Database Management System:

Data: It is considered to be the raw fact in which alphabets, numbers and other symbols
were used. Eg: Ram, 10, Ramesh etc.

Information: When the data are processed they provide some result with meaning and that
meaningful result is known as information.

Field: A field is considered to be a property or attribute of a table. Eg: Roll no., Name etc.

Record: The collections of interrelated fields are known as record.

Table: The combination of rows and columns is known as a table which must have a unique
name and should be simple in which a row defines the record and column defines the field of a
table.

Database: It is the collection of interrelated data items which are stored in a system and they can
be easily accessed by the user whenever needed

DBMS: It is the collection of programs that manages the data of a database.

Flat File System: It is an ordinary way of storing data in the computer system by which we can
store the data until the disk gets full. This system may applicable only for processing short
queries.

Limitations of flat file system:

 Same sort of information are stored in more files and as a result it will occupy more
space on disk and data duplication may occur.
 Special type of computer programs have to be written to retrieve the data such that it
will too difficult and consume more time and expensive too.
 Security of data will be very poor in flat file processing.
 When processing complex data difficulties may arise.
Advantages of DBMS:

 Sharing the data: The data stored in a database can be shared without any
disturbance
 No data duplication
 Data backup and Recovery: Data may be recovered easily from the database server.
 No data inconsistency: If data values are changed in one location automatically
changes will be applicable in all locations.
 Security of the data: The data may be secured in such a method so that unauthorized
person cannot access the data even they work in a same dbase.
 Ease of access: With the help of dbms the data may be accessed easily.
 Dbms has the capacity of processing complex queries.
Disadvantages:
  Technology based software so are more expensive.
 Technical manpower needed to work on.
 Backup is a must needed one.
Database models: The database management systems are developed according to the needs of
the structure and they are named as models. The different models of dbms are

 Hierarchical model
 Network database model
 Relational dbase model
 E-R dbase model

1. Hierarchical data model:

- Oldest type of data model.

- It is record based representational or implementation data model. Different records are inter-
related through hierarchical or tree like structures.

- The root may have any number of dependents; each of these dependents may have any number
of lower level dependents.

- A parent record can have several children, but a child can have only one parent.

- It is therefore one-to-one and one-to-many relationships.

Parent (root)

Child 1 Child 2 Child 3

Ch 1.1 Ch 1.2 Ch 1.3 Ch 3.1 Ch 3.2

2. Network data model:

- Extension of hierarchical database structure.

- It is also record based representational or implementation data model.

- More flexible than hierarchical data model. Describe the data and relations by using graph
rather than tree like structure.

- Unlike hierarchical data model, it is able to represent many-to-many relationship as well.

AB AC AD

ABE ABCF ACDG

3. Relational model:

- It is also representational or implementation data model.

- Unlike hierarchical and network models, there are no physical links.

- Data is maintained in the form of tables consisting of rows and columns.

- Each row (record) represents an entity and a column (field) represents an attribute of entity.

- The relationship between the two tables is implemented through a common attribute in the
tables not by physical links or pointers.

- This makes query much easier in a relational database system than hierarchical or network
database system.

- More program friendly and the popular model in today’s commercial world.

RN. Name Class Pos RN. F.name M.name Add

1 X Y Z 1 X1 L Z

2 A B C 2 U1 V W

3 K L M 3 D1 E F

4 P Q R 4 G1 H I

RDBMS
4. Entity-Relationship Model:

- Entity relationship model is based on the perception of real world objects called entities and
relationship among those objects.

- It is conceptual data model.

- Database is modeled as a collection of entities and relationship among those entities.

- It is represented graphically by the basic components:

 Rectangles (represent entity sets)

 Ellipses (represent attributes)
 Diamonds (represent relationship sets among entity sets)
 Lines (link attributes to entity sets and entity sets to relationship sets)

Database Users:

• Database users are those who interact with the database in order to query and update the
database and generate reports.
• On the basis of how users interact with the database, users are classified as below:
•
- Naive users or end user: normal users, invokes written application programs.

