COMPUTER NETWORKING

WHAT IS NETWORKING
• Computer Networking is the practice of connecting computers together to enable
communication and data exchange between them. In general, Computer Network
is a collection of two or more computers. It helps users to communicate more
easily. In this article, we are going to discuss the basics which everyone must
know before going deep into Computer Networking.
TYPES OF NETWORKING

There are two types of networking

1) Wired Networking : As we all know,
“wired” refers to any physical medium
made up of cables. Copper wire,
twisted pair, or fiber optic cables are
all options. A wired network employs
wires to link devices to the Internet or
another network, such as laptops or desktop PCs.
2) Wireless Networking

A wireless network refers to a

computer network that makes use of
Radio Frequency (RF) connections
between nodes in the network.
Wireless networks are a popular
solution for homes, businesses,
and telecommunications networks.
Types of Network

LAN (Local Area Network)

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

WAN (Wide Area Network)

PAN (Personal Area Network)

SAN (Storage Area Network)

What is LAN
• A local area network (LAN) is a
collection of devices connected
together in one physical location, such
as a building, office, or home. A LAN
can be small or large, ranging from a
home network with one user to an
enterprise network with thousands of
users and devices in an office or school.
What is MAN
• A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a computer
network that connects computers within a
metropolitan area, which could be a single large
city, multiple cities and towns, or any given large
area with multiple buildings. A MAN is larger than
a local area network (LAN) but smaller than a
wide area network (WAN). MANs do not have to
be in urban areas; the term "metropolitan" implies
the size of the network, not the demographics of
the area that it serves.
What is WAN
• A wide area network (WAN) is a large
computer network that connects groups
of computers over large distances. WANs
are often used by large businesses to
connect their office networks; each office
typically has its own local area network,
or LAN, and these LANs connect via a
WAN. These long connections may be
formed in several different ways,
including leased lines, VPNs, or IP
tunnels (see below).
What is PAN
• A personal area network (PAN)
interconnects technology devices,
typically within the range of a single
user, which is approximately 10
meters or 33 feet. This type of network
is designed to enable devices in a
small office or home office (SOHO)
environment to communicate and
share resources, data and
applications either wired or wirelessly.
What is SAN
• A dedicated, fast network that gives storage
devices network access is called a Storage Area
Network (SAN). SANs are generally made up of
several technologies, topologies, and protocols
that are used to connect hosts, switches, storage
elements, and storage devices. SANs can cover
several locations.
• Data transfer between the server and storage
device is the primary goal of SAN. Additionally,
it makes data transmission across storage systems
possible. Storage area networks are primarily
used to connect servers to storage devices
including disk-based storage and tape libraries.
Types of Networking Topologies
Point to Point Topology (P2P)
BUS Topology
Star Topology
Ring Topology
Mesh Topology
Tree Topology
Hybrid Topology
Point to Point Topology (P2P)
• “A point to point topology is a way of
connecting two nodes (computer, laptop,
mobile device, router, hub or switch)
through a common medium. The medium
can be wired cable or wireless satellite.”
• In this topology, two nodes are usually
placed near each other. The node can also
be a router or hub. In the case of a router
or hub, one connection is made between
a computer and a router, hub or switch.
 BUS Topology

Alternatively called line topology, bus topology is a network setup

where each computer and network device is connected to a single
cable or backbone. Depending on the type of network card, a coaxial
cable or an RJ-45 network cable is used to tie them together.
 Advantages:
1) It is the easiest network topology for linearly connecting peripherals or
computers.
2) It works very efficiently well when there is a small network.
3) The length of cable required is less than a star topology.
4) It is easy to connect or remove devices in this network without affecting any
other device.

