LAN Technology

&
Switching Device

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 1

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Categories of LAN
LAN type Ethernet ARCnet Token-Ring

Topology Bus/Star Bus/Star Ring

Speed 10/100/1000 2.5Mbps 4/16 Mbps

Mbps

Access method CSMA/CD Token Passing Token Passing

Media type Twisted Pair Twisted Pair Twisted Pair

Coaxial cable Coaxial cable Coax
Optical fiber
Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 2
ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Ethernet
„ Ethernet is a baseband LAN specification invented by
Xerox Corporation that operates at 10 Mbps using
carrier sense multiple access collision detect
(CSMA/CD) to run over coaxial cable.
„ Any station can access the network at any time. Before
sending data, CSMA/CD stations listen for traffic on the
network. A station wanting to send data waits until it
detects no traffic before it transmits.
„ 10BaseTÆ 10Mbps twisted pair
„ 100BaseTÆ 100Mbps twisted pair

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 3

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Local Area Networks & Devices

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 4

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Wide Area Networks & Devices

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 5

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Switching techniques
„ Circuit switching
„ Telephone networks
„ Message switching
„ Store and forward network
„ Packet switching
„ Bandwidth can be managed by splitting data
onto different routes in a busy network.

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 6

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Repeaters
„ The maximum length for UTP cable in a network,
is 100 meters (approximately 333 feet).
„ If we need to extend our network beyond that
limit, we must add a device to our network.
„ This device is called a 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.

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 7

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Limits on Repeaters
„ Can't extend Ethernet with
repeaters indefinitely
„ CSMA/CD requires low
delay; if medium is too
long, CSMA/CD won't work
„ Ethernet standard includes
limit of 4 repeaters
between any two Ethernet
stations

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 8

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
What is a 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.
„ You will notice that this definition is very similar to the
repeater's, that is why a hub is also known as a multi-port
repeater.

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 9

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
 Hubs
„ Active Vs. Passive Hubs
„ Most modern hubs are active;
they take energy from a
power supply to regenerate
network signals.
„ Some hubs are called passive
devices because they merely
split the signal to multiple
users.
„ Passive hubs do not
regenerate bits, so they do
not extend a cables length,
they only allow two or more
hosts to connect to the same
cable segment.
Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking
ECED, SCET
„ Intelligent Vs. Dumb
„ Intelligent hubs have console
ports, which means they can
be programmed to manage
network traffic.
„ Dumb hubs simply take an
incoming networking signal
and repeat it to every port
without the ability to do any
management.
10
Lecture 4
Bridges
„ Bridging occurs at the data link layer, which controls data flow,
handles transmission errors, provides physical addressing, and
manages access to the physical medium.
„ Bridges provide these functions by using various link layer
protocols that dictate specific flow control, error handling,
addressing, and media access algorithms.
„ Examples of popular data link layer protocols include Ethernet,
Token Ring, and FDDI.
„ Upper-layer protocol transparency is a primary advantage of
bridging.
„ Bridges are not required to examine upper-layer information
because they operate at the data link layer or Layer 2 of the OSI
model.
„ Bridges filter network traffic by only looking at the MAC address,
not protocols.

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 11

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Problems with Bridges
„ When traffic between network segments becomes heavy, bridges can
become a bottleneck and slow down communication.
„ Bridges always spread and multiply a special kind of data packet.
„ These data packets occur when a device on a network wants to reach
another device on the network, but does not know the destination address
of the device.
„ When this occurs, frequently the source sends out a broadcast to all
devices on a network.
„ Since every device on the network has to pay attention to such
broadcasts, bridges always forward them.
„ If too many broadcasts are sent out over the network a broadcast storm
can result.
„ A broadcast storm can cause network time-outs, traffic slowdowns, and
the network to operate at less than acceptable performance.

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 12

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Needs for Faster LAN - I
„ Network scenario
„ More users, more networked workstations/computers

„ Problems
„ Collisions, low throughput, slow response

Screen Monitor II

Screen Monitor II

LAN
Screen Monitor II Screen Monitor II

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 13

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Needs for Faster LAN - II
„ Network scenario
„ Higher desktop processing power
™ Faster CPU and I/O bus
„ Problems
„ Bottleneck is found at 10mbps Ethernet / 16mbps token ring
bandwidth

Screen Monitor II EISA Bus

PCI Bus

LAN

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 14

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Network Administrator’s Demands
„ Reliable, high performance scalable
network
„ Incremental approach to expanding
network capacity
„ Simple management and lower costs for
moves, adds and changes
„ Lowest cost possible for the transition to
future networks

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 15

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Key Driving Factors
„ More network users
„ More new network application “Switching is an
„ More powerful CPUs in systems affordable and
„ Increased network loading
scaleable
Solution”
„ Changing organizational structure

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 16

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Switches
„ Switching is a technology that alleviates congestion in
Ethernet LANs by reducing traffic and increasing bandwidth.
„ Switches, often replace shared hubs and work with existing
cable infrastructures to ensure they are installed with
minimal disruption of existing networks.
„ Today, in data communications, all switching and routing
equipment perform two basic operations:
„ Switching data frames -- The process by which a frame is
received on an input medium and then transmitted to an
output medium.
„ Maintenance of switching operations -- Switches build and
maintain switching tables and search for loops. Routers build
and maintain both routing tables and service tables.

