Data Communication

and Computer
Networks
Chapter 1 - Introduction
 History & overview of Networks

• During the cold war, the most successful scientists and engineers in the US were designing
nuclear weapons and space programs.
• However, the Soviet Union was the one who launched the first satellite in to orbit.
• As a result, the US needed to create something bigger like Internet and Space program in
order to regain technological superiority.
• The US Federal government formed new agencies like NASA and the department of
defence’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).

• Because the government of US was afraid of the Soviet Union attacking their
communication system, they wanted to develop an alternative network line.
• An MIT and ARPA scientist JCR Licklider came up with the idea of Galactic Network.
He suggested using computers to communicate
one another. He envisioned a globally
interconnected set of computers through which
everyone could quickly access data and
programs from any site. In spirit, the concept
was very much like the Internet of today. Hence
the concept of ARPANET was born.
• The first attempt to send simple message from one computer to another
computer was tried in October 29, 1969 to send the message “LOGIN” from a
computer with the size of small house located at University of California Los
Angeles to a computer located at Stanford University, which is 567 kms away.
• However, the computer at Stanford University received the first 2 letters “LO”.

In 1971 an Engineer named Ray Tomlinson

managed to send a whole message like
“QWERTYUIOP”. This message became the first
ever email Ray sent for himself.
The impact of Networks on daily life
• In today’s world, through the use of networks, we are connected like never
before.
• People with ideas can communicate instantly with others to make those ideas a
reality.
• News events and discoveries are known worldwide in seconds.
• Individuals can even connect and play games with friends separated by oceans
and continents.
• Networks play a significant role in our daily lives, as they enable us to connect
with one another and access a vast amount of information and resources.
• Networks allow us to communicate with friends and family through social media
and messaging apps regardless of where they are located, access news and
entertainment through websites and streaming services, and make purchases
and education online.
• Social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have changed the
way we interact with each other and consume news and information.

• Online commerce platforms like Amazon, and eBay have changed the way we
shop, making it easy to purchase goods and services from the comfort of our
own homes.
• Networks also influence and improve the healthcare monitoring in the real time
by connecting wearable health care gadgets to the network.
• Wearable health care systems can communicate with relevant responders in
case of emergencies like accidents or other medical conditions that require
immediate medical attention.
• Some of the key downside of using networks in our daily life includes privacy
concerns as network applications often collect and share personal data without
our knowledge or consent.
• Similarly, we become more vulnerable to cyber-attacks ranging from simple
scams and viruses to more sophisticated hacking attempts that can
compromise sensitive personal and financial information.
• More serious issues like addictive social media use, spread and consumption of
disinformation and misinformation, cyber-bullying and harassment etc. can
also happen as a result of daily usage of networks.
The network as a platform
• The network has become a platform for distributing a wide range of services to
end users in a reliable, efficient, and secure manner.
• The Converging Network
• Modern networks are constantly evolving to meet user demands.
• Early data networks were limited to exchanging character-based information between
connected computer systems.
• Traditional telephone, radio, and television networks were maintained separately from
data networks.
• In the past, every one of these services required a dedicated network, with different
communication channels and different technologies to carry a particular communication
signal.
• Each service had its own set of rules and standards to ensure successful communication.
• Consider a large school in the early 1990s.
• Back then, classrooms were cabled for the public announcement network, the telephone network, a
video network for televisions, a data network, and perhaps a security network.
• These separate networks were disparate, meaning that they could not communicate with each other.
• Advances in technology are enabling us to consolidate these different kinds of
networks onto one platform, referred to as the converged network.
• Unlike dedicated networks, converged networks are capable of delivering voice,
video streams, text, and graphics among many different types of devices over the
same communication channel and network structure.
• Previously separate and distinct communication forms have converged onto a
common platform.
• This platform provides access to a wide range of alternative and new
communication methods that enable people to interact directly with each other
almost instantaneously.
• In a converged network, there are still many points of contact and many
specialized devices, such as personal computers, phones, TVs, and tablet
computers, but there is one common network infrastructure.
• This network infrastructure uses the same set of rules, agreements, and
implementation standards.
Planning for the Future
• The convergence of the different types of communications networks onto one platform represents the first
phase in building the intelligent information network. We are currently in this phase of network
evolution.
• The next phase will be to consolidate not only the different types of messages onto a single network but to
also consolidate the applications that generate, transmit, and secure the messages onto integrated
network devices.
• Not only will voice and video be transmitted over the same network, but the devices that perform the
telephone switching and video broadcasting will also be the same devices that route the messages through
the network.
• The resulting communications platform will provide high-quality application functionality at a reduced
cost.
• The pace at which the development of exciting new converged network applications is occurring can be
attributed to the rapid growth and expansion of the Internet.
• With only about 10 billion of potentially 1.5 trillion things currently connected globally, there is vast
potential to connect the unconnected through the IoE.
• This expansion has created a wider audience for whatever message, product, or service can be delivered.
• The underlying mechanics and processes that drive this explosive growth have resulted in a network
architecture that is both capable of supporting changes and able to grow.
• As the supporting technology platform for living, learning, working, and playing in the human network, the
network architecture of the Internet must adapt to constantly changing requirements for a high quality of
service and security.
Network Architecture
Characteristics
• Networks must support a wide range of applications and services, as well as operate over
many different types of cables and devices, which make up the physical infrastructure.
• The term network architecture, in this context, refers to the technologies that support the
infrastructure and the programmed services and rules, or protocols, that move messages
across the network.
• As networks evolve, we are discovering that there are four basic characteristics that the
underlying architectures need to address in order to meet user expectations. These are: Fault
tolerance, Scalability, Quality of service (QoS), Security.
• Fault Tolerance
• The expectation is that the Internet is always available to the millions of users who rely on it.
• This requires a network architecture that is built to be fault tolerant.
• A fault-tolerant network is one that limits the impact of a failure, so that the fewest number of devices are
affected.
• It is also built in a way that allows quick recovery when such a failure occurs.
• These networks depend on multiple paths between the source and destination of a message.
• If one path fails, the messages can be instantly sent over a different link.
• Having multiple paths to a destination is known as redundancy.
• One way reliable networks provide redundancy is by implementing a packet-switched
network.
• Packet switching splits traffic into packets that are routed over a shared network.
• A single message, such as an email or a video stream, is broken into multiple message blocks, called
packets.
• Each packet has the necessary addressing information of the source and destination of the message.
• The routers within the network switch the packets based on the condition of the network at that
moment.
• This means that all the packets in a single message could take very different paths to the destination.
• This is not the case in circuit-switched networks
traditionally used for voice communications.

