NETWORK: interconnection of computers to form a network.

is a communication system, which supports many users.

Internetwork : it is connection of two or more N/w's.

Goals of Network:
1. Sharing information.
2. Sharing resources.
3. To facilitate centralized management of resources, software, data backup and network security.
4. To increase the speed of communication.
5. To reduce the cost.
6. To improve security.
7. To provide access to remote information.
8. To felicitate person to person communication. (e-mail)
9. To provide inter-active communication (gaming, videos on demand).

Computer Network Uses:

1. For companies – (many computers)
1. For resource sharing.
2. For providing high reliability.
3. To save money.
4. It can provide powerful communication medium.
2. For People-
1. Access to remote information. Eg. Home shopping, paying bills, e-banking, online share
market, newspaper, digital books, magazine, journals, business, science, sports, health,
history, cooking, government etc.
2. Person to Person communication - e-mail, real time video conferencing.
3. Interactive entertainment :- video on demand, quiz contest, discussion etc.

Types of Transmission :

1. Broadcast Network. -
 Has single communication channel, that is shared and used by all the m/c’s on the
network.
 Messages (called Packets) is sent by any m/c , and are received by all the others.
 On receiving a packet, it is checked for the address field; if the packet is addressed to it;
then it would be processed, otherwise ignored.
2. Point to Point N/w –
 It consists of many connections between individual pairs of machine.
 Packet has to follow multiple routes of different length. Hence Routing algorithm are very
important in point to point N/w.
NETWORK DEVICES.

CONNECTING DEVICES :
We divide connecting devices into five different categories based
on the layer in which they operate in a network.

The five categories contain devices :

1. Those which operate below the physical layer such as a passive hub.
2. Those which operate at the physical layer (a repeater or an active hub).
3. Those which operate at the physical and data link layers (a bridge or a two-layer switch).
4. Those which operate at the physical, data link, and network layers (a router or a three-layer switch).
5. Those which can operate at all five layers (a gateway).

Passive Hubs

A passive hub is just a connector.

It connects the wires coming from different branches.

Repeaters :
Is a device that operates only in the physical
layer. A repeater receives a signal and, before it
becomes too weak or corrupted, regenerates
the original bit pattern. The repeater then sends
the refreshed signal. It extend the physical
length of a LAN. It does not actually connect two
LANs; it connects two segments of the same LAN. A
repeater can overcome the 10Base5 Ethernet length
restriction. In this standard, the length of the cable is
limited to 500 m. To extend this length we install
repeaters between segments. The repeater operates
only in the physical layer. A repeater forwards every
frame; it has no filtering capability. Don’t compare a
repeater to an amplifier. An amplifier cannot
distinguish between the signal and noise; it amplifies
both. A repeater does not amplify the signal; it
regenerates the signal, when it receives a weakened or
corrupted signal, it creates a copy, of the original strength. Thus repeater is a regenerator, not an
amplifier.
Active Hubs :
An active hub is actually a multipart repeater. It is normally
used to create connections between stations in a physical
star topology.

Bridges :
It operates in both physical and the data link layer. As a
physical layer device, it regenerates the signal it receives. As a
data link layer device, the bridge can check the physical (MAC)
addresses (source and destination) contained in the frame.

Routers :
It is a three-layer
device that routes
packets based on
their logical addresses
(host-to-host
addressing). A router normally connects LANs and WANs in the Internet and has a routing table that is
used for making decisions about the route. The routing tables are normally dynamic and are updated
using routing protocols.

Gateway :
A gateway is normally a computer that operates in all five layers of the Internet or seven layers of OSI .
It takes an application message, reads it, and interprets it. This means that it can be used as a
connecting device between two internetworks
that use different models. Eg., a network
designed to use the OSI model can be connected
to another network using the Internet model.
Gateways can provide security.
Protocols:
Rules and procedures set up to send and receive digital data. (serial). Such rules and procedures are
called Protocols. Messages are made of characters. n no. of characters forms a block. Huge message is
broken into blocks. To identify a block one or more special characters are added before and after the
block. Some characters are added at the beginning and end for “handshaking”.

Eg. Transmitter sends Ready signal to Receiver, indicating that it is ready to send the data. If Receiver
sends Busy signal, it indicates, its busy. The Transmitter will send the data, when the Receiver is Ready.