- Sophisticated users: business analyst, scientist, use database query language.

- Specialized users: writes specialized database programs such as computer-aided design

system.

- Application programmers: Computer professionals like database application programmers

develop application programs to facilitate easy data access.

Database Administrator:

• They are the person who has central control over both data and application programs.
• Responsibilities of DBA:
- Schema definition and modification
- New software installation
- Security enforcement and administration
- Data analysis
- Preliminary database design
- Physical organization modification
- Routine maintenance checks

SQL: STRUCTURED QUERY LANGUAGE

The SQL language has several parts:

 • Data-definition language (DDL): The DDL language provides commands for defining
relation schemas, deleting relations, and modifying relation schemas.
• Data-manipulation language (DML): The DML language includes query language for
retrieval of information. It also includes commands to insert, delete and modify
information in the database. The basic DML are select, where and from clause.
• View definition: The DDL includes commands for defining views.
• Transaction control: SQL Includes commands for specifying the beginning and ending of
transactions.
• Embedded SQL and dynamic SQL: Embedded and dynamic SQL define how SQL
statements can be embedded within general-purpose programming languages, such as c,
c++, Java etc.
• Integrity: The SQL DDL includes commands for specifying integrity constraints that the
data stored in the database must satisfy. Updates that violate integrity constraints are
disallowed.
• Authorization: The SQL DDL includes commands for specifying access rights to
relations and views.
Basic Structure:

• A typical SQL query has the form

select A1, A2,…......, An

from r1, r2,......., rm

where P

Here, each Ai represents an attribute, and each ri a relation. P is a predicate.

• The query is equivalent to the relational-algebra expression

ΠA1, A2,….,An (σp(r1 X r2 X........X rm))

• The basic structure of an SQL expression consists of three clauses: select, from and
where. These 3 clauses are basic DML language.
• The select clause corresponds to the projection operation of the relational algebra. It is
used to list the attributes desired in the result of query.
• The from clause corresponds to the Cartesian-product operation of the relational algebra.
It lists the relations to be scanned in the evaluation of the expression.
• The where clause corresponds to the selection predicate of the relational algebra. It
consists of a predicate involving attributes of the relations that appear in the from clause.

Schema: It is the structure of a database which defines name of tables, data fields with data
types, relationships and constraints.

Candidate key: Occasionally we may encounter a relation in which there is more than one
attributes possessing the unique identification property. So all attribute combinations inside a
relation that can provide the unique record in a relation are called candidate keys.

Primary key: The field or fields that contain the unique value can be set as primary key. It does
not permit duplicate or null values. For ex: the Reg No. of a student is a primary key.
Foreign key: An attribute of one entity whose values depend on the primary key of another
entity is called foreign key.

Composite key: In some tables, combination of more than one attribute provides a unique value
for each row. In such tables, the group of these attributes is declared as primary key. In such
cases, the primary key consists of more than one attributes, it is called composite-primary key.
For example combination of roll no and name is considered as composite key

Normalization: It is a database design process in which complex database table is broken down
into simple separate tables. It makes data model more flexible and easier to maintain. There are
two goals of normalization process: eliminating redundant data and ensuring data dependencies
make sense.

DATA COMMUNICATION AND COMPUTER NETWORK

The connection of more computers to share information among one another

is known as computer networking, i,e. The connection of inter related computers is known as
networking. The connections may be with the help of wires or wireless.

Importance of Networking:

Information sharing: The information from one system to another is shared so that
communication may be easily successive. This is one of the significant advantages of computers.

Hardware and Software sharing: Through networking all the hardware and software
resources may be shared so that the cost of the products may be reduced. For example: Group of
computers with a single printer to print through networking.

Centralized administration and Support: This is also another main advantage of

networking by which the network administration may perform different tasks on any computers
on the network. It can support different OSs and application programs.

Fast and cheap communication: The communication through networking is faster and
cheaper. The networking computers are connected with one another with the help of some
medium by which the messages can be transferred. For a long distance, the messages are passed
faster so that the time will be saved.

