ITC Lecture Notes: LAN WAN –1( Ref: IT lecture notes from Mark Kelly)

Networks:
Networks can be defined simply as: “Computer networks are computers that are linked
together so they can communicate”.

The interesting developments are Network O/S with main Server/Client concept and the
installation of a network interface card (NIC) in the PC-system. NIC is what the network
cable gets plugged in to.

The 'logical' shape of a network's wiring is an important part. This is called its topology,
for example: bus, ring, star, tree, mesh.

Computers can be linked together with cables or the connection can be wireless (through
radio communication). Wireless networking is the latest hot thing in the
Info/Communications world through Bluetooth, WAP and 3G mobile phones.

Network size is another factor in describing a network: there are local area network
(LAN) , and wide area network wide (WAN). When WANs get interconnected, you have
the Internet.

Inst: Dr. Mohammed Yousuf Khan

ITC Lecture Notes: LAN WAN –1( Ref: IT lecture notes from Mark Kelly)

Types of networks, by size: Local Area Network (LAN)

Computers networked together in a self-contained group form a Local Area Network, or
LAN. A LAN typically is contained within a single building or a group of
neighboring buildings. Two computers linked together at home are the simplest
form of a LAN. Several hundred computers cabled together across several
buildings at school form a more complex LAN. LANs are usually connected
with coaxial cable.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

A WAN is geographically large. It is often formed by the joining together of LANs in
distant places. A national banking organization, for example, may use a WAN to
connect all of its branches across the country. The difference between LANs and
WANs is getting blurry as fiber optic cables have allowed LAN technologies to
connect devices many kilometers apart. WANs are usually connected using the
Internet, ISDN landlines or satellite.

The Internet
The Internet is a global network that came into being when the first WANs were
interconnected. It allows any user on a LAN to communicate with any other user
on any other LAN. The Internet is not regulated by any single body or
government, and is defined at any particular moment by the users currently
using it. The Internet is a form of mesh topology, because there are many
possible routes data can travel between one user and another user. When you
dial up your Internet Service Provider (ISP) at home, you are becoming part of a
global network that has hundreds of millions of other users connected at the
same time. The Internet relies on the global acceptance of protocol standards
such as TCP/IP, POP and FTP.

HUBS
Networks need to connect cables together. They use switches and hubs to do this.

Inst: Dr. Mohammed Yousuf Khan

ITC Lecture Notes: LAN WAN –1( Ref: IT lecture notes from Mark Kelly)

To protect the network from the outside world, routers are used. A router is a security
device that connects a LAN to the outside world (another LAN or a WAN.) It can be
programmed to only allow authorized incoming and outgoing traffic. For example, it
might block certain external sites or not allow MP3 music files to come in. It behaves like
a bouncer at the door of a club, who controls who is allowed in.

A smaller router

Routers are also used to protect one part of a network from another part of the same
network, e.g. a school network may be divided into a curriculum LAN for students and an
administration LAN for staff and the LANs would be isolated from each other with a
router so students could not access the admin LAN, but admin could access the student
network.

Bluetooth is a wireless networking (WLAN= wireless LAN). It communicates with the

network using a tiny radio radio transmitter and antenna in the card. Of course its range is
limited (depending on the obstacles between the card and the nearest network wireless
base station, it may reach 100-200 meters.)

Servers:
Networks can also be described by the types of servers at their core (file servers,
application servers).

Inst: Dr. Mohammed Yousuf Khan

ITC Lecture Notes: LAN WAN –1( Ref: IT lecture notes from Mark Kelly)

A server is a heavy-duty computer designed to be the core of a network. It does not have
any special or exotic hardware in it, but it is designed to work continuously for long
periods under heavy workloads to control the network and run the network O/S.

File Servers
When a network is based on a central file server, it allows networked computers to share
resources such as printers, and users can store their files in a secure centralised location.
The file server offers services to all users, but each workstation on the network does its
own processing. For example, if a user wanted to use a spreadsheet she would run the
spreadsheet on her own PC, but would be able to save her work in her home directory
on the server, and use a shared network printer.