Types of Communication :
Based on whether the system communicates only in one direction or otherwise.

1. Simplex system: In this system, information is transmitted in only

one direction.
Eg. Radio and TV Broadcasting – transmitters. They cannot receive.
Communication from CPU to monitor and from keyboard to CPU is
unidirectional.

2. Half Duplex System : These systems are

bidirectional. i.e. they can transmit, as well as
Receive, but not simultaneously.
At a time, these systems can either transmit or
receive. Eg. Transmitters or walky talky – each
station can transmit and receive, but not at same
time. When one device is sending, the other one is
receiving & vice-versa.

3. Full Duplex: They are truly bi-directional

systems, as they allow communication to take
place in both directions, simultaneously. They
can transmit and receive, simultaneously.
(telephone system). In full Duplex, signals going in either direction share the full capacity of link.
These links may contain two physically separate transmission paths, one for sending and
another for receiving. Otherwise the capacity of channel is divided between signal travelling in
both directions.

Network classification : (Geographically). [

Categories of N/w]:
It can be classified based on the geographical
area they cover. I.e. area over which the N/w is
spread.
LAN : designed to operate over small physical area. Eg. Office, factory, group of building.

 They are easy to design and troubleshoot.

 Exchange of information or sharing resources.
 Has various topologies.
 Operates at 100 Mbits/sec.
 One computer can be server and all
other as clients.
 LAN size depends on license ..

MAN : Metropolitan Area Network.

 Bigger version of LAN. It can extend to

an entire city.
 Eg. Single N/w such as “cable TV
operator” – it is wholly owned and
operated by a private company, or it
can be a service provider by public company. (telco).
 It is designed by IEEE802.6 standard known as DQDB. (Distributed Queue Dual Bus)

DQDB:
 It consists of two unidirectional cables (buses) to which all the computers are connected.
 Each bus has a device which initiates the transmission activity called on the head end.
 Traffic that is designated for a computer to the right of the sender uses the upper bus, and
to the left uses the lower Bus.

WAN : [Wide Area Network ]

 Over large distance.
 Wide area N/w must be installed. The
communication media – leased telephones,
satellite links.
 It is cheap to use telephone links. (efficient).
 It transfers large block of data between users.
 Eg. Airline reservation. Terminals all over the
world use the common data stored in data.

N/w TOPOLOGY : How the N/w is physically laid out. Two or more devices connect to a link. Two or
more links form a Topology. Each station in communication N/w is called as Node. The nodes are
connected in different ways.

BUS TOPOLOGY :

Small and simple N/w.

Single / multiple cable. [ no active electronic devices to amplify, so Passive technology ].
Slow speed. Only one computer can send a data. The other computers should wait until the bus is free.
Has transmitter at both ends. Electrical signals are transmitted over the bus. They travel to the end. If
no terminator, the signals travel back the cable. The reflected waves, if in phase with transmitted, they
add up and if out of phase, they cancel.
Thus adding and cancellation of the wave leads to “Standing Wave”. It can destroy the normal wave
travelling along the cable.
It is overcome by attaching Terminators, * 50 Ω + which is equal to the impedance of cable.
Terminator absorbs the Electrical energy and stops reflection.

Advantage :

Easy to install, use.

For small N/w's .

Less cable and no device.

Easy to add new ones.

Extend by repeaters.

Disadvantages :
Slow speed. (only one computer at a time)
Small N/w's. ( less than 10 no. of computers)

RING TOPOLOGY :
Each computer is connected to next computer. Each computer retransmits what it receives from the
previous computer. Flow in one direction, no termination or no end. A small message called token is
passed around the ring. If a computer wants to transmit a data, puts address and data on token and it
passes in the ring. Each computer receives the token, and passes it to other if it is not for itself. The
receiving computer returns a message to the originating, that the message has been reached. The
sending computer then creates another token and passes it on the ring, so that others can use. Faster
N/w can circulate several tokens at once.

Advantage :
No computer can monopolize the N/w because every computer gets equal time to the token.

Disadvantage :
Failure of the ring affects the whole N/w.
Difficult to troubleshoot the ring.
Adding and removing a comp becomes
difficult.

STAR TOPOLOGY :
All computers are connected to central hub.