Backup and recovery: The networking servers may share the data as backup and if the
data are lost they may recovered from the server.

Drawbacks of Networking:

Expensive: As the connection in the network needs extra devices and resources the cost
may increase.
 Security of data: There are different methods of security in networking but problems like
damage of hardwares, virus infection may leads to the loss of data.

Technical support: There may occur lot of problems in a system and not everybody can
solve them; for that the IT technicians are required.

Analog and Digital Signals:

Communication systems that transmit data by means of electrical signals may
use either digital or analog signals.
Analog Signal:
In this type of transmission analog signals are transmitted in continuous form
and can be represented in sine waves. Telephone line, FM radio music, TV transmission are the
examples of analog signals.
Digital Signals:
In this type of transmission data flow is in the form of bits (0,1). 0 means
absence of current and 1 means presence of current. Only two amplitudes are possible in this i.e
high amplitude means 1, low amplitude means 0. These signals are discrete in nature. Quality of
digital transmission is better than analog transmission. Modern computer are digital machines.
Hence, the data transmission between computer peripheral and inner parts of computer is digital
transmission. For example: Pen drive to hard disk, DVD-ROM to pen drive, RAM to
microprocessor and ADSL modem to your computer are the common example of digital single
transmission.
Comparison of analog and digital signal
Analog Digital
1. Analog signal is a continuous signal Digital signals are discrete time signals
which represents physical generated by digital modulation.
2. measurements. Uses discontinuous range of values to
Uses continuous range of values to represent information
3. represent information in analog. Digital signals may be noise immune.
Analog signals subjected to
deterioration by noise during
4. transmission and write/read cycle. Digital signals use binary values to send
Analog signals can be converted into and receive data between computers.
5. digital by using modem. Rate of data transmission is faster in
Rate of data transmission is slower. digital signals.

Mode of transmission:

The flow of data takes place in three types along transmission media. They are
simplex transmission, half duplex transmission and full duplex transmission

Simplex transmission: The flow of data here is in only one direction, i,e from the sending
device to the receiving device. This transmission is used only when the sending device does not
require a response from the receiving device. Eg: Computer Printer
Half duplex transmission: In this transmission the data flow is in either direction from the
sender to the receiver and receiver to sender but only in one direction at a time.
Eg: Fax Machine, ATM etc.

Full duplex transmission: The flow of the data is in both directions at the same time. Regular
telephone line uses full duplex transmission.

Types of computer network: A computer network is a telecommunications network that allows

sharing of files, data etc. In computer network two or more computers are linked together with a
medium for data sharing. The computer that provides resources to other computers on a network
is known as server. Computer network is classified into two types as architecture and
geographical.

On the basis of architecture: The network types are differentiated on the basis of their
functionality. The choice of the connection is made according to the user requirement. In data
transmission there are different technologies used.

Peer to peer architecture: It is a type of decentralized and distributed network architecture in

which individual nodes in the network acts as both supplier and consumer of resources. In peer
to peer network tasks such as searching a file, streaming video/audio are shared amongst
multiple interconnected peers who each make a portion of their resources such as processing
power, disk storage or network bandwidth directly available to other network participants
without the need of centralized server.

Advantages:

 Easy to install.
 Inexpensive.
 No central administrator who sets the network policies.
 No extra investment in server hardware or software required.
 Does not require dedicated workstation.
 Easy to troubleshoot

Disadvantages:

Less security.
Not suitable for more than 10 users.
Difficult to later time expand.
Useful for only small organization.
Each machine must be backed up individually to protect all shared data.

Client-Server Network:
An arrangement of computer to resources sharing and communicate to each other through a central
device (server) to all workstations (Clients) is called client-server network. The server is a high
capacity, high speed computer with a large memory. The clients/workstation can be simple
microcomputers having their own application package with network operating system. The central
server manages, organize and coordinate all network clients on the network. Clients request server
for data and communicate to other clients. Different types of server provide different services. The
most common service is provided by different servers are file services, print services, message
services and database services.

