Local Area Network

A local area network (LAN) is a data

communication system connecting a number
of devices to each other.

The size of a LAN is limited to the radius of a

few miles.

Its physical size is usually limited to a

building, campus, or site.

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 Local Area Network

A local area network is a combination of

hardware and software.

• The hardware is the part of the network that

is tangible.

• The software is a collection of programs that

allows the use of the physical components of
the network.

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The hardware used in a LAN can be divided into

three categories :

• Stations

• Transmission media

• Connecting devices

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STATIONS

The purpose of LAN is to connect stations such

as computers, printers, and modems.

These stations are sometimes referred as nodes.

A station needs extra hardware and software

tools to be capable of being connected to the
network to perform tasks such as sending and
receiving data and monitoring the network.
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The hardware used is generally a Network
Interface Card (NIC), which is commonly installed
inside the station.

It contains the necessary circuitry ( in the form

of chips) to perform network functions.

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TRANSMISSION MEDIA

It is the path that allows communication

between stations.

LAN’s can either use guided or unguided

transmission media.

Wired LAN’s can use guided media such as

twisted pair cable, coaxial cable, and fibre optic
cable.

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CONNECTING DEVICES

Two categories of connecting devices are used in

LAN’s.

One category consists of devices that connect

transmission media to the stations.
(Transceivers and transceiver cables)

The second category consists of devices that

connect segments of a network together.
( Repeaters and Bridges) 7
 SOFTWARE

Software run on LAN can be divided into two large

groups :

• Network operating system software

• Application programs

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 SOFTWARE

NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM (NOS)

A network operating system is a program that

allows the logical connection of stations and
devices to the network.

It enables users to communicate and share

resources.

Eg. Novell Netware, UNIX, Linux, Windows 2000

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 SOFTWARE

APPLICATION PROGRAMS

Application programs allow users to solve special

problems.

They are not specific to LAN’s; they are also used

by the stand alone computers.

Eg. Program to calculate taxes.

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 LAN MODELS

From a user’s point of view, a LAN can be

configured either as a client -server LAN or a
peer-to-peer LAN.

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 LAN APPLICATIONS

Some of the common applications of local area

networks are :

• Office networks

• Industry networks

• Backbone networks

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 OFFICE NETWORKS

The most commonly used application of a local

area network is in the office environment.

LAN’s are used in the office for three purposes :

• Sharing
• Interoffice communication
• Internet communication

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 INDUSTRY NETWORKS

Some LAN architectures are suitable for

automated manufacturing and production.

For eg, a LAN can be used in the automobile

industry to coordinate activities such as
controlling robots, material handling, or
warehouse inventory.

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 BACKBONE NETWORKS

ADVANTAGES

• It would be too expensive to use one high

speed LAN to connect each individual user.

• It improves the reliability of the system i.e if

one of the LAN fails, the rest will continue to
function.

• It isolates the load on one network from others.

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 LAN & WAN are the technologies used for the
internet.

 However, internet is not made of a single LAN or a

single WAN & there must be a way to join these
LANs & WANs together.

 These joining tools are known as connecting

devices.

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 Connecting devices include:

 Repeaters

Hubs

Bridges

Routers

Switches

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 Operates only in the physical layer.
 Receives a signal, & before it becomes too weak or
corrupted, it regenerates the original bit-pattern.
 Can extend the physical length of a network.
 The cable can be divide into segments to extend the cable
length and repeaters can be installed between them.
 Portion of the network between repeaters are called
segments.
 A repeater acts as a two interface node & forwards every
packet but has no filtering capability.

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 Is actually a multi-port repeater which is
normally used to create connection
between stations in a physical star
topology.
 Also used to create multiple levels of
hierarchy.
 The hierarchical use of hubs removes the
length limitation of 100 mts.

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 Operates in both the physical & data link layer.
 As a physical layer device, it regenerates the
signals it receives.
 As a data link layer device, the bridge can check
the physical addresses contained in the packet.
 Has no physical address & acts only as filter, i.e.,
not as an original sender to a final destination.

