Day 1 Network Essentials Computer networks Computer network is an interconnection of computers and other peripheral devices (examples IP Phone,

network printer) Purpose 1 The primary purpose of computer network is sharing resources. Resources are of two types 1 2 Hardware resources ( CD Drive, Floppy Drive, and Printer are best examples) Software resources

Software Resources include sharing of data and applications. Data we can share in two ways, simple file sharing and through database servers (MS SQL Server and Oracle database servers are examples) We can categories applications as 1 2 3 4 MS DOS applications 16 bit Windows applications 32 bit Windows applications 64 bit Windows applications

Applications use network in different ways 1 MSDOS applications we can simply share just like data files because that doesnt need installation. The remaining type of applications needs installation so we cannot share just like files. Some applications support network installation (Anti virus programs are best examples) Most of the web based and database based applications need network for their implementation

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The discussions about computer network are based of two different aspects 1 Physical topology

Discusses about the physical layout of the network, which means it says how we can interconnect computers and peripheral devices by using media and connectivity devices 2 Logical topology

Logical topology involves in interconnecting computers and peripheral devices through the configuration of operating systems Based on physical topology we can categorize network as LAN and WAN 1 LAN

Network exist in a small geographical location is called LAN. Also in LAN media using to interconnect systems will be owned by the organizations itself 2 WAN

Interconnection of LANs is called WAN. In WAN we will depend a telecom service providers technology for interconnecting LANs (PSTN, ISDN, Leased Line and VPN are of best examples) LAN Standards There are five different standards for building Local Area Networks 1 2 3 4 5 Ethernet Ethernet history begins from Xerox Network Corporation they have build its basic form and share that idea with an industry group called DIX (Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox), they later introduced Ethernet standards. Ethernet Standards are available in four different bandwidths 10mbps, 100mbps, 1gbps and 10gbps. Ethernet Token ring FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) WLAN (Wireless LAN)

At the same time IEEE (Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has introduced three networking standards known Automatic IEEE Standards. 1 2 3 4 10Base2 10Base5 10BaseT 10BaseF(Added later)

Here 10 for 10mbps speed, base for base band signaling and the last term indicate media type We have two types of signaling methods, base band and broad band. In base band signaling only one channel is possible. Signals will consume entire bandwidth of media that is why only one signal is possible at a time. Broad band signaling involves dividing the bandwidth of media in channels, which is called multiplexing. That is why multiple signals are possible simultaneously. Media Media define the path way for communication (they way through which signals move from one system to other). We can have three different types of media 1 2 3 Copper(Signals move as electrical pulse) Glass (Signals move in the form of light) Air (Radio waves or electromagnetic waves)

In copper media we are using cables. We have two types of cables co-axial cable (Click here to learn more) and twisted pair cable (Click here to learn more) There are two types of co-axial cables, thick co-axial cable with segment length 500 meter and thin co-axial cable with segment length 185 meter. RG-58 grade co-axial cables are using for computer networks. BNC connectors (Click here to learn more) are using to interconnecting systems. (T, Cable, barrel and Terminator are examples for BNC connectors). Twisted pair cables are of two types UTP and STP