Introduction to Networking

The Business School University of Kashmir

Rafi A. Khan

WHY A COMPUTER NETWORK ?

A network is simply two or more computers that are linked together.

Information sharing:

Hardware sharing:
Software sharing:

Authorized users can use other computers on the network to access and share information and data. This could include special group projects, databases, etc. One device connected to a network, such as a printer or scanner, can be shared by many users. Instead of purchasing and installing a software program on each computer, it can be installed on the server. All of the users can then access the program from a single location. Users can work together on group projects by combining the power and capabilities of diverse equipment.

Collaborative environment:

Transmission Media Transmission media refers to the many types of cables and other mediums that carry the signal from the sender to the receiver Copper based cable is the most common form of medium, and is used for virtually all links except long distance. The type of cable chosen for a network is related to the network's topology, protocol, and size.
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Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable Twisted pair cabling is made of pairs of copper wires twisted together. The cable has four pairs of wires inside the jacket. Each pair is twisted with a different number of twists per inch to help eliminate interference from adjacent pairs and other electrical devices.
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Five Categories of UTP

Type Category Category Category Category Category 1 2 3 4 5 Use Voice Only (Telephone Wire) Data to 4 Mbps (Local Talk) Data to 10 Mbps (Ethernet) Data to 20 Mbps (Token Ring) Data to 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)
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UTP has the advantages of a high installed base cheap to install easy to terminate (RFI and EMI) Its disadvantages are, very noisy limited in distance suffers from interference

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

Shielded twisted pair (STP) is suitable for environments with electrical interference; however, the extra shielding can make the cables quite bulky. Shielded twisted pair is often used on networks using Token Ring topology.

Coaxial Cable
It is composed of a copper conductor that serves as the core of the cable. This conductor is covered by a piece of insulating plastic, which is covered by a wire mesh serving as both a shield and second conductor. PVC or other coating then coats this second conductor.

The two types of coaxial cabling are: thick coaxial and thin coaxial. Thinnet Thin coaxial cable is also referred to as thinnet. 10Base2 refers to the specifications for thin coaxial cable carrying Ethernet signals. The 2 refers to the approximate maximum segment length being 200 meters. In actual fact the maximum segment length is 185 meters.

Thicknet Thick coaxial cable is also referred to as thicknet. It uses thicker solid core coaxial cable. 10Base5 refers to the specifications for thick coaxial cable carrying Ethernet signals. The 5 refers to the maximum segment length being 500 meters. One disadvantage of thick coaxial is that it does not bend easily and is difficult to install.

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ADVANTAGES
1. Fairly resistant to RFI and EMI 2. Supports Faster data rates than twisted pair 3. More durable than TP

DISADVANTAGES
1. Can be effected by strong interference 2. More costly than TP. 3. Bulkier and more rigid than TP

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Fiber Optic Cable Fiber optic cabling consists of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective materials. Whereas a data signal travels over twisted pair or cable as electricity, signals are transmitted as light pulses over fiber. Lasers or LEDs produce the light. A thin coating, called cladding, prevents the light from leaving the strand.

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The features of fiber-optic cable systems are, expensive used for backbones [linking LANs together] (100Mbps) high capacity [100Mbps] immune to electromagnetic interference low loss difficult to join connectors are expensive long distance (2KM)

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Microwave

Using very high frequency signals, microwave support thousands of telephone channels and several television channels on the one circuit.
In terrestrial microwave, a signal travels directly between microwave transmission towers. This requires an unobstructed straight path between towers. Also, due to the curvature of the earth, towers must be spaced about 30 miles apart.

They have sufficient bandwidth capacity to support a large number of voice channels and one or two TV channels(1 to 10 Gbps).
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Microwave systems have the advantage of medium capacity medium cost can go long distances

Its disadvantages are, noise interference geographical problems due to line of sight requirements becoming outdated
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Satellites

Satellite transmission involves sending a signal from a microwave tower to the satellite, which is basically a microwave station, then back to another microwave tower. Although this eliminates the need for a line-of- sight between towers, the delays to upload and download the signal often make satellite transmission impractical for sending signals short distance.

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Satellite systems have the advantage of low cost per user (for PAY TV) Very high capacity very large coverage
Its disadvantages are, high cost in launching a satellite receiving dishes and decoders required delays involved in the reception of the signal

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