COMPUTER NETWORK A computer network is a collection of interco that are equipped ta exchange information and share ( each other. ted computers Me ta wrces with A computer network may also include other than computers. For ex (called network printer) having network connected to a computer network. You may have a computer network in you" Another example of a computer network it Advantages of a Computer Network The advantages of a computer network a Resource sharing AI! the comp devices, etc. among each other For €e shared among of files among colleagues. A high-speed Internet connection can also be shal 2 computers on a network. ae rk, ifone Reliability Data can still be accessed from another computer on the netwo! computer is unavailable for some reason, : A lized Financial benefits A computer network is cheaper than equal number of centrali computers. Better communication In an organization with a number of branches located at es =e places, networking offers a cheap and easy mode of communication through internal chat and mail programs, teleconferencing, and Internet telephony. Access to a remote database The ability to access a database from any location helps in tasks like e-banking, e-reservation, e-shopping, etc, Improved storage capacity With networking, your computer's limitation of memory can be overcome by using the network storage space. ered kee Ne Annetwork communication on a computer network comprises of the following three essential components. A. Sender: It is a computer that initiates communication by sending a request to the network through a program such as a web browser. 2. Receiver: Ieis a computer that accepts the incoming request through a program such asa file server. 3. Media: It is the physical path of communication that the sender and the receiver) at its two ends. The com wireless or a combination of both. joins the two components (i.e., munication media can be wired or Let us discuss these three terms in detail. There are two terms that are very commonly associated with sender and receiver = server and client (Fig. 7.1). Server (A server is a computer or a program that manages access to shared resources of a network\A server provides services to other devices on the network. The services may be sharing a file among various devices, managing a printer, or performing a task for other computers it is networked to. Usually, a server is dedicated only for the resources. It cannot be used directly forwork by anyone exc job of managing and sharing ept the network administratorClient a computer connected to the server is a client (or a workstation computer that is directly used by someone to do work. It may be ahi used to do intensive computational tasks, or an ordinary computer that is used to presentation or text files. rend syst aay e UC F ey Vired New Data can be transmitted from one location to another through wires (\\ Technology) or without wires (Wireless Networking Technology) Wired Networking Technology In this networking technology, data is transmitted by using wires OF cables. For 2a: co-axial cables, Ethernet cables and optical fibre cables. Co-axial cables A co-axial cable consists of a central copper ess wire surrounded by a conductive sleeve separated by an insulator (Fig. 7.2). It is widely used in cable TV networks There are two types of coaxial cables: © Baseband cable that is capable of transmitting only one signal atatime 7% L dived ow © Broadband cable that can carry multiple signals at 2 time Co-axial cables are preferred due to the following reasons: and transmission as the cable is less costly and can carry dé © Itcan be used for broadb for a long distance at a time. © Icis less susceptible to electromagnetic disturbances. © The only disadvantage of using co-anial cable is its comparatively greater weight end thickness. used to connect two network devices directly Ethernet cables This type of cable is The device can be a computer, switch, hub, router, etc. ‘An Ethernet cable usually has eig! wires, of which four are used for vrata transfer. Two kinds of wiring schemes are available for Ethernet cables: © Patch cables, which are used to connect.2 computer to 2 hub or switch © Crossover cables, which are used to connect two computers without a hub or switch Ethernet cables carry the advanta: consumption, A disadvantage wit computer should have an Ethernet adapter card to connect the Ethernet cable. ) ge of less power fh these cables is that the itis a thin strand of light-conducting glass Optical fibre cable d , led together in a cable covered Fig. 7.3. Ethemet cable fibre. Multiple strands are bundoptical fibre cable extremely high speed, signal. An in an opaque jacket (Fig. 7 4). Data is transmitted as a en ; can transmit voice, video, and data coded in the form of lig! The advantages of optical fibre cable are: : : — © They are lightweight ez . Pane ee © They suffer low signal loss and provide high > bandwidth © They have high data transmission speed Optical fibre cable These cables have the following shortcomings: Fig. 7.4 Op : i ion, operation, * An optical fibre cable is fragile and needs special care in installati P and maintenance * Ichas a high cost of installation Wireless Networking Technology les of thi In this network technology, data is transmitted without wires or cables. Examples of this technology are Bluetooth, Infrared, and Wi-Fi. Bluetooth This technology uses a low-power radio wave (transmitted by Bluetooth chip) to connect electronic devices. It can connect up to eight devices. A line of sight between communicating devices is