Data moves from central hub.

Active hubs. - Broadcast.

Passive hubs. – connection point.

Advantages :
Fault finding easy.

Easy to increase the no. of systems.

Disadvantages :

Central hub breaks down, N/w down.

Cost of central hub.

Cable cost.

MESH TOPOLOGY :
Every device has a dedicated point to point link to very other device. Dedicated means link carries
traffic only between two devices it connects. It has n(n-1)/2 channels t link n devices.

n – no. of nodes. (5)

=5 ( 5 – 1) / 2 = 10 no. of links.

To accommodate that many links the device should have (n-1) ports.

Advantages :
Dedicated links, so no traffic. N/w robust, as failure of one m/c doesn’t bring down the N/w. Easy fault
diagnosis.

Disadvantage :
More cable cost. More hardware cost. Installation and reconfiguration difficult. ( every computer must
be connected to all other).

Tree topology :
It is a variation of star.

Advantages :
Adding computer easy. ( HUB to hub increases the length).

N/w's are isolated.

Disadvantages :
Central HUB fails, entire N/w down. Cabling cost high.

HYBRID TOPOLOGY :
It’s the combination of various other topologies.

Protocol hierarchies :
Most n/w's are organized as a series of layers. (series of
layers or levels, one above the other). No, name, contents
and function of each layer vary for n/w. The purpose of each layer is to provide services to higher layer.
Layer ‘n’ on one m/c (source) carries on a conversation with layer ‘n’ on another m/c. (destination).

The rules and conversations used in this conversation, are collectively known as the layer ‘n’ protocol.

Basically “Protocol” is an agreement between two m/c's, as how communication link should be
established, maintained and released.

------------- ( doted lines)  Virtual communication.

------- ( Straight lines)  Actual communication.

Reasons for having Layered Protocol:
There are many functions which has to be taken into consideration to enable effective communication.
To organize all these functions in to a normal form, designers felt the need to develop N/w architecture.
In this architecture, the communication functions are grouped into related and manageable sets called
“LAYERS”. It refers to set of protocols, that tell how every layer should function.

Advantages of using N/w architecture :

It simplifies the design process. (as they are well defined). It provides flexibility to modify and develop
N/w services. The no, name and task assigned to them vary from n/w to n/w. But for all the n/w's
lower layer offers certain services to its upper layer.

Data transfer how ?

Data does not transfer directly from layer ‘n’ of one m/c to layer ‘n’ of another m/c. It is done as this –
‘Data + Control information” is passed on to the lower layers until the lowest layer 1 is reached. Below
layer 1 is physical medium, such as coaxial cable, through which actual communication takes place.

There is an interface between each pair of adjacent layers.

N/w Architecture :
A set of layers and protocols is called N/w Architecture. Protocol stack is defined as a list of protocols
used for a certain system, one protocol per layer.

5 – message to be sent.

4 – layer adds a header H4.

3 – message is split + H3.

2 – adds head and end for message.

H2 & T2.

1 – Transferred through physical media.

Design issues for the layer:

Addressing : - For every layer it is necessary to have a mechanism to identify between sender and
receiver. Since there are multiple possible destinations, some form of addressing is needed to specify a
specific destination.

Direction of Transmission : - the direction of Data transfer. Whether it communicates in only one
direction or otherwise.
Error control : - as physical communication circuits are not perfect. Error detection and correction are
more essential. The receiver should be able to tell the sender by some means, that it has received
correct message or wrong message.

Avoid loss of sequencing: - All communication channels cannot preserve the order in which the
messages are sent on it. So there is possibility of loss of sequencing. To avoid this, all the pieces should
be numbered, so that they can be put back together at the receiver in appreciate order.

Connection Oriented and Connectionless Services : Layers can offer two types of services to layers
above them.

1. Connection Oriented Services : ( it is similar to Telephone System). They undergo the

following sequence : 1. Establish a connection. 2. Use the connection. 3. Release connection.
The communication acts as a tube. The sender pushes the bits from one end and the receiver
takes them from the other end. The order is generally preserved. It means that the order in
which the bits are sent is same as the order in which they are received. After establishing a
connection, the sender and receiver can discuss and negotiate about parameters such as
maximum message size, quality of service and some other issues. As the name suggests, it
establishes a dedicated connection between the users, before data is exchanged. The
establishment of connection may take place on physical level. After the connection is
established, the actual data transfer takes place. After the exchange of data, the connection is
cleared or broken.

