Unit No.

4) Computer Network Fundamentals

▪ What is Computer Network?

➢ Definition

It is a collection of autonomous computers interconnected by a communications

channels or transmission medias under single technology like: LAN, WAN etc.

-Two computers are said to be interconnected if they are able to exchange information.

-The connection between two computers is done by using copper wire, fiber Optics,
microwaves, infrared and communication satellite.

Figure 1. Interconnection of Computers

▪ Client-Server model

➢ What is Client computer?

It is simpler computer by which user can access remote data.

➢ What is Server computer?

It is powerful high-speed computer on which large amount of data is stored.

-The company information system consisting of one or more databases and number of
employees need to access them remotely. So, it is possible to access data with the help of
client server arrangement called the “client-server model”.

Figure 2. A Network with 2 Clients and 1 Server

➢ How client-server model works?

There are two process involved in working of client-server model.
A) Client process
It is the process which is running on a client machine.
B) Server process
It is a process which is running on a server machine.
 Figure 3. Working of Client-Server

-The communication takes the form of the client process sending a message over the network
to the server process. i.e “request message”

-The client process then waits for message from server machine. i.e “reply” message

-When the server process gets the request, it performs the requested work or look up the
requested data and sends back a reply.

▪ Applications of computer network

There are plenty of uses of computer network in that some major applications are as
follows: -

1) Business application

a) Resource sharing
-Many companies have a substantial number of computers. The company have a
separate computer to monitor production, keep track of inventories and do the
payroll. Initially, some of these computers may have worked in isolation from the
others, but at some point, management may have decided to connect them to be able
to distribute information thought out the company.

-The goal is to make all programs, equipment and especially data available to anyone
on the network without regard to the physical location of the resource or the user.
Example: - The group of office workers shares a common printer.

b) E-mail
-A computer network can provide a powerful communication medium among
employees to send documents, messages to others, within a short time is called an
Email (Electronic mail).

-When one worker makes a change to an online document, the other can see the
change immediately, instead of waiting several days for a letter.

c) Video conferencing

-It is one form of computer-assisted communication.

-Using this technology employees at distant location can hold a meeting, seeing
and hearing each other and even writing on a shared virtual blackboard.

-Video conferencing is a powerful tool for eliminating the cost and time previously
devoted to travel.

d) E-commerce

-E-commerce is nothing but doing business with consumers over the internet.

-Air-lines, bookstores, retailers and music vendors have discovered that many
customers like the convenience of shopping from home.

-Consequently, many companies provide catalogues of their goods and services on line
and take orders online like: Flipkart, Amazon etc.
 -This sector is expected to grow quickly in the future.

2) Home applications
There are some of the popular uses of the internet for home users as follows:

a) Access to remote information

-it is possible to surf the World Wide Web (www) for information or just for fun. The
Information includes the arts, business, cooking, government, health, science, sports
etc.

-Many newspapers have gone on-line and can be personalized.

-It become easy to search the meaning of any word in any language over internet
using “online digital library”.

b) Person to Person communication

-E-mail is already used on a daily basis by millions of people all over the world and its
use is growing rapidly.

-Instant messaging allows two people to type message at each other in real time
called “chatting”. For example: G-talk (Google Talk), WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger
etc.

-The “peer to peer” communication makes possible to individuals who form group
can communicate with other in the group.

-Every person can, in principle, communicate with one or more other people. There is
no fixed division into client and servers.

-The “peer to peer” system eliminates the central database by having each user
maintain his own database locally.
 Figure 4. Peer-to-Peer Communication

-There are multi-person messaging services too, such as the Twitter service that lets
people send short text messages called ‘‘tweets’’ to their circle of friends or other
willing audiences.

c) Interactive entertainment
-This has made huge strides in the home in recent years, with the distribution of
music, radio and television programs, and movies over the Internet beginning to
rival that of traditional mechanisms.

-Users can find, buy, and download MP3 songs and DVD-quality movies and add
them to their personal collection.

-The most popular application is “video on demand”. it may be possible to select any
movie or television program to display on your screen.
Example: - www.youtube.com

-TV shows now reach many homes via IPTV (IP Television) systems that are based on
IP technology instead of cable TV or radio transmissions. Live television may
 also become interactive with the audience participating in quiz shows and cooking
programs.

