Computer Networks

What is a computer?
A computer is an electronic device that executes the instructions in a program.

Computer System
A computer system refers to the computer AND all of its equipments Equipments (speakers, printer, keyboard, scanner, etc) are called peripherals CPU is considered to be "the computer"

Advantages of Computers
Speed Accuracy Automatism Diligence

Types of Computers
Computers can be generally classified by size and power

Personal computer Workstation Minicomputer Mainframe

Supercomputer

Microcomputer
A computer that has a microprocessor chip as its CPU Often called personal computers or PC Designed to be used by one person at a time

Workstations/Servers
A workstation is a powerful, high-end microcomputer Contain one or more microprocessor CPUs

They may be used by a single-user for applications requiring more power than a typical PC

Workstations/Servers
The term server actually refers to a computer's function A server runs a network of computers

Server handles the sharing of equipment and the communication between computers
Server needs more power, larger memory, larger storage capacity, high speed communications

What is a Computer Network

A collection of computers or other hardware devices connected together Use special Hardware and software to exchange information

Why Start a Network

Share your high-speed Internet connection Share your music, pictures, and other files Secure your computers against Internet threats Play head-to-head games online Share your printer

Kind of Networks
Wired Networks

communicate through data cables

communicate through radio signals

Wireless Networks

Why choose a wireless network?

Freedom work anywhere No cables to buy Save cabling time and hassle Easy to expand

Why choose a wired network?

Lower cost Faster speedup to 1000Mbps Longer possible range Higher Security

Major Categories of Networks

Personal area network

communication among computer and different information technological devices close to one person
A network of computers that are in the same general physical location, within a building or a campus. computer network that usually spans a city or a large campus network built by an enterprise to interconnect various company sites

Local Area Networks (LAN)

Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN)

Enterprise private network

Major Categories of Networks cont..

Virtual private network

some of the links between nodes are carried by open connections or virtual circuits in some larger network instead of by physical wires.
covers a large geographic area such as a city, country, or spans even intercontinental distances.

Wide Area Networks (WAN)

What is a Local Area Network?

A group of computers and associated devices share a common communications line or wireless link within a small geographic area Ethernet is the most commonly used LAN technology

Commonly Used LAN Implementations

Network Topologies
A network topology is the layout of the interconnections of the nodes of a computer network

bus network: all nodes are connected to a common medium along this medium Bus star network: all nodes are connected to a special central node ring network: each node is connected to its left and right neighbor node mesh network: each node is connected to an arbitrary number of neighbors

Network Categories
Server-Based

computers providing the service are called servers Computers that request and use the service are called client computers
act both as clients and servers

Peer-to-Peer

Networking Devices
Repeaters and hubs

A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal, cleans it of unnecessary noise, regenerates it, and retransmits it at a higher power level, A repeater with multiple ports is known as a hub

Switch

Forwards and filters datagram between ports based on the MAC addresses in the packets.
Connects multiple network segments Internetworking device that forwards packets between networks

Bridge

Router

Network Interface Card (NIC)

Every computer and most devices is connected to network through an NIC. In most desktop computers, this is an Ethernet card (10 or 100 Mbps)

Protocols
Protocols are used for communication between computers in different computer networks. Protocol achieves:

What is communicated between computers? How it is communicated? When it is communicated? What conformance (bit sequence) between computers?

ISO/OSI Reference Model

7. Application

End user services such as email. Data problems and data compression Authenication and authorization Gaurentee end-to-end delivery of packets Packet routing Transmit and receive packets The cable or physical connection itself

6. Presentation

5. Session

4. Transport

3. Network

2. Data Link

1. Physical

TCP/IP Protocol Stack

5. Application

Authenication, compression, and end user services.

Handles the flow of data between Packet routing

4. Transport

3. Network

2. Link

Kernel OS/device driver interface to the network interface on the computer

OSI and TCP/IP

Understanding IP Addressing
Address consists of 4 bytes = 32 bits four dotted decimal numbers such as
134.220.198.170 = 10000110.11011100.11000110.10101010

consists of two parts the network portion, and the host portion The network portion is used to route packets between networks The host portion identifies the particular device on the host network

Addresses Class
There are five classes of IP address The class of address is identified by the first bits of the address Three classes are used for networks. The last two are reserved for special purposes

Class A to Class C
Class A

IP addresses with a first octet from 1 to 126

IP addresses with a first octet from 128 to 191 IP addresses with a first octet from 192 to 223

Class B

Class C

Private IP addresses
10.x.x.x 172.16.x.x - Full Class A - 172.31.x.x Multiple Class B addresses 192.168.x.x - Multiple Class C addresses

Subnet Mask (netmask)

32-bit value Generally used to subdivide (subnet) a given IP class network into smaller (sub) networks Netmask determines which portion of an IP address is the network address and which is the host address bit if the corresponding netmask bit is 0 "Natural netmask" has all netid bit locations = 1 and all hostid bit locations = 0

IP Subnets
Larger classes of networks are usually divided in to smaller networks This is achieved by dividing up the host portion of the address This process is known as subnetting

What is a MAC Address?

A unique value associated with a network adapter Also known as hardware addresses or physical addresses usually written in one of the following two formats:

MM:MM:MM:SS:SS:SS MM-MM-MM-SS-SS-SS

or

DNS
But you are not typing IP addresses in the web browser Address space.

You type an URL Computers cant understand names It needs to convert human understandable URLs to IP address Thats where It needs DNS Server

Domain Name Service

Simply map Names in to IP numbers

Ex: www.accimt.ac.lk 192.248.8.45

It may know the correct mapping or Simply go and ask another server who knows the answer or This server might do the recursive queries to get the final answer.

Uses a dedicated server (DNS)

Bandwidth

Bandwidth

Bandwidth Measurements

Steps to Secure Windows PC

Use strong passwords Install security patches Share files correctly Use anti-virus software Protect against email viruses

Steps to Secure Windows PC (cont)

Minimize open network services Run a security analyzer Do regular backups Apply Windows fixes

Wireless Networks
Standards

IEEE 802.11.b 2.4GHz 11Mbps IEEE 802.11.a 5GHz 54 Mbps IEEE 802.11g 2.4Ghz Hybrid 11/54Mbps

The A-B-Gs of Wireless

802.11.a

54 Mbps @ 5MHz Not widely adopted 11 Mbps @2.4GHz Low Cost New technology - Available late 2003 Compatible with 802.11b

802.11.b

802.11.g

Wireless Networks
Limitations

300 ft. effective range from access point

1400 ft maximum range

Interference from other devices such as cordless phones

Wireless Network Components

Access Points NICs Network Interface Cards

PCMCIA USB PCI CompactFlash Bridges and Routers Print Servers

Other Wireless Devices

PCs, Laptops, PDAs

Network security
Consists of the provisions and policies Prevent and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of the computer network and network-accessible resources Network Security is involved in organization, enterprises, and all other type of institutions

Few Network commands

ARP

Display or manipulate the ARP information on a network device or computer. The hostname command displays the host name of the Windows XP computer currently logged into
display the network settings (Win 2000/XP)

HOSTNAME

IPCONFIG

Few Network commands (cont..)

WINIPCFG

display network and network adapter information (Win 9x)

listing of how a network packet travels through the network and where it may fail or slow down

TRACERT / TRACEROUTE

Few Network commands (cont..)

NSLOOKUP

look up an IP address of a domain or host on a network display the TCP/IP network protocol statistics and information determine if the network is able to communicate with the network

NETSTAT

PING