Advantages of Client-server network:

It covers large geographical area.
High speed.
Centralize the network management
Data backup and recovery is possible.
High data security

Disadvantages of Client-server network:

Expensive.
Difficult to troubleshoot and maintain.
Server failure leads to whole network failure.
Difficult to install and required technical manpower.

On the basis of Geographical Area:

On the basis of geographical area computer network is further classified into three categories, LAN,
MAN and WAN.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A LAN is a system of interlinked personal computer in a localized area, typically less than 1km
across. LANs normally operate within a compact area such as an office building or a campus owned
by the using organization. The configuration of LAN can be a star, a ring or simple devices attached
along a length of cable. In LAN, transmission channels used are coaxial or fiber optic cable and
special interface units rather than telephone lines and modems. Ethernet, developed by Xerox
Corporation, is a famous example of LAN. Omininet developed by Corvus System is another
example of LAN.

Advantages of LAN:
It provides cheaper and reliable communication medium.
High data transmission rate is possible.
 Easy to add new computer to network.
Failure of one computer in the network does not affect the functioning for the other
computers.

Disadvantages of LAN:
Installation cost is high.
User authority and identification is poor.
Occupies limited geographical area.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

A network which is designed to extend over an entire city is known as MAN. A MAN can include
one or more LANs. A MAN is larger than LANs and smaller than WAN. It extended around 100 km
or less. It is owned by be either public or private owned companies. In addition, they may somewhat
slower data communication rates than do LANs, partly because of their reliance on unbounded media
over great distance. Cable Television, cable internet, microwave links in banks, cooperates offices
with in different cities etc.

Advantages of MAN:
Nodes are located in wider areas (generally connects the cities)
Owned by the big organization. (Government, Semi-government or big private organization)
It enables you to connect many fast LANs together.
It offers centralized management of data
It provides high security.

Disadvantages of MAN:
Data rate is slow as compared to LAN
Error rate is high as compared to LAN
Expensive.
Difficult to maintenance.

Wide Area Network (WAN):

A network that connects LAN over a potentially large geographic distance is known as WAN. WAN
is a large network and also called network of network. The distance between computers connected to
WAN is larger. Therefore the transmission medium used is normally telephone line, microwaves and
satellite links. A WAN provides long distance transmission of data, voice, image and video
information over a large geographical area that may comprises a country, a continent or even the
whole world. The best example of WAN is an Internet.

Advantages of WAN:
It covers large geographical area.
It connects different types of network together.
WAN has made life and communication very easy.
It can support large number of hosts.
It is owned by the multiple organizations.

Disadvantages of WAN:
Lower data transfer rate.
Set-up costs are higher.
Difficult to maintenance.

Network Topologies:
Topology refers to the way in which a network is laid out physically. Geographic orientation and
arrangement of networking components is known as LAN topology. While selecting the network
topology the following point must be considered.
The cost of physical interconnections.
The time delay during the communication.
Reliability and possibilities of failure.
Network controlling strategy or protocol.
The different kinds of network topology used in computer networking are Bus/linear, Ring, Star,
Tree and Mesh.

Bus topology:
In case of Bus topology, all devices share single communication line or cable. Bus topology may have
problem while multiple hosts sending data at the same time. Therefore, Bus topology either uses
CSMA/CD technology or recognizes one host as Bus Master to solve the issue. It is one of the simple
forms of networking where a failure of a device does not affect the other devices. But failure of the shared
communication line can make all other devices stop functioning.
Both ends of the shared channel have line terminator. The data is sent in only one direction and as soon as
it reaches the extreme end, the terminator removes the data from the line.
Advantages of Bus topology:
Easy to install and cheap.
Easy to add new nodes.
Less cable required.
It does not affect the network if one computer goes down.

Disadvantages of Bus topology:

Since the entire station share the channel, only one station can transmit at any one time.
If the backbone cable goes down, the entire network system breaks down.
It covers small geographical area.
Possibility of data collision.
Difficult to identification the fault.