-Another form of entertainment is Game playing. On-line games make today’s

children very sharp as we have a kind of worldwide shared virtual reality.

d) E-commerce
-Home shopping is already popular and enables user to inspect the on-line catalogues
of thousands of companies.

-To access financial institutions is also one of the popular area. Many people pay their
bills, manage their bank accounts and handle their investments electronically.

3) Mobile application

There are some of the popular uses of the internet in mobile application are as
follows:

a) Mobile computer
-Mobile computer such as notebook computer and personal digital assistants (PDA)
are one of the fastest growing segments of the computer industry.

-Many owners of this computers have desktop machine back at the office and want to be
connected to their home base even when away from home.

b) Wireless network
-A wireless technology becomes more popular in today’s computer industry.

-At computer conference, these days the organizers often set up a wireless network in
the conference area. Anyone with a notebook computer and a wireless modem can
just turn the computer on and be connected to the internet.
 -Wireless network are of great value to fleets of truck, taxis, delivery vehicles.

-Wireless network are also important to the military. It’s possible to fight war
anywhere on earth on short notice.

-It is expected the merger of cell phones and PDA’s into tiny wireless computer in forthcoming
years.

c) M-commerce (Mobile Commerce)

-To use wireless PDA’s as a kind of electronic wallet authorizing payments in
stores as a replacement for cash and credit cards.

-It’s possible to transfer money from your bank account to your friend’s bank
account immediately because of “mobile banking”.

4) Social application

There are some of the popular uses of the internet for society as follows:

a) Newsgroup
-A popular feature of many networks are newsgroups or bulletin boards whereby
people can exchange message with link-minded individuals.

-People can express their feelings about any news in the newspaper on-line over
internet.

b) Blog
-To create your own website on internet to discuss the opinions of public about
your performance in movie, sport, politics, academics etc.

-Nowadays to answer the queries, doubts, the actor, doctors, Politian’s, sportsmen etc.
write their own blog on internet.
 c) Social networking
-There are lots of social networking websites available over internet. For example:
Facebook, Twitter etc. through which you can connect to thousands of friends and
chat with them regularly.

-it’s possible to create your own profile and upload the photos, videos on social
networking websites. So, your friends can enjoy the live updates of your life over
internet.

d) Fund collection
-If you want to help any needy person regarding serious surgery, so you can transfer
fund (money) on his account.

-You can help orphanage, physically handicapped people by live collection of money
on internet.

-If you want financial help for constructing a temple in your city, you have to make
announcement over internet through different advertisements.

▪ Network Hardware

➢ Definition
Network hardware is a set of physical or network devices that are essential for interaction
and communication between hardware units operational on a computer network.

-These are dedicated hardware components that connect to each other and enable a network to
function effectively and efficiently.

-Today, technology has penetrated its tentacles into every nook and corner of our lives. It has gone
from being just an industry add-on to an inevitable necessity. As tech enablement is driving the
industrial transformation, it’s important for businesses to build a network that is secure, reliable and

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 keeps the users in touch with their applications. The core of this very foundation is leveraged by the
basic network hardware.

-Network hardware plays a key role as industries grow as it supports scalability. It integrates any
number of components depending on the enterprise’s needs. Network hardware helps establish an
effective mode of communication, thereby improving the business standards. It also promotes
multiprocessing and enables sharing of resources, information, and software with ease.

▪ Networking Devices

1) Hub

-A hub is a common connection point, also known as a network hub, which is used for connection of
devices in a network. It works as a central connection for all the devices that are connected through a
hub.

-The hub has numerous ports. If a packet reaches at one port, it is able to see by all the segments of
the network due to a packet is copied to the other ports. A network hub has no routing tables or
intelligence (unlike a network switch or router), which is used to send information and broadcast all
network data across each and every connection.

Although most of the hubs can recognize network troubles or errors like collisions, broadcasting all
information to the several ports can be a security risk and cause bottlenecks. The network hubs were
popular in the past time as they were cheaper as compared to a switch or router. A hub is no IP
address, as it is a dumb device.

