NETWORK

M. HAIKAL KARANA SITEPU, ST, M.ENG, PH.D

DEFINITION

In the context of data communications, a

network is a combination of devices or nodes
(computers or communication devices)
connected to each other through one of the
communication media.
TYPES OF NETWORKS
Computer networks are classified according to their
reach and complexity. The three basic types of
networks are:

1. LANs (Local Area Networks) and MANs

(Metropolitan Area Network)

2. WANs (Wide Area Networks)

3. PANs (Personal Area Networks)

LANs
• A computer network within a building, or a campus of adjacent
buildings, is called a local area network, or LAN. LANs are
usually established by a single organization with offices within
a radius of roughly 5–6 kilometers (3–4 miles).

• LANs are set up by organizations to enhance communications

among employees and to share IT resources.

• Households might set up LANs to share a broadband link to

the Internet and to transmit digital music, pictures, and video
from one part of a home to another.
LANs
• In office LANs, one computer is often used as a central repository
of programs and files that all connected computers can use; this
computer is called a server. Connected computers can store
documents on their own disks or on the server, can share
hardware such as printers, and can exchange e-mail.

• In recent years the cost of wireless devices has decreased

significantly, and many offices as well as households now network
their computers wirelessly, or create networks in which some of
the computers are wired and some are not.
LANs
• Wireless LANs (WLANs) offer significant benefits: installation
is easy because there is no need to drill through walls to install
wires, and equipment can be moved to wherever it is needed.

• Wireless LANs are less costly to maintain when the network

spans two or more buildings. They are also more scalable.
Scalability is the ease of expanding a system. It is easy to add
more nodes, or clients, to a WLAN, because all that is needed
is wireless circuitry in any device that comes within range of a
wireless network.
LANs
• However, wireless LANs have a significant drawback: they are
not as secure as wired LANs unless some measures are
taken.

• On a wired network, one needs to physically connect a device

to access the network resources. On a wireless network,
security measures must be taken to prevent connection by
unauthorized wireless devices within range of the network.
MANs
• A metropolitan area network (MAN) usually links multiple LANs
within a large city or metropolitan region and typically spans a
distance of up to 50 kilometers (about 30 miles).

• For example, the LAN in a chemistry lab might be linked to a

research hospital’s LAN and to a pharmaceutical company’s LAN
several miles away in the same city to form a MAN.

• The individual LANs that compose a MAN might belong to the

same organization or to several different organizations. The high-
speed links between LANs within a MAN typically use fiber optic
or wireless broadband connections.
WANs
• A wide area network (WAN) is a far-reaching system of
networks. One WAN is composed of multiple LANs or MANs that
are connected across a distance of more than approximately 48
kilometers (or 30 miles).

• Large WANs might have many constituent LANs and MANs on

different continents.

• The simplest WAN is a dial-up connection to a network provider’s

services over basic telephone lines.

• A more complex WAN is a satellite linkup between LANs in two

different countries. The most well-known WAN is the Internet.
WANs
• WANs can be public or private. The telephone network and the Internet
are examples of public WANs.

• A private WAN might use either dedicated lines or satellite connections.

Many organizations cannot afford to maintain a private WAN. They pay to
use existing networks, which are provided in two basic formats: common
carriers or value-added networks.

• A common carrier provides public telephone lines that anyone can access
or dial up, and leased lines, which are dedicated to the leasing
organization’s exclusive use. The user pays for public lines based on time
used and distance called.
WANs
• Value-added networks (VANs) provide enhanced network services.
VANs fulfill organizational needs for reliable data communications while
relieving the organization of the burden of providing its own network
management and maintenance.

• Many businesses use VANs for their electronic data interchange (EDI)
with other businesses, suppliers, and buyers. However, due to cost
considerations, an increasing number of organizations prefer to conduct
commerce via the Internet rather than through VANs.

• VAN services cost much more than those offered by Internet service
providers (ISPs).
PANs
• A personal area network (PAN) is a wireless network designed
for handheld and portable devices such as PDAs, cell phones,
and tablet or laptop computers, and is intended for use by only
one or two people. Transmission speed is slow to moderate, and
the maximum distance between devices is generally 10 meters
(33 feet).

• For example, Maria and Simon meet at a conference and

exchange electronic business cards using their Bluetooth-enabled
PDAs. When Maria gets back to her office, the PDA automatically
synchronizes with her office notebook computer, updating the
address book on the notebook with Simon’s information.
NETWORKING
HARDWARE
Networks use a variety of devices to connect computers and
peripheral devices (such as printers) to each other, and to connect
networks to each other. Each computer or device connected to a
network must have a network interface card (NIC) or proper
networking circuitry, which connects through a cable or a wireless
antenna to a hub, switch, bridge, or router, which in turn connects
to a LAN or WAN.
NETWORKING
HARDWARE
• A hub is a common device often used as a central location to connect
computers or devices to a local network.

• A switch is like a hub, except that it is more “intelligent.” Communications

that go through a hub are broadcast to all devices attached to the hub;
communications through a switch go only to designated devices on the
network.

• A bridge is a device that connects two networks, such as a LAN, to the

Internet.

• A router routes data packets to the next node on their way to the final
destination. It can connect dissimilar networks and can be programmed
to also act as a firewall to filter communications.
NETWORKING HARDWARE
• Another type of networking hardware that might be familiar to home computer
users is the modem. A modem - a word contracted from modulator –
demodulator - in traditional usage is a device whose purpose is to translate
communications signals from analog to digital, and vice versa.

