Experiment 3

TO STUDY DIFFERENT KIND OF NETWORK CABLES

Fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, and coaxial cable are the three main
types of network cables used in communication systems. Each of them is
different and suitable for various applications.

Fiber Optic Cable

Fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of glass threads, each of which is

Fiber Optic cable has a complicated design and structure. This type of
cable has an outer optical casing that surrounds the light and traps it within
a central core. The inside of the cable (the core) must configured in two
different ways – Single-mode and multi-mode; although the difference may
seem small, it makes a tremendous difference to the performance and the
usage of fiber optic cables.
Twisted Pair Cable

Twisted pair cable is a type of ordinary wiring which connects home and many business
computers to the telephone company. It is made by putting two separate insulated wires
together in a twisted pattern and running them parallel to each other, which helps to reduce
crosstalk or electromagnetic induction between pairs of wires. Twisted pair cable is suitable for
transferring balanced differential signals. The method of transmitting signals dates back to the
early days of the telegraph and radio. The advantages of improved signal-to-noise ratio,
crosstalk, and ground bounce that balanced signal transmission brings are particularly valuable
in wide bandwidth and high fidelity systems.

According to whether the cable has a shielding layer, there are two common types of twisted
pair cables—shielded twisted pair (STP) cable and unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable. STP
cable is available for Token Ring networks, while the UTP cable is more suitable for Ethernet
networks. The most common UTP cable types applied in Ethernet network are cat5e,cat6a , and
cat7 cables, etc. The following image shows the different structures of UTP and STP cables.

Coaxial Cable:

Coaxial cable, or coax cable, is another type of copper cable which has an inner conductor
surrounded by foam insulation, symmetrically wrapped by a woven braided metal shield, then
covered by in a plastic jacket (as shown in the following image). This unique design allows
coaxial cable runs to installed next to metal objects such as gutters without the power losses
that occur in other types of transmission lines. The coaxial cable acts as a high-frequency
transmission cable made up of a single solid copper core and compared to twisted pair cable. It
has 80 times or more transmission capability. This kind of cable is mainly adopted in feedlines
connecting radio transmitters and receivers with their antennas, computer network connections,
and distributing cable television signals.
NETWORK DEVICES
Network devices, or networking hardware, are physical devices that are required
for communication and interaction between hardware on a computer network.

Types of network devices

Here is the common network device list:

• Hub
• Switch
• Router
• Bridge
• Gateway
• Modem
• Repeater
• Access Point

Hub:

Hubs connect multiple computer networking devices together. A hub also acts as a
repeater in that it amplifies signals that deteriorate after traveling long distances over
connecting cables. A hub is the simplest in the family of network connecting devices
because it connects LAN components with identical protocols. A hub can be used with both
digital and analog data, provided its settings have been configured to prepare for the
formatting of the incoming data. For example, if the incoming data is in digital format, the
hub must pass it on as packets; however, if the incoming data is analog, then the hub

passes it on in signal form

Hubs do not perform packet filtering or addressing functions; they just send data packets
to all connected devices. Hubs operate at the Physical layer of the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) model. There are two types of hubs: simple and multiple port.
Switch:
Switches generally have a more intelligent role than hubs. A switch is a multiport device
that improves network efficiency. The switch maintains limited routing information about
nodes in the internal network, and it allows connections to systems like hubs or routers.
Strands of LANs are usually connected using switches. Generally, switches can read the
hardware addresses of incoming packets to transmit them to the appropriate destination.

Using switches improves network efficiency over hubs or routers because of the virtual
circuit capability. Switches also improve network security because the virtual circuits are
more difficult to examine with network monitors. You can think of a switch as a device that
has some of the best capabilities of routers and hubs combined. A switch can work at
either the Data Link layer or the Network layer of the OSI model. A multilayer switch is one
that can operate at both layers, which means that it can operate as both a switch and a
router. A multilayer switch is a high-performance device that supports the same routing
protocols as routers.

Switches can be subject to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks; flood guards are
used to prevent malicious traffic from bringing the switch to a halt. Switch port security is
important so be sure to secure switches: Disable all unused ports and use DHCP snooping,
ARP inspection and MAC address filtering.