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2) Switch
-When a user accesses the internet or another computer network outside their immediate location,
messages are sent through the network of transmission media. This technique of transferring the
information from one computer network to another network is known as switching.

-Switching in a computer network is achieved by using switches. A switch is a small hardware

device which is used to join multiple computers together with one local area network (LAN).

-Switching is transparent to the user and does not require any configuration in the home network.
Switches are used to forward the packets based on MAC addresses. A Switch is used to transfer the
data only to the device that has been addressed. It verifies the destination address to route the
packet appropriately.

-Data Packet collision is minimum as it directly communicates between source and destination. It
does not broadcast the message as it works with limited bandwidth.

-A switch has many ports, to which computers are plugged in. However, when a data arrives at any
port of a network switch, it examines the destination address and sends the data to the
corresponding device(s).

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3) Router

- A router is an electronic device that connects two or more computer networks and forwards data
packets between them. It is an essential component of any modern network infrastructure, from small
home networks to large enterprise networks. It does so much customizable filtering when a message
passes through the router. If the router admin wishes to block some domain names he can customize
them.

- A router is a device like a switch that routes data packets based on their IP addresses. A router reads
its routing table to decide the best available route the packet can take to reach its destination quickly
and accurately.

- Routers are networking devices, which make it possible for devices to connect to the internet and
share data. If you connect to the internet at any place, you are using a router. A router passes the
information between one more computer network.

-It has memory capability it stores the information and a routing table, in that all information about
interfaces is stored, once a packet arrives it checks its destination and calculates the best hop-to-hop
path to reach the destination. Router works at the network layer.

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4) Repeater
A repeater is a networking device that amplifies and regenerates incoming signals.
-Essentially, it acts as a signal booster, extending the reach of your network.
• How Does a Repeater Work?
When a signal travels over a network, it gradually weakens. A repeater receives this weakened signal, amplifies
it back to its original strength, and then retransmits it. This process allows the signal to travel further without
degradation.

• When to Use a Repeater?

1) Long distances:
If your network spans a large area, a repeater can help maintain signal strength.
2) Physical obstacles
Walls, floors, or other obstructions can weaken signals. A repeater can overcome these challenges.
3) Signal interference: Devices like microwaves or cordless phones can interfere with network signals. A
repeater can help mitigate this interference.
• Limitations of Repeaters
While repeaters are simple and effective, they have some limitations:
1) Limited range
While a repeater extends the network, its range is still limited. For larger areas, you might need multiple
repeaters.
2) Doesn't improve network performance
A repeater only extends the network's reach; it doesn't increase its speed or capacity.
• Types of Repeaters
According to the type of signal being generated by the Repeater they are classified as:
1) Analog Repeater
Analog repeaters are used to amplify only the analog signals. Analog repeaters receives the analog signal,
amplifies it and then regenerates it as the output. Analog repeaters were mostly used in the older network
technologies where analog signal was used.

2) Digital Repeater
Digital repeaters are the type of repeaters that does not amplify digital signal but regenerates it directly.
Digital repeaters are mostly used in the modern technologies where digital signal is being used. Digital
repeaters are also capable to reconstruct a distorted signal.

5) Bridge
A bridge is a networking device that connects multiple Local Area Networks (LANs) into a single larger
LAN.
-Unlike repeaters, bridges are intelligent devices that can filter traffic based on MAC addresses.
• How Does a Bridge Work?
1) Learning
A bridge learns the MAC addresses of devices connected to each LAN segment.
2) Filtering
When a data packet arrives, the bridge examines the destination MAC address.
3) Forwarding
If the destination is on the same LAN segment, the bridge discards the packet. If the destination is on a
different LAN segment, the bridge forwards the packet to that segment.
• Advantages of Bridges
1) Improved performance
By dividing a large network into smaller segments, bridges reduce network congestion and improve
performance.
2) Increased network size
Bridges allow you to connect multiple LANs, expanding your network's reach.
3) Enhanced security
Bridges can be configured to filter traffic based on MAC addresses, providing a basic level of security.