not required. Bluetooth is used for short range communication of approximately 10m. It can be password protected and has slow data transfer rate. The most commonly used Bluetooth application is mobile data transfer in the form of songs and games. The presence of the bluetooth icon (Fig. 7.5) ona device indicates that the device is bluetooth enabled. Infrared This technology uses an infrared wave to connect electronic devices. It can connect only two devices at a time. Itis a line of sight transmission, i.e., it cannot cross any solid object. It is short range communication technology covering approximately 5 metres. Infrared is used in remote controls (Fig. 7.6), Cordless phones, etc. Infrared communication works by emitting infrared waves through infrared LEDs, These waves are focused into a narrow beam through a plastic lens. The receiver converts these waves into Ti&+7-6 Are i ‘mote control using ; infrare electrical signals, frared technologyw i ae es for Wireless Fidelity, Wi-Fi uses radio waves to provide high-speed wireless network connections, Wi-Fi is owned by an organization called Wi-Ft Alliance. Communication across a Wi-Fi network is like a two-way radio communication, which happens in the following manner: 1, The computer’s wireless adapter translates data into radio signal and transmits it 2. Awireless router receives the signal and decodes it, and then sends the information to the Internet using a physical, wired connection 3. The process also works in reverse, with the router receiving information from the Internet, translating it into radio signal, and sending it to the computer's wireless adapter. _| (=) Many devices, such as computers, laptops, smartphones, video game consoles, can be connected using the Wi-Fi technology. These devices can connect to the Internet or a wireless LAN (WLAN) through a wireless router (Fig, 7.7). Wi-fi offers the following advantages: © You can connect to the Internet anywhere Fig. 7.7. Wireless technology and anytime: ® You can connect multiple devices through Wi-Fi. * You can add a new device to your Wi-Fi network easily. do © Itcosts less. ’ vanidy gins peti oo nhs However, there are some limitations too: vy © Itis slower than wired connections © icentails the use of extra security measures such as encryption, firewalls, and antivirus programs. « ithas a limited range as you need to have a wireless router in proximity to connect to Wi-Fi. > A network can be a small group of same type of computers that have been linked together ine small room, ora group of few hundred computers of different types spread around the world. A network can be classified based on its geographical extent, as follows: PAN (Personal Area Network) A personal area network is.a network of communicating devices including computers, phones, MP3/MP4 players, cameras, ec. placed in the proximity of an individual. Figure 7.8 shows a computer attached to other devices through PANIt can cover an area of a few metres (usually up to g é 10 metres) in radius. For example, to transfer songs from one cell phone to another, you set up a PAN between them. Similarly, to transfer a song file from a a computer to an MP3 player, a PAN is set up between a the two devices. A PAN can use either wired media &s Ss (USB cable) or wireless media (Bluetooth). LAN (Local Area Network) A local area network is a computer network that spans an area confined to a building or a group of buildings. Figure 7.9 shows a LAN which has a server connected to other computers and devices through @ hub (described later). Fig. 7.8 A Personal Area Network ALLAN can span an area of about a kilometre in radius. Computers in an office building or a school are usually connected through a LAN. A LAN is mostly built by Ethernet cables. WAN (Wide Area Network) The term wide area network usually refers to a network that covers a very large geographical area, which may span a country, a continent, or even the whole world. It includes public packet networks, corporate networks, military networks, banking networks, stock brokerage networks, and airline reservation networks. All these networks are considered to be individual WANs. Various LANs are connected to form a WAN through — a=mems routers. Figure 7.10 shows 2 WAN connecting Fig. 7.10 A Wide Area Network computers all over the globe. PCE aT A metropolitan area network is 2 network that covers an a LAN but smaller than that covered by a WAN. Itis a dat: area larger than that covered by {x a city. The cable television network that is available in ma a network designed for a town or ny cities, is an example of MANnetworks through a MAN. A MAN can cover an area gigure 7.11 shows the computers connected to other ofa few hundred kilometres in radius. | fo) ONC a) wy ‘A campus area network is the interconnection of = ma wb a LANs within a limited geographical area such as a =F ai a school campus, military base etc. All Fig. 7.11 A Metropolitan Area Network NETWORKING DEVICE ‘The hardware devices required to establish a computer network are termed as networking devices. Discussed below are some of these devices. ‘modem (short for modulator-demodulator) is a hardware networking device that converts digital signals into analog form which is then transmitted over analog transmission facilities like telephone lines. At the receiving end, a modem performs the reverse function and converts the incoming analog signal into digital form. The process of converting digital signal into analog signal is called madulation and the process of converting analog signal into digital signal is