Characteristic :
A dedicated connection is established. Data transfer takes place over the established connection. The
connection is released after the data transfer. These services are generally reliable, because the data
loss is minimum, or it is possible to retransmit the lost bits. It uses circuit switching techniques or virtual
circuit switching. For packet connection oriented services the packets are delivered sequentially
because the packets for connection oriented services follow the same path. Also packets do not carry
the full address of the destination. Hence the packet header is of small size, and the per packet
overhead is reduced. These scheme is suitable for long and steady communication.

Disadvantages :
Due to reservation of resources, the N/w resources are not utilized optimally. Sometimes call set up and
call clearing delays can be time consuming and may take more time than the time taken by the actual
data transfer.

Advantages :
Due to reserved resources the user is quite likelyl to get his share of band width. The N/w provides
adequate resources to satisfy the needs of user applications. It can give some form of service
guarantees.
Connectionless services :-
It doesn’t require a connection to be established, in order to exchange data. Instead, information is
transferred by using independent data units. Each data unit contains the complete destination address.
Eg. Same as postal mailing service. It can exchange data without setting an explicit communication path
or connection.

Characteristics :
No need to establish connection for data exchange. Hence no need to reserve any resources. The lost
and dropped packet cannot be retransmitted. Hence it is known as unreliable service. Hence it is
known as unreliable service. It uses routing as its transfer mode. At the destination, the packets may or
may not arrive sequentially. This is because, the data packets may or may not follow the same path.
The packet carries full destination address in order to felicitate the routing. But this increases the
header size and hence increases the per packet overhads to a great extent. It is suitable for busty
transmissions..

Advantages :
No resources reserved, hence it is possible to utilize them optimally. No delay associated with call set
up and no connection is established. As there are no connection, there is no need to maintain any
connection state information. However routing tables are required to be maintained.

Disadvantages :

Cannot provide any service guarantee. The routing infrastructure can face bottleneck due to
overloading. With increased no. of hosts, the size of routing tables will go on increasing.

Reference Models :- 1. OSI Reference model 2. The TCP/IP reference model.

OSI REFERENCE MODEL :

The ISO ( Established in 1947 ) was one of the first organizations to formally define a common
way to connect computers. An ISO standard that covers all aspects of network communications
is the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model. ( was introduced in the late 1970s).

ISO is the organization; OSI is the model.

An open system is a set of protocols that allows any two different systems to communicate
regardless of their underlying architecture. The OSI model is not a protocol; it is a model for
understanding and designing a network architecture that is flexible, robust, and interoperable.

The OSI model is a layered framework for the design of network systems that allows
communication between all types of computer systems. It consists of seven separate but
related layers, each of which defines a part of the process of moving information across a
network.

When a message is sent from device A to device B, it may pass through many intermediate
nodes. The intermediate nodes usually involve only the first three layers of the OSI model.
Within a single machine, each layer calls upon the services of the layer just below it. Layer 3,
for example, uses the services provided by layer 2 and provides services for layer 4.

Between machines, layer x on one machine logically communicates with layer x on another
machine.

Device A sends a message to device B. ( through intermediate nodes ).

Layers in OSI model :

1. PHYSICAL LAYER : It is the lowest layer of OSI model. It transmits bit stream
over communication channel. It deals with Electrical / Mechanical specifications of
interface and transmission media. It deals with function and procedures required for
transmission.

Functions :

Characteristics of Interface & media : It considers the characteristics of interface between

devices and transmission media.

Bit stream: Encodes the bit stream into electrical or optical signal.

Data rate: Defines the duration of bits called as Data rate / Transmission rate.

Synchronization of bits : The transmission rate and receiving rate must be same. It is done by
synchronizing the clocks at sender and receiver.

2. DATA LINK LAYER : It is responsible for transmitting frames from one node to the
next. It transforms Physical layer to a reliable link making it an error free link to upper
layer.
Functions:

Framing : The data received from network layer is divided into manageable data units called
frames.

Physical addressing : When frames are to be sent to different LAN’s , the data link layer adds a
header to the frame to define sender or receiver.