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 A bridge has filtering capability, i.e., can
check the destination address of a packet and
decide if the packet should be forwarded or
dropped.
 If the packet is to be forwarded, the decision
must specify the interface.
 A bridge uses a table in filtering decisions.
 Connects segments of a LAN together.

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A Router is a three layer device:

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 Router is an inter-networking device.
 It can connect :
 LANS together
 WANS together
 LANS and WANS together
 Two networks (LANS or WANS) connected by a
router becomes an internetwork or an internet

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 A two-layer switch is a bridge with many
interfaces and better(faster) performance.
 Due to having many interfaces , it may be
able to allocate a unique interface to each
station, with each station on its own
independent segment.
 This means no traffic and no collision .

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 A three-layer switch is a router with an
improved design to allow better
performance.
 It can receive , process and dispatch a
packet much faster than a traditional router
even though the functionality is the same.

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 Backbone network allows several LANs to
be connected together.

 No station is directly connected to the

backbone.

 Stations are part of LAN and backbone

connects LANs.

 Uses a LAN protocol like Ethernet

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• Logical topology of the backbone is a bus.
• Physical topology can be a bus or a star.
• Protocol that supports the logical bus are 10BASE5,
10BASE2, 10BASE-T OR 100BASE-T
• Normally used as a distribution backbone to connect
different buildings in an organization.
• Each building can be comprised of either a single LAN or
another backbone. (normally a logical star backbone)
 To connect logical bus backbone uses:-
 Bridge based
 Router based

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 LANs are connected to the backbone through
bridges.
 Delivery of the frame uses the Data Link layer
address of the frame.
 Each bridge connected to the backbone has a table
that shows the station on the LAN side of the
bridge.
 The blocking or delivery of a frame is based on the
contents of this table.

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LAN BRIDGE
BRIDGE LAN

BACKBONE

LAN BRIDGE

BRIDGE LAN

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 LANs are connected to the backbone through
routers.
 Delivery of the frame uses the network layer
(IP) address of the packet encapsulated
inside the frame.
 System is viewed as several sub-networks
with each LAN and the backbone each
forming a subnet.

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 Each router connected to the backbone has a routing
table that shows how to route the frame to the
appropriate router.

 The blocking or delivery of the frame is based on the

content of this table.

 After the router finds the IP address of the destination

router, it uses either static or dynamic mapping to find
the data link layer address of the destination router.

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 ROUTE
ROUTE
R
R
LAN LAN

BACKBONE
ROUTE
R
LAN
ROUTE
R
LAN

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 Also called as collapsed or switched backbone
 Logical topology of the backbone is a star.
 The backbone is just one switch that connects the
LAN together.
 No need of bridges or routers.
 Switch-acts as backbone as well as connects LANs

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 Delivery of frames can be based on the data link layer or
network layer addresses.
 If the backbone switch is a two layer switch, delivery is
based on the data link layer address, means whole
system is still one single network.
 If the switch is a three layer switch acting a multiport
router, the delivery is based on the network layer
addresses, means each LAN acts as a subnet.

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 Mostly used as a distribution backbone
inside a building.
 In a multi-floor building, one LAN serves the
whole floor.
 Logical star backbone connects these LANs
 Switch can be set at one place and separate
cables can run from the switch to each LAN.

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 BACKBONE

SWITC
H

LAN LAN

LAN LAN

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 Local area network protocol standardized by
ANSI and the ITU-T.
 Supports 100Mbps.
 As a standard underlying medium it uses
optical fiber
 Uses a dual-attached, counter-rotating token
ring topology comprising of primary &
secondary rings.

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 Two token rings are provided for possible backup
in case the primary ring fails.
 The primary ring offers up to 100 Mbps capacity.
 When a network has no requirement for the
secondary ring to do backup, it can also carry
data, extending capacity to 200 Mbps.
 The secondary ring makes FDDI self-healing.

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PRIMARY RING

NODE

NODE NODE

NODE
SECONDARY
RING

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