Second lecture:

Objectives:
Reference models
Reference model types
Internet components
Network media

Importance of reference model:

Vendor interoperability "standardization".
Better understanding of data transfer.
Reference model types :
OSI (Open System Interconnection).reference model
TCP/IP (DOD Model).commercial model

The TCP/IP model has the following four layers:

 In the mid-1980s, the network technologies that had emerged had been
created with a variety of different hardware and software
implementations.
Each company that created network hardware and software used its own
company standards.
Consequently, many of the new network technologies were incompatible
with each other.
Need:
Achieve open interconnection between multi vendors
Solution -------OSI-RM (reference model).

OSI Model
It standardizes network components to allow multiple vendor
development and support.
It allows different types of network hardware and software to
communicate with each other.
It prevents changes in one layer from affecting other layers.
It divides network communication into smaller parts to make learning it
easier to understand.
The Communication Process
Protocol Data Unit (PDU) The form that a piece of data takes at any
layer.
At each stage of the process, a PDU has a different name to reflect its new
appearance.
PDUs are named according to the protocols of the TCP/IP suite.
Data - The general term for the PDU used at the Application layer
Segment - Transport Layer PDU
Packet - Internet work Layer PDU
Frame - Network Access Layer PDU
Bits - A PDU used when physically transmitting data over the medium

Network components
End devices (servers and hosts)
- Source of applications (network aware applications)
- Ex: HTTP (Hyper Text Transmission Protocol),
FTP (File Transfer Protocol),
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3)
Telnet

Network Devices
- Devices that interconnect different computers together
- Ex: Repeaters, hub, bridge, switch, router, NIC and modems

Connectivity
- Media that physically connect the computers and network devices
- Ex: Wireless and cables
End devices
Computers (work stations, laptops, file servers, web servers)
Network printers
VIPs phones
Security cameras
Mobile handheld devices (such as wireless barcode scanners, PDAS)
End devices are referred to as hosts.
A host device is either the source or destination of a message.

Intermediary devices:
Provide connectivity to the network (switches/hubs)
Connect individual networks (routers)
Examples:
Network Access Devices (Hubs, switches, and wireless access points)
Internetworking Devices (routers)
Security Devices (firewalls)

Network media:
The medium provides the channel over which the message travels from
source to destination.
Metallic wires encoding into patterns of electrical impulses.
Fiber optics – encoding into pulses of light (infrared or visible light
ranges)
Wireless – encoding patterns of electromagnetic waves.

Different media considerations:

Distance it can carry the signal
Environment it works in
Bandwidth
Cost of medium and installation
Cost of connectors and equipment