Ring Topology:
Ring topology consists of several computer joined together to form a circle. It is called loop
topology. Messages move from one computer to the next in one direction only. When a computer
receives a message addressed to it, the message is copied and sent back with modification to indicate
that it was received. Computers connected to a ring topology are responsible for moving data from
themselves to next computer. Thus, if one computer fails, it affects the rest of the network.

Advantages of Ring topology:

All computers are given equal access to the network.
It is easy to install.
 Short cable connection which cause an increase in network reliability.
Less chance of data collision because data travel in one direction.

Disadvantages of Ring topology:

The failure of one station will cause the system to break down as the link will be broken.
Adding and removing nodes disturbs the entire network.
Difficult to configuration.
In a ring network communication delay is directly proportional to the number of nodes in the
network. Hence the addition of new node increases the communication delay.

Star topology:
In star topology, each device (node) has a dedicated point to point link only to a central controller,
usually called hub. The computers are not directly linked to one another. Unlike other topology, star
topology does not allow direct traffic (flow of data) between computers. The controller acts as an
exchange. If one computer wants to send data to another, it first sends the data to the controller which
then relays the data to the other computer. If one link fails, only that link is affected and all other
links are active.

Advantages of Star topology:

Easy to install and configuration.
Easy to find out the fault.
Easy to modify and expansion.
Single computer failure does not affect other computer in network.
High data transmission is possible.

Disadvantages of Star topology:

If the central controller (hub) fails whole network goes down.
Require more cable than most topologies.
More expensive than linear bus topologies because of the cost of the concentrators.
Difficult to expand.

Tree Topology:
In tree topology, the nodes are connected to each other in such a way that forms like a tree structure.
Typically to form a tree network, multiple star topologies are combined together. This type of
network has combined features of bus and star topology. One tree topology the hubs of each star
topology are connected to the central hub that controls the entire network. However, some nodes can
be directly connected to the central hub.
Advantages of tree topology:
Easy to extend because it is divided into many sub-units.
Easy to add new nodes to branches.
Supported by several hardware and software venders.
It supports various types of cable.

Disadvantages of tree topology:

It is expensive.
If the main root or hub fails to operate, then the entire network will go down.
More difficult to configure and wire than other topologies
Less reliable.

Mesh Topology:
In mesh topology, each computer has a dedicated point to point link to other computers. The term
dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the two devices. Hence, a fully connected
topology of 'n' computers has n(n-1)/2 links. If one link fails, it does not affect entire system. It has
privacy or security. Large amount of cable is required.

Advantages of Mesh topology:

It provides alternative routes between nodes.
Point-to-point link makes fault isolation easy.
Fastest data transmission.
Failure in one of the computer does not affect the entire network.
More reliable.
Disadvantages of Mesh topology:
Difficult to install/setup.
It is expensive and difficult to expand.
It requires large cabling.

Hybrid Topology
A network structure whose design contains more than one topology is said to be hybrid topology. Hybrid
topology inherits merits and demerits of all the incorporating topologies.

The above picture represents an arbitrarily hybrid topology. The combining topologies may contain
attributes of Star, Ring, Bus, and Daisy-chain topologies. Most WANs are connected by means of Dual-
Ring topology and networks connected to them are mostly Star topology networks. Internet is the best
example of largest Hybrid topology.

Transmission Media (Communication Media)

Every network is created with the help of a transmission media. The communication channel is the
medium through data is exchanged between the computers in a network. Transmission media
generate the pathway between sender and receiver. Communication media are the physical channels
through which data is transmitted between computers in network.

Types of Transmission media:

Transmission media are basically classified into two types. They are as follows:
i. Guided/Bounded/Wired communication media
ii. Unguided/Unbounded/ Wireless communication media

Guided/Wired communication media:

Transmission media which are used wire to transfer data and information from source to destination
are called guided communication media. Twisted pair cable, Coaxial cable and Fiber optic cable are
the examples of guided communication media.

