NETWORKS

GROUP 5
DEFINITION OF A COMPUTER NETWORK

• A computer network is an interconnection of two or more computing devices for the

According to Geographical Area

i. Peer to peer networks- All computers on this network play equal roles. Each
computer controls it own information and is capable of functioning as either a client
or a server.
ii. Server based Networks- Unlike peer to peer networks that operate without central
control and are difficult to secure, a server-based network offers centralized control
and is designed for secured operations
 ORGANIZATION OF COMPUTERS IN A
NETWORK
Network Topology
Network topology refers to the physical or logical layout of a network. There are five network
topologies Namely;
i. Mesh topology-allow any host to send messages to any other host in the network, the easiest
solution is to organize. With a direct and dedicated link between each pair of hosts.
II. BUS TOPOLOGY

All hosts are attached to a shared medium, usually a cable through a single interface. When
one host sends an electrical signal on the bus, the signal is received by all hosts attached to
the bus. A drawback of bus-based networks is that if the bus is physically cut, then the
network is split into two isolated networks.
III. STAR TOPOLOGY

• Hosts have a single physical interface and there is one physical link between each host
and the center of the star.
IV. RING TOPOLOGY

• Like the bus organization, each host has a single physical interface connecting it to the
ring. Any signal sent by a host on the ring will be received by all hosts attached to the
ring.
V. TREE TOPOLOGY

• Such networks are typically used when a large number of customers must be connected
in a very cost-effective manner. Cable TV networks are often organized as trees.
 NETWORK TROUBLESHOOTING TOOLS

1. Route
This utility is used to display the current status of the routing table on a host. While the use of the
route utility is limited in common situations where the host only has a single IP address with a single
gateway, it is vital in other situations where multiple IP address and multiple gateways are available.
Figure 13 below shows an example of the route utility being used on a Windows machine.
2. PATHPING/MTR

In an effort to take advantage of the benefits of both the ping and tracert/traceroute
commands, the pathping and mtr utilities were developed. Both of these tools take the
functionality and information that can be obtained from these types of tools and provide a
more detailed single picture of the path characteristics from a specific host to a specific
destination.
3. SPEEDTEST.NET/PINGTEST.NET

The speedtest.net site provides the ability to determine the amount of bandwidth that is
available to a specific host at a specific point in time; this is often a good tool to use when
measuring how long it is going to take to upload or download information from a local to
remote host. This measurement can also be used to determine whether the connection is
offering the amount of bandwidth that was purchased from the Internet provider
4. SUBNET AND IP CALCULATOR

These can be used to ensure a correct IP address selection and with this a correct IP
address configuration. While this type of tool is used by senior level network engineers,
much of the information obtained from the tool becomes simpler to calculate the longer
and more experience you have in the field. Two of the more commonly used free IP
calculators include Wild packets (Bit cricket) Network Calculator and SolarWinds
5. NETSTAT

Often, one of the things that are required to be figured out is the current state of the active
network connections on a host. This is very important information to find for a variety of
reasons. For example, when verifying the status of a listening port on a host or to check
and see what remote hosts are connected to a local host on a specific port. It is also
possible to use the netstat utility to determine which services on a host that is associated
with specific active ports
6. IPCONFIG/IFCONFIG

One of the most important things that must be completed when troubleshooting a
networking issue is to find out the specific IP configuration of the variously affected hosts.
Sometimes this information is already known when addressing is configured statically, but
when a dynamic addressing method is used, the IP address of each host can potentially
change often. The utilities that can be used to find out this IP configuration information
include the ipconfig utility on Windows machines and the ifconfig utility on Linux based
machines.
7. TRACERT/TRACEROUTE

Typically, once the ping utility has been used to determine basic connectivity, the
tracert/traceroute utility can used to determine more specific information about the path
to the destination host including the route the packet takes and the response time of these
intermediate hosts. The tracert utility and traceroute utilities perform the same function
but operate on different operating systems, Tracert for Windows machines and traceroute
for Linux based machines.
8. PING

The most commonly used network tool is the ping utility. This utility is used to provide a
basic connectivity test between the requesting host and a destination host. This is done by
using the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) which has the ability to send an echo
packet to a destination host and a mechanism to listen for a response from this host. Simply
stated, if the requesting host receives a response from the destination host, this host is
reachable. This utility is commonly used to provide a basic picture of where a specific
networking problem may exist.
DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES AND TROUBLESHOOTING
TECHNIQUES FOR NETWORKS

1. Make sure it’s actually your network problem

Sometimes what seems like a network outage is actually a problem on a specific website’s
end. If you can’t get on Twitter, for instance, check another few websites to make sure that
the problem isn’t just with a single site or computer incase of a LAN.
2. Power cycle everything and check other devices

The fix to your problem might be as simple as rebooting your equipment. Restarting fixes a
ton of issues, so make sure it’s your first response to network problems.
3. Check physical connections

If you use an Ethernet cable to connect to your router, check to make sure that it’s not
unplugged or damaged. If your laptop has a physical wireless switch, make sure that it’s not
set to the off position.
4. Run the windows network troubleshooter

• In case of Windows operating system includes some built-in troubleshooters that can
automatically find and fix issues.
5. Check for a valid IP address

• At this point, you’ve verified that the problem is not temporary and that all your
hardware works. Since (Windows) can’t fix the problem on its own, we need to pinpoint
the spot along the connection where the problem is occurring.
6. Try a ping and trace its route

• If your IP address starts with anything other than 169 when you run ipconfig, you have a
valid IP address from your router. At this point, you’ve confirmed the problem is
somewhere between your router and the internet.
7. Contact Your ISP

• Should all the above steps complete successfully, you’ve now verified that your equipment
is working and confirmed you have a valid IP address from the router. Also, you’re sure
that the problem is occurring outside of the network for multiple devices. If this is the
case, your next best option is to find out if your ISP is having issues.