• Limitations of Bridges

1) Scalability
As the number of LAN segments increases, bridge performance can degrade.
2) Complexity
Bridge configuration can be more complex than that of repeaters.
• When to Use a Bridge?
Bridges are typically used in smaller networks with a limited number of LAN segments. For larger and more
complex networks, switches or routers are generally preferred.
• Types of Bridges
There are three types of bridges in computer networks, which are as follows:
1) Transparent Bridge
Transparent bridges are invisible to other devices on the network. This bridge doesn’t reconfigure the
network on the addition or deletion of any station. The prime function of the transparent bridge is to block
or forward the data according to the MAC address.
2) Source Routing Bridge
Source routing bridges were developed and designed by IBM specifically for token ring networks. The
frame’s entire route is embedded with the data frames by the source station to perform the routing
operation so that once the frame is forwarded it must follow a specific defined path/route.
3) Translational Bridge
Translational bridges convert the received data from one networking system to another. Or it is used to
communicate or transmit data between two different types of networking systems. Like if we are sending
data from a token ring to an Ethernet cable, the translational cable will be used to connect both the
networking system and transmit data.

5) Gateways
A gateway is a network device that connects two different networks that use different protocols or
network architectures. It acts as a translator, converting data from one protocol to another to ensure
seamless communication between the two networks.

-A gateway is situated at a network’s edge and manages all data that enters or exits the network.

-Gateways made the transmission more feasible as it queued up all the data and divided it into small packets
of data rather than sending it bulk.

-Gateways provide security within the network.

• How Gateways Work?

-The gateway receives data from devices within the network.
-After receiving data, the gateway intercept and analyze data packets.
-Based on the analysis of the data packets, the gateway calculates an appropriate destination address
of data packet. It then routes the data packets to their destination address.
-In some cases, the gateway might also want to transform the format of the obtained data to ensure
compatibility at the receiver.
-Once the data packets have been analyzed, routed, and converted, then the gateway sends the last packets
to their respective destinations address inside the network.
• Common Use Cases of Gateways
1) Connecting LAN to WAN
The most common use case is connecting a Local Area Network (LAN) to a Wide Area Network (WAN) like
the internet.
2) Connecting Different Network Architectures
Gateways can connect networks with different protocols, such as Ethernet and Token Ring.
3) Providing Network Security
Gateways can act as firewalls to protect networks from external threats.
▪ Difference between Hub, Switch and Router:

Sr.
Hub Switch Router
No
1. A Hub works on the Switch works on the basis A router works on the basis of IP address.
basis of broadcasting. of MAC address.
2. Hub is not an A Switch is an intelligent A route is more sophisticated and intelligent
intelligent device. device as it passes on the device as it can read IP address and direct the
message to the selective packets to another network with specified IP
device by inspecting the address. Moreover routers can built address
address. tables that helps in routing decisions.
3. At least single At least single network is Router needs at least two networks to
network is required required to connect. connect.
to connect.
4. Hub is cheaper as Switch is an expensive Router is a relatively much more expensive
compared to switch device than hub. device than hub and switch.
and router.
5. Speed of original hub Maximum speed is Maximum speed for wireless is 1-10 Mbps and
10Mbps and modern 10Mbps to 100Mbps. maximum speed for wired connections is 100
internet hub is Mbps.
100Mbps.
6. Hubs are used in Switch is used in LANs. Routers are used in LANs, MANs and WANs.
LANs.

▪ Logical and Physical Address

1) Logical Address (IP Address)

-IP Address stands for Internet Protocol Address.

-IP Address is either a four-byte (IPv4) or a sixteen-byte (IPv6) address.

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 -Internet Service Provider provides IP Address.

-IP Address is the logical address of the computer.

-IP Address identifies the connection of the device on the network.

-IP Address modifies with the time and environment.

-IP Addresses can be found by a third party.

-IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses in dotted notations, whereas IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses in Hexadecimal
notations. Example: IPv4 - 192.168.1.1 and IPv6- FFFF: F200: 3204: 0B00

-IP address is software oriented.

-While communication, Router need IP address to forward data.

2) Physical Address (MAC Address)

- MAC Address stands for Media Access Control Address.

