Computer Network (0) - Overview

Computer Network

1. Overview

A computer network is a collection of computers connected by communication links.

• The entities (hosts, routers, servers, devices, programs, etc.) are referred to as nodes.

• The connections between entities are known as links or edges.

• A topology refers to the physical layout of the network.

• bit and Byte

• Hexadecimal and Binary

2. Hardware (classified by the distance)

2.1. Personal Area Networks

• Point-to-point: USB Serial/Parallel (SATA/PATA) Infrared
• Broadcast: Bluetooth

2.2. Local Area Networks

• Wireless and wired LANs. (a) WiFi. (b) Switched Ethernet.

2.3. Metropolitan Area Networks

• Router is just a computer providing a communications service.
  A subnet is a collection of routers (using common technologies).
• Hosts send packets of data to each other via the LANs and routers.

2.4. Wide Area Networks

• WAN that connects three branch offices in Australia.

2.5. Internetworks (the Internet)

• Universities, companies, and other organisations, want to connect their computers together into a Wide Area Network.
• Telephone lines, cables (copper, fibre optic) and radio links are used to connect LANs and subnets together.
• Connecting networks together to form a network of networks is called an internet The largest (worldwide) internet is called the Internet (note capital).
• The number of computing devices on the Internet is greater than 40 billion Devices include vehicles, parking meters, vending machines, domestic appliances, etc! (Pervasive Computing).
• An intranet is just an internet which uses security mechanisms to restrict access to limited number of users (usually within single organisation).
• An extranet is an intranet to which an organisation’s customers also have access.

The Internet is an infrastructure that allows many different application programs to interact to provide services to users.
The World Wide Web is just another service that uses The Internet.

2.6. Wireless Networks

RFID Networks
Sensor Networks

3. Software

3.1. Communication protocols

A protocol defines:

1.The service it provides The assumptions about the environment where it executes, including the services it uses.
2.The type and format of the messages (called frames or packets) used to implement it.
3.The rules (algorithms) guarding the consistency of message exchanges and the integrity of the service provided.

3.2. Connection-oriented and connectionless services

Connection-oriented:

Optionally, a reliable service with acknowledgement can be provided: data is always delivered and in the order sent

connectionless services:

There is no attempt to set up a connection.
Each message carries the full destination address.
Each message is routed through the network independent of all the others.
This is often called a datagram service.

3.3. Protocol/service hierarchies

Each layer offers services to the upper layers, shielding them from the details how the services are actually implemented

4. Open Systems Interconnection Model

4.1. Terminology

• Active elements in each layer are called entities (software or hardware)
• Entities in the same layer on different machines are called peer entities. They exchange Protocol Data Units (PDU)

4.2. Different between OSI & TCP/IP