File servers typically have very large hard disks, lots of memory, and are stored under
high security. In large networks, there is often more than one file server, to distribute the
work load or to handle specialist tasks (such as a proxy server, web server, email server,
login server, print server, CD-ROM server etc.)

Since the file server is the heart of the network, if it fails it can severely affect network
users, so it is usually treated like royalty. They are usually kept firmly under lock and key
in air conditioned rooms with uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to protect against
power

Application servers
While a file server (as its name suggests) serves out files to users, an application server
actually runs programs on behalf of users. Similar to the earliest mainframe computers
that ran programs for users and send the results of the calculations to the users, an
application server actually runs application programs like Word, Excel, databases itself.

Client Server
In client-server networking one computer program (the 'client') asks another computer
program (the 'server') to provide a service, such as looking up and providing data.

Peer-to-Peer networking
A 'peer' is a person who is on the same level of authority and power as you. In a Peer-to-
Peer network, there is no computer with more control or authority than any other. There

Inst: Dr. Mohammed Yousuf Khan

ITC Lecture Notes: LAN WAN –1( Ref: IT lecture notes from Mark Kelly)

is no file server, little protection of one workstation against another, no hierarchy of

"super users" and "standard users". Any computer can begin a network transaction with
any other computer on the network.

Peer-to-Peer networks usually are used in the home or very small organisations with
trusted users who want to share files, an Internet connection, or a printer. Without a
server, costs are low and installation is simple, but users are vulnerable to each other.

Ethernet.
The way the network is wired and how signals behave are also important: the main types
are Ethernet and Token Ring. Ethernet is the most popular and most widely deployed
network technology in the world.

Inst: Dr. Mohammed Yousuf Khan

ITC Lecture Notes: LAN WAN –1( Ref: IT lecture notes from Mark Kelly)

Organization of network computing systems

Ethernet is the most widely-installed local area network (LAN) technology, and was
developed in 1976. Specified in a standard, IEEE 802.3, an Ethernet LAN typically uses
coaxial cable or special grades of twisted pair wires. The most commonly installed
Ethernet systems are called 10BASE-T and provide transmission speeds up to 10 Mbps.
Devices are connected to the cable and compete for access using a Carrier Sense Multiple
Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol.

Fast Ethernet or 100BASE-T provides transmission speeds up to 100 megabits per second
and is typically used for LAN backbone systems, supporting workstations with 10BASE-
T cards. Gigabit Ethernet provides an even higher level of backbone support at 1000
megabits per second (1 gigabit or 1 billion bits per second).

Token Ring
Token Ring works the same way: all computers and devices on the network must hold
their tongues until a special network message called the Token is in their possession.

Inst: Dr. Mohammed Yousuf Khan

ITC Lecture Notes: LAN WAN –1( Ref: IT lecture notes from Mark Kelly)

The rules used by the network for sending data is called a protocol. For two devices on a
network to successfully communicate, they must both understand the same protocols.
Network protocols are rules agreed upon by communicating devices so they can
understand what other devices are saying.
Examples include:
IPX/SPX - devised by Novell, now largely replaced by TCP/IP
TCP/IP= Transmission Control Protocol - Internet Protocol

The pair of them work together. TCP contains the rules used to break files into packets
before sending, and reassemble packets into files upon receipt. IP contains the rules used
to transport information "packets" from source to destination across networks or across
the network or Internet.

POP - Post Office Protocol - used to receive email.

SMTP - Simple Mail Transport Protocol - used to send email.
FTP - File Transfer Protocol - used to send files, especially web pages to web servers by
webmasters.

Additional Notes:
The software used to control a network is called a Network Operating System (or NOS).
The NOS usually runs on a file server or application server.

If you want to get a message from one part of a network to another, you'll need to know
about network addressing - including URLs.

One of the benefits of networking is the low cost of making long distance phone calls
over the internet using VoIP (Voice Over IP) at a fraction of the cost of normal phone
calls.

Mainly three operating system dominates the personal computer and workstation scene:
Unix, NT, NetWare

Inst: Dr. Mohammed Yousuf Khan