- MAC Address is a six-byte hexadecimal address.

-LAN Card / NIC (Network Interface Card) Card’s Manufacturer provides the MAC Address.

- MAC Address is used to ensure the physical address of a computer.

- MAC Address helps in simply identifying the device.

- MAC Address of computer cannot be changed with time and environment.

- MAC Addresses can’t be found easily by a third party.

- It is a 48-bit address that contains 6 groups of 2 hexadecimal digits, separated by either hyphens (-) Or
colons (.). Example: 00: FF: FF: AB: BB: AA or 00-FF-FF-AB-BB-AA

-MAC address is hardware oriented. While communication, Switch needs MAC address to forward data.

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• Computer network Topology

Network topology refers to the arrangement of different elements like nodes, links, and
devices in a computer network.
-It essentially defines the physical or logical structure of a network.

• Types of Network Topologies

There are several types of network topology, each with its own characteristics and
advantages. Here's a list:
1) Bus Topology
2) Star Topology
3) Ring Topology
4) Mesh Topology
5) Tree Topology

1) Bus Topology
-All devices are connected to a single cable called a bus.
• Simple to install but prone to failures if the bus breaks.
• Example: Early Ethernet networks.

2) Star Topology
• All devices are connected to a central hub or switch.
• Easy to manage and troubleshoot.
• If the central device fails, the entire network is affected.
• Example: Most modern LANs.
3) Ring Topology
• Devices are connected in a circular fashion.
• Data flows in one direction.
• Failure of one device can disrupt the entire network.
• Example: Early token ring networks.

4) Mesh Topology
• Every device is connected to every other device.
• Highly reliable but expensive to implement.
• Example: The internet backbone.
5. Tree Topology
• A hierarchical structure with a root node and multiple levels of branches.
• Combines features of star and bus topologies.
• Example: Large corporate networks.
▪ Types of Network

Figure 9. Classification of interconnected processors

▪ Local Area Network (LAN)

➢ Definition

Local Area Network generally called LANs are privately owned network within a single
building or campus of up to few kilometers in size widely used to connect personal
computer and workstation in company office and factories to share resource (e.g.: -
printer) and exchange information.

-Regardless of size, a LAN's single defining characteristic is that it connects devices that are in a
single, limited area.

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-A LAN comprises cables, access points, switches, routers, and other components that enable
devices to connect to internal servers, web servers, and other LANs via wide area networks.

For Example: In an office with multiple departments, such as accounting, IT support, and
administration, each department's computers could be logically connected to the same switch
but segmented to behave as if they are separate.

▪ Wide Area Network (WAN)

➢ Definition

A wide area network or WAN, spans a large geographic area, often a country or continent.
It contains a collection of machines intended for running user (i.e. application) programs.

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 -WAN’s used to connect LANs and other types of networks together, so that users and
computers in one location can communicate with users and computers in other locations.

The subnet consists of two distinct components:

1) Transmission lines

These lines move bits between machines. They can be made of copper wire, optical fiber, or
even radio links.

2) Switching elements

These are specialized devices called routers that connect three or more transmission lines.

-When data arrive on an incoming line, the switching element (Router) must choose an

outgoing line on which to forward them.

-When data arrive on an incoming line, the switching element (Router) must choose an
outgoing line on which to forward them.
 -When data arrive on an incoming line, the switching element (Router) must choose an
outgoing line on which to forward them.

-In this model, each host is frequently connected to LAN on which a router is present,
although in some cases a host can directly connect to router.

-The collection of communication lines and routers (but not host) form the subnet.

➢ Store - and - Forward mechanism

-In most WAN’s, 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 router to another via one or more intermediate routers, the
packet is received at each intermediate router in it’s entirely, 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.

-when the packets are small and all the same size they are often called cells.

➢ What do you mean by packet-switched WAN?

-When a process on some host has a message to be sent to a process on some other host, the
sending host first cuts the message into packets, each one bearing its number in the sequence.

-These packets are then injected into the network one at a time quick succession. The packets
are transported individually over the network and deposited at the receiving
Host, where they are reassembled into the original message and delivered to the
receiving process.