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 17

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Benefits of LAN Switching
„ Number of Collisions
reduced
„ Simultaneous multiple
communications
„ High speed uplinks
„ Improved network
response
„ Increased user productivity
„ maximizes the bandwidth
available on the shared
medium
„ Most traffic is delivered on
a “need to see” basis

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 18

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Switching Technology
„ Multiple 10/100
Mbps conversations
„ "On-the-fly" packet
switching
Ethernet „ Local conversations
Switch
are filtered

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 19

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Half Duplex
„ One direction of data transmission at one time
„ Either transmit or receive
„ Half duplex in shared hub - 10mbps or 100mbps
„ Hubs support half duplex only

bps
10M
Ethernet Hub

b ps
10M
b ps
10M

Screen Monitor II Screen Monitor II Screen Monitor II

b ps
10 M
A B C
Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 20
ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Full Duplex
„ Bi-directional transmission
„ Two full 10 or 100 Mbps data paths
„ Doubles Ethernet capacity to 20 or 200 Mbps
„ "Collision-free" Ethernet
„ Supports 10Base-T, 10Base-F, 100Base-TX or 100Base-FX

b ps
10M
b ps
10M
b ps
10 M
b ps
10M

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 21

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Auto-negotiation
„ Exchange information
about their abilities over a
link segment
„ Automatic configuration
„ Achieve the best possible
duplex mode of operation
over a link
„ Detection of highest speed

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 22

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
What is a Switch?

An Ethernet switch must

exhibit:
•Low latency (Tens of
microseconds)
•Cut-through, or store &
forward technology
•Massively parallel switching
•Scalable architecture

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 23

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Store-&-Forward Operation
„ Receives complete packet
„ Checks to see that the
packet is not a fragment or
runt resulting from a
collision
CRC
„ Does a CRC to verify 2 3
„ non-corrupted packet 1 4
Store Forward
„ Forward packet based on
forwarding table
„ If packet is a fragment or
runt or fails the CRC check,
it is discarded

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 24

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Store-&-Forward
„ Pros
„ Verifies frame checksum before forwarding
„ Filter runts and check CRCs
„ Supports mixed speed and LAN ports
„ Cons
„ Longer latency (latency=time of frame length
+ processing)
„ More features add delay

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 25

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Cut-through Operation
„ Partial store the incoming
packet
„ Lookup the incoming
packet’s destination
address DA Lookup

„ Forward packet based on 3

2
forwarding table 1 4
„ If packet is a fragment or Partial Forward
Store
runt or fails the CRC check,
it could not be filtered out

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 26

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Cut-through Operation
„ Pros
„ Could be short and consistent latency
„ Most appropriate in single speed, “collision-free”
configuration
„ Applicable in single speed workgroup and backbone
switches
„ Cons
„ Not capable of detecting and discarding bad packets
„ Increasing latency w/congestion and w/speed mismatch
„ Filtering requirements can void cut-through
„ Must run at the same speed

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ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Common Switch Problem
„ The memory for switch forwarding tables
is expensive
„ Most of the entries are on the port that
faces the rest of the network

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ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Throughput
„ Throughput = the max. No. of packets per second a switch
can forward without loss across all I/O ports
„ Normally understood to be in terms of minimum-sized
packets (in Ethernet, 64-byte packets)
„ Throughput is an “aggregated” number for a switch
„ Usually based on implicit/explicit optimal traffic distribution
across all switch ports
„ “Wire-speed” = throughput to keep pace with max.
Theoretical frame transmission rates across its I/O ports

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ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Buffer Capacity & Congestion Control
„ Buffer memory allocated to I/O ports; Minimise
frames loss
„ More than 1 input port is contending for a single output
port
„ A high-speed input port is forwarding to a single, low-
speed output port
„ In general, switches with larger buffer capacity
will lose fewer frames during periods of
congestion
„ In backbones, larger buffer capacity or “dynamic”
buffer allocation are highly desirable

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 30

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
MAC Address Capacity
„ The number of station addresses that can
be stored in lookup tables
„ Used for making forwarding decisions
„ This number establishes the maximum
number of stations that can be included in
a single shared segment attached to a
switch

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 31

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Switching Complementary to Routing
„ Routers are important
for broadcast filtering,
WAN access, security,
and to connect
dissimilar LANs
„ Ethernet switching
provides throughput
enhancement

Prof Nehal N Shah Computer Communication & Networking 32

ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Switching Vs. Routing
„ LAN switching (bridging) is a cost effective packet
forwarding technology
„ Relatively homogeneous in protocols, applications and
LANs
„ Confined to a subnetwork of users
„ Workgroup or department within a larger organization
„ To interconnect these groups using routing
„ Establish a network hierarchy
„ Rationalise LAN heterogeneity
„ Enforce policy restrictions
„ Limiting broadcast and unwanted protocol

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ECED, SCET Lecture 4
What Operates At Which Layer?
„ Layer 1 Æ Media, Repeaters / Hubs
„ Layer 2 Æ NIC, Switch / Bridge
„ Layer 3 Æ Router
„ Layer 1 to 7 Æ Host / Server

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ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Router
„ The router work at network layer or at layer 3 and make decisions
based on groups (Classes) of network addresses
„ Routers can also connect different layer 2 technologies, such as
Ethernet, Token-ring, and FDDI.
„ Because of the ability to route packets routers have become the
backbone of the Internet, running the IP protocol.
„ Routers have both LAN and WAN interfaces.
„ The two main functions of routers are
„ selection of best paths for incoming data packets
„ switching of packets to the proper outgoing interface
„ Routers accomplish this by building routing tables and exchanging
the network information contained within them with other routers.
„ You can configure routing tables, but generally they are
maintained dynamically by using a routing protocol

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ECED, SCET Lecture 4
Routers in an internet

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ECED, SCET Lecture 4