.
 Fig. 2.3 Coaxial cable

• The name of the cable is coaxial as it contains two conductors parallel to each other.
• It has a higher frequency as compared to Twisted pair cable.
• The inner conductor of the coaxial cable is made up of copper, and the outer conductor is
made up of copper mesh. The middle core is made up of non-conductive cover that separates
the inner conductor from the outer conductor.

• Thin coaxial cable is also referred to as thinnet. 10base2 refers to the specifications for thin coaxial cable
carrying Ethernet signals. The 2 refers to the approximate maximum segment length being 200 meters. In
actual fact the maximum segment length is 185 meters. Thin coaxial cable is popular in school networks,
especially linear bus networks.

• Thick coaxial cable is also referred to as thicknet. 10base refers to the specifications for thick coaxial
cable carrying Ethernet signals. The 5 refers to the maximum segment length being 500 meters. Thick
coaxial cable has an extra protective plastic cover that helps keep moisture away from the center
conductor. This makes thick coaxial a great choice when running longer lengths in a linear bus network.
One disadvantage of thick coaxial is that it does not bend easily and is difficult to install.

Types of Coaxial cable

Baseband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting a single signal at high speed.
Broadband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting multiple signals simultaneously.

Advantages Of Coaxial cable:

• The data can be transmitted at high speed.
• It has better shielding as compared to twisted pair cable.
• It provides higher bandwidth.
Disadvantages Of Coaxial cable:
• It is more expensive as compared to twisted pair cable.
If any fault occurs in the cable causes the failure in the entire network.

Fiber Optic Cable :

• Fiber optic cable is a cable that uses electrical signals for communication.
• Fiber optic is a cable that holds the optical fibers coated in plastic that are used to send the
data by pulses of light.
 • The plastic coating protects the optical fibers from heat, cold, electromagnetic
interference from other types of wiring.

Fiber optics provide faster data transmission than copper wires

Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective
materials. It transmits light rather than electronic signals eliminating the problem of electrical
interference.

This makes it ideal for certain environments that contain a large amount of electrical interference. It
has also made it the standard for connecting networks between buildings, due to its immunity to the
effects of moisture and lighting.
Fiber optic cable has the ability to transmit signals over much longer distances than coaxial and
twisted pair. It also has made it the standard for connecting networks between buildings, due to its
immunity to the effects of moisture and lighting.
Fiber optic cable has the ability to transmit signals over mush longer distances than coaxial and
twisted pair. It also has the capability to carry information at vastly greater speeds. This capacity
broadens communication possibilities to include services such as video conferencing and interactive
services. The cost of fiber optic cabling is comparable to copper cabling; however it is more
difficult to install and modify. 10BaseF refers to the specifications for fiber optic cable carrying
Ethernet signals.

Fig-1. Fiber Optic Cable

Facts about fiber optic cables:

 Outer insulating jacket is made of Teflon or PVC.
 Kevlar fiber helps to strengthen the cable and prevent breakage.
 A plastic coating is used to cushion the fiber center.
 Center (core) is made of glass or plastic fibers.
Fiber Optic Connector

The most common connector used with fiber optic cable is an ST connector. It is barrel shaped,
similar to a BNC connector. A newer connector, the SC, is becoming more popular. It has a
squared face and is easier to connect in a confined space.
Specification Cable Type Maximum length

10BaseT Unshielded Twisted Pair 100 meters

10Base2 Thin Coaxial 185 meters

10Base5 Thick Coaxial 500 meters

10BaseF Fiber Optic 2000 meters

100BaseT Unshielded Twisted Pair 100 meters

100BaseTX Unshielded Twisted Pair 220 meters

Table : Ethernet Cable Summary

Unguided Transmission Media:

Unguided transmission media is data signals that flow through the air. They are not guided or
bound to a channel to follow.

Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. This type of
communication is often referred to as wireless communication. Signals are normally broadcast
through free space and thus are available to anyone who has a device receiving them. Unguided
signals can travel from the source to destination in several ways: ground propagation, sky
propagation, and line-of-sight propagation.
In ground propagation, radio waves travel through the lowest portion of the atmosphere, hugging
the earth. These low-frequency signals emanate in all directions from the transmitting antenna and
follow the curvature of the planet. Distance depends on the amount of power in the signal: The
greater the power, the greater the distance. Ground waves have carrier frequencies up to 2 MHz.
AM radio is an example of ground wave propagation.

Fig. 2.6 Ground Wave Propagation

In sky propagation, higher frequency radio waves radiate upward into the ionosphere (the layer of
atmosphere where the particles exist as ions) where they are reflected back to the earth. This type of
 transmission allows for greater distances with lower output power.

It is sometimes called double hop propagation. It operates in the frequency range of 30 – 85 MHz.
Because it depends on the earth’s ionosphere, it changes with the weather and time of day. The signal
bounces off of the ionosphere and back to the earth. Ham radios operate in this range. Other books called
this Ionospheric propagation.

Fig. 2.7 Ionospheric Propagation

In line-of-sight propagation, very high-frequency signals are transmitted in straight lines directly
from antenna to antenna. Antennas must be directional, facing each other and either tall enough or
close enough together not to be affected by the curvature the earth. Line-of- sight propagation is
tricky because radio transmission cannot be completely focused.
It is sometimes called space waves or tropospheric propagation. It is limited by the curvature of the
earth for ground-based stations (100 km, from horizon to horizon). Reflected waves can cause
promlems. Axamples are: FM radio, microwave and satellite.

Fig. 2.8 Line-of-sight Propagation

We can divide wireless transmission into three broad groups: radio waves, microwaves, and
infrared waves.