Example: A stream of packets resulting from some initial message is illustrated.

-In this figure all the packets follow the route ACE, rather than ABDE or ACDE.

-Of course, if ACE is best route, all packets may be sent along it, even if each packet is
individually routed.

-Routing decisions are made locally when a packet arrives at router A, it is up to A to decide
if this packet should be sent on line to B or the line to C.

-How ‘A’ makes that decision is called the routing algorithm.

▪ Metropolitan Area Network

➢ Definition

It is a large computer network that spans a metropolitan area or campus. Its

geographic scope falls between a wan and LAN. MAN’s provide internet connectivity
for LAN’s in a metropolitan region, and connect them to WAN like network.
 -The term MAN is applied to the interconnection of local area networks (LANs) in a city
into a single larger network which may then also offer efficient connection to a wide area
network (WAN).

-A metropolitan area network (MAN) is designed to extend over an entire city. It may be
a single network such as a cable television network, or it may be a means of connecting a
number of LANs into a larger network so that resources may be shared LAN-to-LAN as
well as device-to-device.
For example: a company can use a MAN to connect the LANs in all of its offices throughout
a city.

-A MAN may be wholly owned and operated by a private company, or it may be a service
provided by a public company, such as a local telephone company. Many telephone
companies vide a popular MAN service called Switched Multi-megabit Data Services
(SMDS).

-A MAN typically covers an area of between 10 and 50 km diameter.

Figure- Use of MANs to provide regional networks which share the cost of access to a WAN.
• Internet Terminology
1) HTTP
-HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
-It's the foundation of how data is transferred on the World Wide Web. Think of it as the language used by
your web browser to communicate with websites.
• How HTTP Works
HTTP operates on a client-server model. This means:

1) Client (your browser): Sends a request to a server.

2) Server: Processes the request and sends back a response.

This process happens every time you visit a website.

2) DNS

DNS, or Domain Name System, is a fundamental component of the internet that translates human-readable
domain names (like www.example.com) into IP addresses (like 192.0.2.1) that computers use to identify
each other on the network.
• Hierarchy

DNS has a hierarchical structure with different levels of domains:

✓ Root Level: The top of the DNS hierarchy, represented by a dot (.), which is usually implied rather than
explicitly stated.
✓ Top-Level Domains (TLDs): These include generic TLDs (gTLDs) like .com, .org, .net, and country-
code TLDs (ccTLDs) like .uk, .fr, .de.
✓ Second-Level Domains: Directly below TLDs, for example, in www.example.com, "example" is the
second-level domain.
✓ Subdomains: Additional levels below second-level domains, for example, in mail.example.com, "mail"
is a subdomain of "example.com".

3) INTERNET

The Internet is a vast, interconnected network of computers and devices around the world. It
allows us to communicate, access information, and share resources with people across the globe.

• How it Works?
While the technical details can be complex, the basic idea is simple:
1) Devices: Computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices connect to the internet.
2) Networks: These devices are connected to networks, like your home Wi-Fi or your mobile network.
3) Global Connection: These networks are interconnected, creating the massive internet we know.

• Applications
The possibilities are almost endless! Here are some common uses:
Communication: Email, social media, video calls, messaging
Information: Search engines, online articles, research
Entertainment: Streaming movies and music, online gaming, virtual reality
Shopping: Online stores, e-commerce
Education: Online courses, tutorials, research
Work: Remote work, online collaboration

4) INTRANET

An intranet is a private network accessible only to an organization's staff.

-It uses internet technologies like web browsers and servers but is restricted to authorized users within
the organization. Intranets are used to:
1) Facilitate Communication:
Employees can share information and collaborate through tools like internal email, chat systems, and
forums.
2) Access Internal Resources
It provides access to internal documents, databases, applications, and other resources necessary for daily
operations.
3) Enhance Productivity
Intranets often include tools like project management software, workflow systems, and other applications
designed to streamline business processes.
4) Maintain Security
By keeping sensitive information within a private network, organizations can better protect their data
from external threats.
5) Support Training and Development
Many intranets include training modules, knowledge bases, and other educational resources to support
employee growth.