Twisted Pair Cable:

The most popular form of communication media is twisted pair; two insulated copper wire insulated
in a spiral. It is relatively easy to setup a network using a twisted pair cable. A single twisted pair
cable is capable of providing a capacity up to 1 GBPS for short distances (typically not more than
100 to 200 meters). It can handle up to 62 KB per second. Twisted pair makes the world’s public
telephone line communication.
Twisted pair cable comes in two verities:
1. Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
2. Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP).

a. Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

It consists of one or more twisted pair cables enclosed in a full warp and woven copper shielding.
Caballing is difficult than UTP. It is more expensive than UTP. The data transfer capacity of STP
from 16Mbpsto 5000Mbps.

b. Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

It is most popular twisted pair cable. The quality of UTP may vary telephone grade wire to extremely
high speed cable. It is commonly used for LAN and telephone connection. It is less expensive and
easier to work but it does not offer high bandwidth. The data transfer rate in UTP is up to 100MBPS.
Twisted pair cables are inexpensive and easy to install and use. However their use is limited because
they easily loss the data when distance exceeds beyond 100 meters.

Coaxial Cable:
It consists of wire surrounded by insulating layer, shielding layer ad outer jacket. Quarter inch or
more in diameter, therefore less flexible than twisted pair. Less susceptible to noise but more
expensive than twisted pair. Wider bandwidth, more difficult to install, more costly than twisted pair.
Data transfer rate up to 150 MBPS. Used extensively in LAN and relatively short distance (10 miles).
For longer distance, repeaters may be necessary.
Usage: Data communication, Voice communication, Video communication

Types of coaxial cable:

a. Thinnet: It is a variant of Ethernet technology uses thin type of coaxial cable. It is also known as
10Base2, i.e 10Mbps baseband connection and 200 meter for data transmission. This cable is popular
in linear bus network and can attached 30 nodes on it.

b. Thicknet: Thicknet is an Ethernet technology uses thick type of coaxial cable. It is also known as
10Base5, i.e. 10Mbps data transmission, Baseband connection and 500 meter for data transmission. It
has an extra protective plastic cover that helps keep moisture away from the conductor. It is popular
for cable television transmission.
Fiber Optic Cable:
One or more glass or plastic fibers are woven together to form the core of the cable. This core is
surrounded by a glass or plastic layer called the cladding, which in turn is covered with plastic or
other material for protection. Light source is used is either laser or LED (Light-Emitting Diodes)
whereas detector is a photodiode.
Low error rate, very high noise immunity to electrical and magnetic noise.
Reduced size and weight, but easy to break.
High cost of installation with special equipment and skilled manpower required.
Very expensive but may be economical for high volume application.
Broadband width.
High data rate over 2 Gbps.
Usage: Voice communication, Data communication and Video communication
Unguided/Wireless communication media:
Unguided communication media transmits the information through the air in much the same way as
radio stations broadcast their programming. They are also called unbound or wireless transmission
media because they do not use any physical wire or a closed circuit for data communication.
Following are the example of unguided communication media are: Satellite, Microwave, Wireless
media.

Microwave:
Parabolic antennas are mounted on towers to send beams.
It is cheaper than digging trenches for laying cables, and maintaining repeaters of cables if cables
get broken by a variety of causes.
Transmitter and receiver must be in line of sight- 30 miles apart because of earth curvature.
Possible interference from environment.
Lack of security.
High initial equipment cost.
Relatively high speed data rates upto 250 Mbps.
Usage: Voice communication (Cellular services)

Satellite:
Line of sight required between satellite and earth stations.
12 to 24 transponders per satellite. These transponders receive, amplify, change frequency and
transmit.
Geosynchronous orbit (22,300 miles)
Low security. Anyone with satellite dish and right frequency can tune in.
Easy of adding stations.
Data rates of upto 50 Mbps.
It provides high bandwidth for large amount of audio, data and video transmission.
Usage: Television transmission with multiple channels.