Flow control : When data transmitted rate and data received is not same; some data may be
lost. The Data link layer imposes a flow control mechanism to prevent overwhelming the
receiver.

Error control : It helps to detect the error and retransmit the damaged frame or the lost frame.

Access control : When multiple devices are connected to same link, the DLL determines which
device has control over link.

3. NETWORK LAYER : The network layer is responsible for the delivery of Packets
from Source to Destination.

Functions :

Logical addressing : When Packet passes network boundary; an addressing system is needed to
distinguish Source and Destination the network layer adds a header to the packet of upper
layer; which includes the logical address of sender and receiver. ( it’s the function of network
layer.)

Routing : It routes or switch the packets to its final destination in an internetwork.

 4. TRANSPORT LAYER : It is responsible for the delivery of message from one
process to another. It ensures that the whole message arrives intact and in-order, with
error control and process control.

Functions:

Port addressing: Computer performs various operations simultaneously. Process to process

delivery means; specific process of one computer must be delivered to specific process on
other computer. The transport layer header therefore includes port address.

Segmentation and reassembly: A message is divided into segments. Each segment contains a
sequence number, which enables transport layer to reassemble at destination.

Connection control : It performs connectionless and connection oriented services with the
destination.

Flow control : It performs end-to-end flow control. (while DLL performs it, across the link )

Error control : It is performed on end-to-end basis; rather than across the link. It ensures error
free transmissions.

5. SESSION LAYER : It is a network dialog controller. (i.e. it establishes and

synchronizes the interaction between communication systems.
Functions :

Dialog control: Communication between two processes takes place in either half duplex or full
duplex mode. The session layer manages dialog control for this communication.

Synchronization : It adds synchronization points into stream of data.

6. PRESENTATION LAYER : It deals with syntax and sematic of the information

being exchanged.

Functions :

Translation : Different computer use different encoding systems. The presentation layer
maintains interoperability between the two encoding systems.

Encryptions : It is transforming sender information to other form, to ensure privacy while

transmission. Decryption is the reverse process.
Compression : Is a technique of reducing no. of bits required to represent the data.

7. APPLICATION LAYER : It is responsible for accessing the network by user. It

provides user interface and other supporting services such as e-mail, remote file access,
file transfer, sharing message, handling message (X.400), directory services (X.500).

Functions:
Network virtual terminal : It is a software version of Physical terminal; that allows a user
to log onto a remote host.
Mail service: Email forwarding, storage are the services.
Directory services: it includes access for global information and distributed database.
File, transfer, Access and management: It allows to access files in remote hosts, to
retrieve files and to manage files in remote computer.

TCP/IP ARCHITECTURE :
A brief description of the main TCP/IP protocols follows:
• Ethernet: The most popular LAN standard for framing and
preparing data for transmission onto the media
• Frame Relay: Also a framing standard; one of the most
cost-effective WAN technologies used to connect

 ATM : Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is a switching

technique used by telecommunication networks
• Internet Protocol (IP): Provides a unique global address to
computers for communicating over the network
• Address Resolution Protocol (ARP): Finds a host’s
hardware address when only the IP address is known
• Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP): Used to send
error and control messages, including reachability to another
host and availability of services

 IGMP : The Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is

a communications protocol used by hosts and adjacent
 routers on IPv4 networks to establish multicast group
memberships
• Transmission Control Protocol (TCP): Allows virtual
connections between hosts on the network to provide reliable
delivery of data
• User Datagram Protocol (UDP): Allows faster, unreliable
delivery of data that is either lightweight or time-sensitive

 SCTP : Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is a

transport-layer protocol that can be used on top of IP
networks for end-to-end communications.
• Domain Name System (DNS): Provides the IP address of a
website or domain name so that a host can connect to it
• Telnet: Allows administrators to log in to a host from a
remote location
• Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Post Office
Protocol (POP3), and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP):
Used to send email messages between clients and servers
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP): Assigns IP
addressing to requesting clients
• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): Used to transfer
information between web clients and web servers
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP): Allows the download and
upload of files between an FTP client and FTP server
• Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP): Used by
network management systems to monitor devices attached to
the network

OSI Layer Function :

Table summarizes the layers of the OSI model and provides a
brief functional description.