1. Radio Waves
Electromagnetic waves ranging in frequencies between 3 kHz and 1 GHz are normally called radio
waves.
 Radio waves are omnidirectional. When antenna transmits radio waves, they are propagated in all
directions. This means that the sending and receiving antennas do not have to be aligned. A
sending antenna sends waves that can be received by any receiving antenna.

Fig: Omnidirectional antenna

The omnidirectional property has a disadvantage too. The radio waves transmitted by one antenna
are susceptible to interference by another antenna that may send signals using the same frequency
or band.

Radio waves, particularly those of low and medium frequencies, can penetrate walls. This
characteristic can be both an advantage and disadvantage. It is an advantage because, for example,
an AM radio can receive signals inside a building. It is a disadvantage because we cannot isolate a
communication to just inside or outside a building.

2. Microwaves
Electromagnetic waves having frequencies between 1 and 300 GHz are called microwaves.
Microwaves are unidirectional. When an antenna transmits microwave waves, they can be narrowly
focused. This means that the sending and receiving antennas need to be aligned. The
unidirectional property has an obvious advantage. A pair of antennas can be aligned without
interfering with another pair of aligned antennas. The following describes some characteristics of
microwave propagation:

 Microwave propagation is line-of-sight. Since towers with the mounted antennas need to be
in direct sight of each other. This also set a limit on the distance between stations
depending on the local geography. Towers that are far apart need to be very tall. The
curvature of the earth as well as other blocking obstacles does not allow two short towers to
communicate by using microwaves. Typically the line of sight due to the Earth’s curvature
is only 50 km to the horizon. Repeaters are often needed for long-distance communication.
 Very high frequency microwaves cannot penetrate walls. This characteristic can be a
disadvantage if receivers are inside the buildings.
 The microwave band is relatively wide, almost 299 GHz. Therefore wider subbands can be
assigned, and a high data rate is possible.
 Use of certain portions of the band requires permission from authorities.
3. Infrared Waves
Infrared waves, with frequencies from 300 GHz to 400 THz (wavelengths from 1 mm to 770 mm),
can be used for short-range communication. Infrared waves, having high frequencies, cannot
penetrate walls. This advantageous characteristic prevents interference between one

system and another; a short-range communication system in one room cannot be affected by
another system in the next room. When we use our infrared remote control, we do not
interfere with the use of the remote of our neighbors. However, this same characteristic makes
infrared signals useless for long-range communication. In addition, we cannot use infrared waves
outside a building because the sun’s rays contain infrared waves that can interfere with the
communication.

Satellite
Satellites are transponders (units that receive on one frequency and retransmit on another) that
are set in geostationary orbits directly over the equator. These geostationary orbits are 36, 000 km
from the Earths’s surface. At this point, the gravitational pull of the Earth and the centrifugal force
of Earth’s rotation are balanced and cancel each other out. Centrifugal force is the rotational force
placed on the satellite that wants to fling it out into the space.

Fig. Satellite Communication

The uplink is the transmitter of data to the satellite. The downlink is the receiver of data. Uplinks
and downlinks are also called Earth stations because they are located on the Earth. The footprint is
the “shadow” that the satellite can transmit to, the shadow being the area that can receive the
satellite’s transmitted signal.
 Fig. Uplink and Downlink

NETWORK DEVICES

Network Devices: Network devices, also known as networking hardware, are physical devices that allow hardware on a
computer network to communicate and interact with one another. For example Repeater, Hub, Bridge, Switch, Routers,
Gateway, Brouter, and NIC, etc.

1. Repeater – A repeater operates at the physical layer. Its job is to regenerate the signal over the same network before
the signal becomes too weak or corrupted to extend the length to which the signal can be transmitted over the same
network. An important point to be noted about repeaters is that they not only amplify the signal but also regenerate it.
When the signal becomes weak, they copy it bit by bit and regenerate it at its star topology connectors connecting
following the original strength. It is a 2-port device.

2. Hub – A hub is a basically multi-port repeater. A hub connects multiple wires coming from different branches,
for example, the connector in star topology which connects different stations. Hubs cannot filter data, so data
packets are sent to all connected devices. In other words, the collision domain of all hosts connected through
Hub remains one. Also, they do not have the intelligence to find out the best path for data packets which leads
to inefficiencies and wastage.
3. Bridge – A bridge operates at the data link layer. A bridge is a repeater, with add on the functionality of
filtering content by reading the MAC addresses of the source and destination. It is also used for interconnecting
two LANs working on the same protocol. It has a single input and single output port, thus making it a 2 port
device.
4. Switch – A switch is a multiport bridge with a buffer and a design that can boost its efficiency(a large number
of ports imply less traffic) and performance. A switch is a data link layer device. The switch can perform error
checking before forwarding data, which makes it very efficient as it does not forward packets that have errors
and forward good packets selectively to the correct port only. In other words, the switch divides the collision
domain of hosts, but the broadcast domain remains the same.
5. Routers – A router is a device like a switch that routes data packets based on their IP addresses. The router is
mainly a Network Layer device. Routers normally connect LANs and WANs and have a dynamically updating
routing table based on which they make decisions on routing the data packets. The router divides the broadcast
domains of hosts connected through it.
6. Gateway – A gateway, as the name suggests, is a passage to connect two networks that may work upon
different networking models. They work as messenger agents that take data from one system, interpret it, and
transfer it to another system. Gateways are also called protocol converters and can operate at any network layer.
Gateways are generally more complex than switches or routers. A gateway is also called a protocol converter .
7. NIC – NIC or network interface card is a network adapter that is used to connect the computer to the network.
It is installed in the computer to establish a LAN. It has a unique id that is written on the chip, and it has a
connector to connect the cable to it. The cable acts as an interface between the computer and the router or
modem. NIC card is a layer 2 device which means that it works on both the physical and data link layers of the
network model.