Router:
Routers help transmit packets to their destinations by charting a path through the sea of
interconnected networking devices using different network topologies. Routers are
intelligent devices, and they store information about the networks they’re connected to.
Most routers can be configured to operate as packet-filtering firewalls and use access
control lists (ACLs). Routers, in conjunction with a channel service unit/data service unit
(CSU/DSU), are also used to translate from LAN framing to WAN framing. This is needed
because LANs and WANs use different network protocols. Such routers are known as
border routers. They serve as the outside connection of a LAN to a WAN, and they
operate at the border of your network.
Router are also used to divide internal networks into two or more subnetworks. Routers
can also be connected internally to other routers, creating zones that operate
independently. Routers establish communication by maintaining tables about destinations
and local connections. A router contains information about the systems connected to it and
where to send requests if the destination isn’t known. Routers usually communicate
routing and other information using one of three standard protocols: Routing Information
Protocol (RIP), Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) or Open Shortest Path First (OSPF).

Routers are your first line of defense, and they must be configured to pass only traffic that
is authorized by network administrators. The routes themselves can be configured as static
or dynamic. If they are static, they can only be configured manually and stay that way until
changed. If they are dynamic, they learn of other routers around them and use information
about those routers to build their routing tables.

Bridge:
Bridges are used to connect two or more hosts or network segments together. The basic
role of bridges in network architecture is storing and forwarding frames between the
different segments that the bridge connects. They use hardware Media Access Control
(MAC) addresses for transferring frames. By looking at the MAC address of the devices
connected to each segment, bridges can forward the data or block it from crossing. Bridges
can also be used to connect two physical LANs into a larger logical LAN.

Bridges work only at the Physical and Data Link layers of the OSI model. Bridges are used
to divide larger networks into smaller sections by sitting between two physical network
segments and managing the flow of data between the two.

Bridges are like hubs in many respects, including the fact that they connect LAN
components with identical protocols. However, bridges filter incoming data packets, known
as frames, for addresses before they are forwarded. As it filters the data packets, the
bridge makes no modifications to the format or content of the incoming data. The bridge
filters and forwards frames on the network with the help of a dynamic bridge table. The
bridge table, which is initially empty, maintains the LAN addresses for each computer in the
LAN and the addresses of each bridge interface that connects the LAN to other LANs.
Bridges, like hubs, can be either simple or multiple port.

Bridges have mostly fallen out of favor in recent years and have been replaced by switches,
which offer more functionality. In fact, switches are sometimes referred to as “multiport
bridges” because of how they operate.

Gateway:

Gateways normally work at the Transport and Session layers of the OSI model. At the
Transport layer and above, there are numerous protocols and standards from different
vendors; gateways are used to deal with them. Gateways provide translation between
networking technologies such as Open System Interconnection (OSI) and Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Because of this, gateways connect two or more
autonomous networks, each with its own routing algorithms, protocols, topology, domain
name service, and network administration procedures and policies.

Gateways perform all of the functions of routers and more. In fact, a router with added
translation functionality is a gateway. The function that does the translation between
different network technologies is called a protocol converter.

Modem:
Modems (modulators-demodulators) are used to transmit digital signals over analog
telephone lines. Thus, digital signals are converted by the modem into analog signals of
different frequencies and transmitted to a modem at the receiving location. The receiving
modem performs the reverse transformation and provides a digital output to a device
connected to a modem, usually a computer. The digital data is usually transferred to or
from the modem over a serial line through an industry standard interface, RS-232. Many
telephone companies offer DSL services, and many cable operators use modems as end
terminals for identification and recognition of home and personal users. Modems work on
both the Physical and Data Link layers.
Repeater:
A repeater is an electronic device that amplifies the signal it receives. You can think of
repeater as a device which receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher
power so that the signal can cover longer distances, more than 100 meters for standard
LAN cables. Repeaters work on the Physical layer.

Access Point:
While an access point (AP) can technically involve either a wired or wireless connection, it
commonly means a wireless device. An AP works at the second OSI layer, the Data Link
layer, and it can operate either as a bridge connecting a standard wired network to wireless
devices or as a router passing data transmissions from one access point to another.

Wireless access points (WAPs) consist of a transmitter and receiver (transceiver) device
used to create a wireless LAN (WLAN). Access points typically are separate network devices
with a built-in antenna, transmitter and adapter. APs use the wireless infrastructure
network mode to provide a connection point between WLANs and a wired Ethernet LAN.
They also have several ports, giving you a way to expand the network to support additional
clients. Depending on the size of the network, one or more APs might be required to
provide full coverage. Additional APs are used to allow access to more wireless clients and
to expand the range of the wireless network. Each AP is limited by its transmission range —
the distance a client can be from an AP and still obtain a usable signal and data process
speed. The actual distance depends on the wireless standard, the obstructions and
environmental conditions between the client and the AP. Higher end APs have high-
powered antennas, enabling them to extend how far the wireless signal can travel.

APs might also provide many ports that can be used to increase the network’s size, firewall
capabilities and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service. Therefore, we get
APs that are a switch, DHCP server, router and firewall.