• A circuit-switched network is one that establishes a

dedicated circuit between the source and destination
before the users may communicate.

• If the call is unexpectedly terminated, the users must

initiate a new connection.
• Scalability
• A scalable network can expand quickly to support new users and applications
without impacting the performance of the service being delivered to existing
users.

• In addition, networks are scalable because the designers follow accepted

standards and protocols. This allows software and hardware vendors to focus on
improving products and services without worrying about designing a new set of
rules for operating within the network.
• Quality of Service
• Quality of Service (QoS) is also an ever-increasing requirement of networks today.
• New applications available to users over internetworks, such as voice and live video
transmissions, create higher expectations for the quality of the delivered services.
• Have you ever tried to watch a video with constant breaks and pauses?
• As data, voice, and video content continue to converge onto the same network,
QoS becomes a primary mechanism for managing congestion and ensuring reliable
delivery of content to all users.
• Congestion occurs when the demand for bandwidth exceeds the amount available.
• Network bandwidth is measured in the number of bits that can be transmitted in a
single second, or bits per second (bps).
• When simultaneous communications are attempted across the network, the
demand for network bandwidth can exceed its availability, creating network
congestion.
• When the volume of traffic is greater than what can be transported across the
network, devices queue, or hold, the packets in memory until resources
become available to transmit them.
• With a QoS policy in place, the router can manage the flow of data and voice
traffic, giving priority to voice communications if the network experiences
congestion.
• Security
• The network infrastructure, services, and the data contained on network-attached
devices are crucial personal and business assets.
• There are two types of network security concerns that must be addressed:
• network infrastructure security and
• information security.
• Securing a network infrastructure includes the physical securing of devices that provide
network connectivity, and preventing unauthorized access to the management software
that resides on them.
• Information security refers to protecting the information contained within the
packets being transmitted over the network and the information stored on
network attached devices.
• In order to achieve the goals of network security, there are three primary
requirements.
• Confidentiality – Data confidentiality means that only the intended and
authorized recipients can access and read data.
• Integrity – Data integrity means having the assurance that the information
has not been altered in transmission, from origin to destination.
• Availability – Data availability means having the assurance of timely and
reliable access to data services for authorized users.
Network Role & Elements
• Networks are comprised of four basic elements: hardware, software, protocols
and the connection medium.
• Hardware
• Network hardware includes network cards, routers or network switches, modems and Ethernet
repeaters.
• Network cards give computers direct access to network media and enable them to connect to other
equipment, including routers, switches, modems and repeaters.
• Routers or switches allow a single network connection from a modem to be divided between several
computers.
• Repeaters refresh the network signal between Ethernet cable segments, allowing cables to reach
beyond their maximum length without signal loss.
• Software
• In order for the hardware to interact with the network, it needs software to issue commands.
• The primary form of networking software is protocols -- software that instructs network devices on
how to connect to the network and how to interact with one another.
• Other examples of networking software include connection monitoring software, networking
clients and other tools designed to further facilitate your computer's ability to connect to the
network.
• Client Devices
• Client devices are the computers and mobile devices connected to the network.
• Client devices are vital components of a network, as without clients requiring access the network is
essentially pointless.
• In order to classify as a client device, a computer or mobile device must be able to connect to the
network and utilize it.
• Depending on the network, client devices may also require specialized software to establish a
connection.
• Connection Media
• Without connections, a network cannot function. The medium used to connect the nodes of a
network varies with the type of network.
• Wired networks will often use network cables like Category 6 Ethernet cables, while
•
Computer Networks Versus
Human Network
• Human network:
• They possess Biological neurons or nerve cells.
• The Neuron size is approximately 10 m to 6 m.
• They consume the energy of about 6-10 joule per operation per second.
• Moreover, they possess high Learning capability.
• Computer network:
• Network is made up of Silicon transistors.
• The size of a Single transistor is about 10 m to 9 m.
• It consumes Energy between the range of 10-16 joules per operation per
second.
• Possesses high Programming Capability.