called demodulation. A modem can also amplify a signal so that it can travel a longer distance without weakening, Modems are available in two varieties: Internal modem (Fig. 7.12a) that is fixed onto the computer motherboard, and External modem (Fig, 7.12b) that is connected externally to a computer. Fig. 7.12 (a) Internal Modem Fig. 7.12 (b) External Modem Hub A hub (Fig. 7.13) is a hardware networking device that connects a number of computers and computing devices on a network through its ports’. Data is transferred from a sender ports: hardware cable connection interfacescomputer to a hub, and from there it is broadcast to all the computers attached to other ports of the hub. The intended computer recei computers on the network reject the dat does not have data processing or checkin, It only provides a pathway for the data to travel from the source to the destination. A switch is a hardware networking device very soe transmit itt all the similar to a hub, but itis an intelligent hub meee ee ar (Fig, 7.14). A switch possesses data processing oem and checking abilities. It checks the received data packets, determines the source and destination of each packet, and passes them to the intended computer only, Thus, it also conserves network bandwidth by taking messages only to their intended destinations. A signal gets weaker and distorted as it travels across a network. (A repeater (Fig. 7.15) isa hardware network device that regenerates and Fig. 7.15 A Repeater mits a received signal with the same strength as original or even at a higher power) A router (Fig. 7.16) is a hardware networking device that forwards packets from one network to another, Arouter connects two different networks, such as two LANs ora LAN and a WAN. It reads the source Fig. 7.16 A Router and the destination addresses of the data and determines the transmitting the packets. A bridge is a hardware networking device that connects several local area networks using a common protocol (Fig. 7.17). ives the data while other a. A hub g abilities. in computer networks, to broadcast Fig. 7.14 A Switch tet best route to be followed for Fig. 7.17 A BridgeA bridge is helpful in reducing traffic on a LAN as it determines which device address 1s fon which network, and forwards a data packet only to the intended network. Usually, 2 device address 1s set irrespective of its network location, and thus, messages are broadcast to every network Bridges, thus, reduce network traffic by selecting the correct network for transmitting the data packets further, A gateway (1) 718) is a hardware networking device that connects dissimilar networks, such as LAN’s and WAN's, and can handle different protocols. It extends the functionality of routers by performing data translation and protocol conversion, NETWO! RMINO! Fig. 7.18 A Gateway The Internet The Internet is a worldwide public network of computer networks. It belongs to the WAN category of computer networks. itis a computer network based on the Internet technologies and is private to an organization. It is accessible only within an organization though it may spread globally. itis the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time through a network connection, For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in terms of bits per second or bytes per second (bps) or in higher units such as kilobits/bytes per second (Kbps) or megabits/bytes per second (mbps). Fp T ieee) Provider) ‘An Internet Service Provider or ISP is a company that offers Internet services to individuals against a fee. Some of the popular ISPs in India are - Vodafone, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Reliance Communication, Airtel, Aircel, Idea Cellular, Hathway, etc. or ‘A.webpage is a document written in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). You can read HTML documents with the help of a program called web browser. A web browser processes HTML documents, converts them to a form that users can read, and displays them on theThe protocols used over the Internet provide addresses of the computers attached t0 8 network, In this way, different types of networks communicate with each other using the same protocol. The commonly used protocols are discussed below. TCP/IP (transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is a pair of network pri in the Internet. TCP/IP has a simple naming and addressing scheme that helps in locating ' Internet. Each network and networked computer has a unique address calle: This address is used to exchange information. ‘otocols used information on the d the IP address m to another, it is broken up into When information is passed from one computer syste 55 called the IP address that refers to pieces called packets using IP. Each packet has an addres the sender and the destination. These packets are passed from one network to another until they reach their destination. _ At the destination, the TCP software reassembles the packets into.a complete message. If packets are damaged or lost, a request is sent to resend them. It is not necessary for all the packets in a single message to take the same route through the Internet, or for the same message to take the same route each time it is sent. Figure 7.20 shows data transfer between two computers/devices on the Internet. Device 8 Fig. 7.20 Data transfer between Device A and Device B on the Internet DAD) / ao . (Itis a communication protocol used to transfer all kinds of information (text, images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the Web.)In addition to the files in HTML as well as