Wireless media:
Some common types of wireless media are infrared light and radio. Infrared transmission is usually
limited to a small area, e.g. one room, with transmitter pointed toward the receiver. The hardware is
inexpensive and does not require an antenna. A network that uses electromagnetic radio waves
operates at Radio Frequency and its transmissions are called RF transmissions. Each host on the
network attaches to an antenna, which can both send and receive RF.

Bluetooth
It is a low cost, low power, wireless radio frequency technology that allows various devices to
communicate with each other. One of the advantage of Bluetooth over infrared is that close
proximity between the communication devices is not required distance of up to 10 meters or 32 feet
are allowed.

Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity)

The full form of Wi-Fi wireless fidelity, WI-FI is the popular wireless networking technology that
used radio wave to provides wireless high speed internet and network connection. The WI-FI alliance
organization that owns the WI-FI, it is specifically define WI-FI as any wireless local area networks
(WLAN) products that are based on the IEEE.WI-FI works with no physical wired connected
between sender and receiver by using RF (radio frequency), a frequency within the electromagnetic
spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supply in an antenna an
electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space.

Networking Connecting Device

Interconnecting two or more network from a single network is called internetworking.
Internetworking hardware are the devices used to connect two or more network from a single
network. Thus internetworking hardware includes all computers, peripherals, and other equipment
needed to perform all possible processing and data communication in between the inter network.
Common inter network devices are:
Modem NIC
Switch/Hub Router
Gateway Repeater
Modem
Modem is an electronic device used to convert digital signal into analog and vice versa. It
was developed during 1950 to 1960 to connect mainframe computers. Modem has two parts- (a)
Modulator and (b) Demodulator. Modulator converts digital signal into analog and demodulator
converts analog signal into digital signal. The digital signal (square wave) is not suitable for long
distance communication through bounded media cable) because signal suffer from strong
attenuation, delay distortion and noises, So, modem is used to convert digital signal into analog
signal.
There are three categories of modem available: Internal, External, and PC Card
Modem. The PC card modem is a combined form of internal and external modem used in
portable categories of computers. It is plugged directly into an external slot available for it.

Network Interface Cards

The network interface card (NIC) provides the physical connection between the network and the
computer workstation. Most NICs are internal, with the card fitting into an expansion slot inside the
computer. Some computers, such as Mac Classics, use external boxes which are attached to a serial
port or a SCSI port. Laptop computers can now be purchased with a network interface card built-in
or with network cards that slip into a PCMCIA slot. Network interface cards are a major factor in
determining the speed and performance of a network. It is a good idea to use the fastest network card
available for the type of workstation you are using.

Switch/Hub
A switch is a device that provides a central connection point for cables from workstations, servers,
and peripherals. In a star topology, twisted-pair wire is run from each workstation to a central
switch/hub. Most switches are active, that is they electrically amplify the signal as it moves from one
device to another. Switches no longer broadcast network packets as hubs did in the past, they
memorize addressing of computers and send the information to the correct location directly. Switches
are: Usually configured with 8, 12, or 24 RJ-45 ports
Often used in a star or star-wired ring topology
Sold with specialized software for port management
Also called hubs

Routers
A router translates information from one network to another; it is similar to a super intelligent bridge.
Routers select the best path to route a message, based on the destination address and origin. The
router can direct traffic to prevent head-on collisions, and is smart enough to know when to direct
traffic along back roads and shortcuts. While bridges know the addresses of all computers on each
side of the network, routers know the addresses of computers, bridges, and other routers on the
network. Routers can even "listen" to the entire network to determine which sections are busiest
they can then redirect data around those sections until they clear up. If you want to connect to the
Internet in your network, you will need to purchase a router. In this case, the router serves as the
translator between the information on your LAN and the Internet. It also determines the best route to
send the data over the Internet. Routers can:
Direct signal traffic efficiently
Route messages between any two protocols
Route messages between different topologies
Route messages across fiber optic, coaxial, and twisted-pair cabling

