Chapter V Introduction to Networks

Networking Fundamentals The Network Interface Card (NIC) Computer Networks and Networking Network Topology Network Devices Network Media Peer-to-Peer Networks IP Addresses Importance of Computer Networks Benefits of Computer Networks

Networking Fundamentals
The Network Interface Card (NIC) Computer Networks and Networking Network Topology Network Devices

The Network Interface Card (NIC)

a network interface card (NIC) is a printed circuit board that provides network communication capabilities to and from a personal computer. This card can be designed as an Ethernet card, a Token Ring card, or a Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) card. Each individual NIC throughout the world carries a unique code, called a Media Access Control (MAC) address. This address is used to control data communication for the host on the network.

When you select a network card, consider the following three factors:
type of network (for example, Ethernet, Token Ring, or FDDI) type of media (for example, twisted-pair, coaxial, or fiber-optic cable) type of system bus (for example, PCI or ISA)

Computer Networks and Networking

A network is an intricately connected system of objects or people. An example of a network is a computer network. A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices interconnected by communications channels that facilitate communications and allows sharing of resources and information among interconnected devices. Computer networking or Data communications (Datacom) is the engineering discipline concerned with the computer networks.

Computer networks are classified into:

Local area network (LAN), which is usually a small network constrained to a small geographic area. An example of a LAN would be a computer network within a building. Metropolitan area network (MAN), which is used for medium size area. examples for a city or a state. Wide area network (WAN) is usually a larger network that covers a large geographic area. Wireless LANs and WANs (WLAN & WWAN) are the wireless equivalent of the LAN and WAN.

Network Topology
Topology defines the structure of the network. There are two parts to the topology definition: the physical topology, which is the actual layout of the wire (media), and the logical topology, which defines how the media is accessed by the hosts.

The physical topologies that are commonly used are the Bus, Ring, Star, Extended Star, Hierarchical, and Mesh. These are shown in

The physical topologies

A bus topology uses a single backbone segment (length of cable) that all the hosts connect to directly. A ring topology connects one host to the next and the last host to the first. This creates a physical ring of cable. A star topology connects all cables to a central point of concentration. This point is usually a hub or switch, which will be described later in the chapter. An extended star topology uses the star topology to be created. It links individual stars together by linking the hubs/switches. This, as you will learn later in the chapter, will extend the length and size of the network.

A hierarchical topology is created similar to an extended star but instead of linking the hubs/switches together, the system is linked to a computer that controls the traffic on the topology. A mesh topology is used when there can be absolutely no break in communications, for example the control systems of a nuclear power plant. So as you can see in the graphic, each host has its own connections to all other hosts. This also reflects the design of the Internet, which has multiple paths to any one location.

The logical topology of a network is how the hosts communicate across the medium. The two most common types of logical topologies are Broadcast and Token-passing.
Broadcast topology Token-passing

Broadcast topology
Broadcast topology simply means that each host sends its data to all other hosts on the network medium. There is no order the stations follow to use the network, it is first come, first serve. This is the way that Ethernet works.

Token-passing
Token-passing controls network access by passing an electronic token sequentially to each host. When a host receives the token, that means that that host can send data on the network. If the host has no data to send, it passes the token to the next host and the process repeats itself.

Network Devices
Repeater Hub Bridge Switch Routers Wireless router Firewalls

Network Devices
Devices that connect directly to a network segment are referred to as hosts. These hosts include computers, clients and servers, printers, scanners, and many other user devices. These devices provide the users with connection to the network, with which the users share, create, and obtain information. The host devices can exist without a network, but without the network, the hosts capabilities are greatly limited.

Repeater
The purpose of a repeater is regenerate and retime network signals at the bit level to allow them to travel a longer distance on the media

Hub
The purpose of a hub is to regenerate and retime network signals. This is done at the bit level to a large number of hosts (e.g. 4, 8, or even 24) using a process known as concentration. A hub is also known as a multi-port repeater. The difference is the number of cables that connect to the device (Figure 5.4).

 Two reasons for using hubs are to create a central connection point for the wiring media, and increase the reliability of the network. The reliability of the network is increased by allowing any single cable to fail without disrupting the entire network.

Bridge
A bridge is a device designed to connect two LAN segments The purpose of a bridge is to filter traffic on a LAN, to keep local traffic local, yet allow connectivity to other parts (segments) of the LAN for traffic that has been directed there.

Switch
A switch is a multi-port bridge (Figure 5.6), just like a hub is called a multi-port repeater. Switches at first glance often look like hubs. Both hubs and switches have many connection ports, since part of their function is connectivity concentration (allowing many devices to be connected to one point in the network).

The difference between the hub and switch is that switches make decisions based on MAC addresses and hubs don't make decisions at all. Because of the decisions that switches make, they make a LAN much more efficient. They do this by "switching" data only out the port to which the proper host is connected. In contrast, a hub will send the data out all of its ports so that all of the hosts have to see and process (accept or reject) all of the data.

Network Media
The basic functions of media are to carry a flow of information, in the form of bits and bytes, through a LAN. Other than wireless LANs (that use the atmosphere, or space, as the medium), networking media confine network signals to a wire, cable, or fiber. You can build computer networks with many different media types.

Some of the advantages and disadvantages are:

There are generally three main types of networking cables: straight-through, crossover, and rollover cables.

 Crossover cables have pairs of wires that crisscross. This allows for two devices to communicate at the same time. Unlike straight-through cables, we use crossover cables to connect like devices. We just switch the orange-white and greenwhite wires, and then the orange and green wires. Crossover cables are typically used in the following situations:

5.2.1 Crossover cable

Crossover cables are typically used in the following situations: ` to a router 1. Connecting a computer
2. Connecting a computer to a computer 3. Connecting a router to a router 4. Connecting a switch to a switch 5. Connecting a hub to a hub

Straight Through/Patch cable

In straight-through cables, out of the 8 pins that exist on both ends of an Ethernet cable, each pin connects to the same pin on the opposite side Straight-through cables are primarily used for connecting unlike devices.

You can use a straight-through cable when:

1. Connecting a router to a hub 2. Connecting a computer to a switch 3. Connecting a LAN port to a switch, hub, or computer

Peer-to-Peer Networks
Peer-to-peer networking is the utilization of the relatively powerful computers (personal computers) that exist at the edge of the Internet for more than just client-based computing tasks. The modern personal computer (PC) has a very fast processor, vast memory, and a large hard disk, none of which are being fully utilized when performing common computing tasks such as e-mail and Web browsing.