• For many years the only way to link to the Internet was to dial up, meaning
connecting over regular telephone lines. These lines were originally designed
for analog – continuous - signals rather than for digital signals, which consist of
discrete bursts.

• A modem turns the digital signal from your computer into an analog signal that
can go out over the phone lines. A modem on the receiving computer
transforms the analog signal back into a digital signal the computer can
understand. The former transformation is called modulation and the latter is
called demodulation.
NETWORKING
HARDWARE
VIRTUAL PRIVATE
NETWORKS
A LAN is a private network, because it only provides access to
members of an organization. Though a firm does not own the
lines it leases, the network of leased lines might be considered a
private network, because only members authorized by the
organization can use it. Many companies cannot afford or do not
wish to pay for a private network. By implementing special
software (and sometimes also hardware) they can create a virtual
private network (VPN).
VIRTUAL PRIVATE
NETWORKS
• A virtual private network (VPN) can be thought of as a “tunnel”
through the Internet or other public network that allows only
authorized users to access company resources. The “virtual” in
VPN refers to the illusion that the user is accessing a private
network directly, rather than through a public network.

• VPNs enable the use of intranets and extranets. An intranet is a

network that uses Web technologies to serve an organization’s
employees who are located in several sites that might be many
miles apart; an extranet serves both the employees and other
enterprises that do business with the organization.
VIRTUAL PRIVATE
NETWORKS
• It is important to understand that once a LAN is linked to a
public network, such as the Internet, technically anyone with
access to the public network can obtain access to the LAN.
Therefore, organizations that link their LANs to the Internet
implement sophisticated security measures to control or totally
deny public access to their resources.
SWITCHING
TECHNIQUES
• To avoid such inconveniences, data communications must
have mechanisms to allow your messages to be routed
through any number of paths: if one is busy, then another can
be used.

• These mechanisms, called switching techniques, facilitate the

flow of communications and specify how the messages travel
to their destination.

• The two major switching techniques are circuit switching and

packet switching.
 SWITCHING
TECHNIQUES
CIRCUIT SWITCHING PACKET SWITCHING
• In circuit switching, a dedicated • In packet switching, a message is broken up
channel (a circuit) is established for into packets. A packet is a group of bits
the duration of the transmission. transmitted together. In addition to the data
bits, each packet includes sender and
• Traditional telephone
destination information, as well as error
communication is the most common
detection bits and a packet number that
type of circuit-switching
indicates the packet’s place in the file
communication.
transmitted, that is, in the packets’ sequence.
• The advantages of circuit switching
• Each of the message’s packets is passed
are that data and voice can use the
from the source computer to the destination
same line and that no special
computer, often through intermediate nodes.
training or protocols are needed to
At each node, the entire packet is received,
handle data traffic.
stored, and then passed on to the next node,
• One disadvantage is the until all packets, either kept together or
requirement that the reassembled, reach the destination.
communications devices be
compatible at both ends.
A PACKET
SWITCHING
TECHNIQUES
• On their way to their final destination, the packets are transmitted
independently to intermediate nodes.

• Different packets of the same message might be routed through different

paths to minimize delay and are then reassembled at their destination.

• At the receiving device, the packet numbers are used to place each
packet in its place so that the file transmitted is reconstructed accurately.

• This type of switching offers some advantages. Sending and receiving

devices do not have to be speed-compatible, because buffers in the
network might receive data at one rate and retransmit it at another.
SWITCHING
TECHNIQUES
• The lines are used on demand rather than being dedicated to a
particular call. With packet switching, a host computer can have
simultaneous exchanges with several nodes over a single line.

• The main disadvantage of packet switching is that it requires

complex routing and control software. When the load is high,
delays occur.

• When the network is used for voice communication, a

conversation with long delays might sound unnatural. Therefore,
voice communication in traditional telephone systems uses circuit
switching.
FRAME RELAY
• Frame relay is a high-speed packet-switching method used in
WANs. The frames are variable-sized packets.
• The service provider’s software determines the route for each
frame so it can arrive at the destination as quickly as possible.
• The variable size of packets allows more flexibility than with
fixed-sized units; communication lines can be used more
efficiently.
• One reason is that the higher ratio of data bits to non data bits
(such as destination and source addresses) in each packet is
greater.
• Larger packets also enable lines to stay idle for less time.
SWITCHING
TECHNIQUES
• Circuit switching is ideal for real-time communications, when the
destination must receive the message without delay.

• Packet switching is more efficient, but it is suitable only if some

delay in reception is acceptable, or if the transmission is so fast
that these delays do not adversely affect the communication.

• The switching rules in a network are part of the communication

protocol. These protocols, along with increasingly faster Internet
connections, enable the growing use of the Internet for packet-
switching telephony, known as VoIP, which we discuss later.
SWITCHING
TECHNIQUES
• Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a relatively recent
packet-switching technology that enhances services such as VoIP.

• Messages are broken up into packets, and packets are still

transmitted independently, but all are routed through the same
path on the network.

• This minimizes the time gaps between receptions of the packets.

Therefore, content that must be communicated in real time - such
as voice and video - is received at higher quality than if the
packets are routed through different paths.
THANK YOU…