Gateway
A gateway is a node or a device that servers as an entrance to another network. The gateway routes
the traffic from a workstation to the outside network that is in the network or in the websites. The
gateway is used to connect the users to the internet. The gateway also acts as a firewall in the
network.
Repeaters
Since a signal loses strength as it passes along a cable, it is often necessary to boost the signal with a
device called a repeater. The repeater electrically amplifies the signal it receives and rebroadcasts it.
Repeaters can be separate devices or they can be incorporated into a concentrator. They are used
when the total length of your network cable exceeds the standards set for the type of cable being
used. A good example of the use of repeaters would be in a local area network using a star topology
with unshielded twisted-pair cabling. The length limit for unshielded twisted pair cable is 100 meters.
The most common configuration is for each workstation to be connected by twisted-pair cable to a
multi-port active concentrator. The concentrator amplifies all the signals that pass through it allowing
for the total length of cable on the network to exceed the 100 meter limit.

Communication Protocol
A protocol is a set of rules that governs the transmission of data over a communication network.
These rules provide a method for orderly and efficient exchange of data between sender and receiver.
These rules include the guidelines that regulate the following characteristics of the network: access
method, allowed physical topologies, types of cabling and speed of data transfer.

The most common protocols are

TCP/IP (Transmission control protocol/Internet protocol)
SMTP (Simple mail Transfer protocol)
POP (Post office protocol)
FTP (File Transfer protocol)
HTTP (Hyper text transfer protocol)
Telnet Protocol (Tele Type Network Protocol)

ISO OSI reference model:

The OSI model is based on a proposal developed by the ISO as a first step toward
international standardization of the protocols used in the various layers. The model is called ISO,
OSI(Open Systems Interconnection) reference model because it deals with connecting the open
systems, i,e the systems that are open for communication with other systems.
 There are seven layers in this model and each layer carries out specific
functions in transmitting data on the network.

The principles applied in these seven layers are:

A layer should be created where a different level of abstraction is needed.

Each layer should perform a well defined function.
The function of each layer should be chosen with an eye toward defining internationally
standardized protocols.
The layer boundaries should be chosen to minimize the information flow across the
interfaces.
The number of layers should be large enough that distinct functions need not be thrown
together in the same layer out of necessity and small enough.
Based upon the above given principles all seven layers are described below:

The physical layer: The physical layer is concerned with transmitting raw bits over a communication
channel. The design issue have to do with making sure that when one side sends a 1 bit information it is
received by the other side as a one bit and not as a 0 bit. So the designing may include the connection of
pins and deals with mechanical, electrical, and procedural connectivity. It accepts data from the data link
layer in bit streams for the subsequent transmission over the physical medium.

Data Link Layer: The main task of the data link layer is to take a raw transmission facility and transmit
it into a line that appears free of undetected transmission errors to the network layer. This layer is
responsible for better transfer of data across the physical link.

Network Layer: This layer is concerned with controlling the operation of the subnet. The key designing
of this layer is determining how packets are routed from source to destination. During the travelling of
packets from one network to another lot of problems may occur and may be solved by network layer.

Transport Layer: The basic function of this layer is to accept data from the session layer, split up into
smaller units if need be, pass these to the network layer and ensure that the pieces all arrive correctly at
the other end. This layer also determines what type of service to provide the session layer. Data
multiplexing and de-multiplexing is carried here.

Session Layer: This layer allows users on different machine to establish session between them. One of
the service of the session layer is to manage dialogue control. It can allow traffic to go in both directions
at the same time, or only in one direction at a time. If traffic can only go one way at a time this layer can
help to keep the track of whose turn it is.

Presentation Layer: This layer is mainly responsible for code conversion, data compression, encryption
and so on. Most user programs do not exchange random binary bit strings, they exchange things such as
names, data, and so on. These items are represented as character strings, integers, floating point numbers
and so on. Different codes are used here such as ASCII, BCD, Binary, 1's and 2's compliment's and s on.

Application Layer: This layer is used for various purposes. All the transferring and sharing may carried
by this layer. This layer has variety of protocols by which all the actions such as file transfer, resource
sharing, remote file access, network management can be achieved easily.