Disadvantages:
• Bus topology is not good for large networks.
• Identification of problems becomes difficult if the whole network goes
down.
• Troubleshooting individual device issues is very hard.
• Need terminators are required at both ends of the main cable.
 Star Topology:
• A star may be a topology for a Local Area Network (LAN) during which all
nodes are individually connected to a central connection point, sort of a hub or
a switch. A star takes more cable than e.g. a bus, but the benefit is that if a
cable fails, just one node is going to be brought down. Each device within the
network is connected to a central device called a hub.
Advantages
• It is very reliable – if one cable or device fails then all the others will still work
• It is high-performing as no data collisions can occur
• Less expensive because each device only need one I/O port and wishes to be
connected with hub with one link.
• Easier to put in
Disadvantages
• Requires more cable than a linear bus .
• If the connecting network device (network switch) fails, nodes attached are disabled
and can’t participate in network communication.
• More expensive than linear bus topology due to the value of the connecting devices
(network switches)
Ring Topology:
• Ring Topology may be a network configuration where device connections create a
circular data path. In this each device is connected to with its exactly two
neighboring devices, like points on a circle which forms like a ring structure. A
number of repeaters are used for Ring topology with a large number of nodes to
send data and to prevent data loss repeaters are used in this network.
Advantages:
• In this data flows in one direction which reduces the chance of packet collisions.
• In this topology additional workstations can be added after without impacting
performance of the network.
• Equal access to the resources.
• There is no need of server to control the connectivity

Disadvantages:
• Due to the Uni-directional Ring, a data packet (token) must have to pass through all the
nodes.
• If one workstation shuts down, it affects whole network or if a node goes down entire
network goes down.
• It is slower in performance as compared to the bus topology
• It is Expensive.
Mesh Topology
• In mesh, all the computers are
interconnected to every other during a
network. Each computer not only sends its
own signals but also relays data from other
computers. The nodes are connected to
every other completely via a dedicated link
during which information is travel from
nodes to nodes and there are N(N-1)/2 links
in mesh if there are N nodes. Every node
features a point-to-point connection to the
opposite node. The connections within the
mesh are often wired or wireless.
Advantages :
• Failure during a single device won’t break the network.
• There is no traffic problem as there is a dedicated point to point links for every computer.
• Fault identification is straightforward.
• This topology provides multiple paths to succeed in the destination and tons of redundancy.

Disadvantages :
• It’s costly as compared to the opposite network topologies i.e. star, bus, point to point topology.
• Installation is extremely difficult in the mesh.
• Power requirement is higher as all the nodes will need to remain active all the time and share the load.
• Complex process.
Tree Topology
• Tree Topology is a topology which is having a
tree structure in which all the computers are
connected like the branches which are connected
with the tree. In Computer Network, tree
topology is called a combination of a Bus and
Star network topology. The main advantages of
this topology are that is very flexible and also
has better scalability. Tree network topology is
considered to be the simplest topology in all the
topologies which is having only one route
between any two nodes on the network.
Advantages :
• This topology is the combination of bus and star topology.
• This topology provides a hierarchical as well as central data arrangement of the nodes.
• As the leaf nodes can add one or more nodes in the hierarchical chain, this topology provides
high scalability.
• The other nodes in a network are not affected if one of their nodes gets damaged or does not
work.

Disadvantages :
• This network is very difficult to configure as compared to the other network topologies.
• The length of a segment is limited & the limit of the segment depends on the type of cabling
used.
• Due to the presence of a large number of nodes, the network performance of tree topology
becomes a bit slow.
• If the computer on the first level is erroneous, the next-level computer will also go under
problems.
Hybrid Topology
• Hybrid Topology is the first before going into
the topic, we saw that topology may be a
connection of varied links and nodes,
communicating with one another for the transfer
of knowledge. During this process sort of
topology, we combine two or more different
topologies to make a resultant topology that has
good points(as well as weaknesses) of all
constituent basic topologies instead of having
characteristics of only one specific topology. This
mix of topologies is completed and consistent
with the wants of the organization.
Advantages :
• This type of topology combines the benefits of different types of topologies in one
topology.
• Can be modified as per requirement.
• It is extremely flexible.
• It is very reliable.

Disadvantages :
• It is a type of network expensive.
• The design of a hybrid network is very complex.
• There is a change in the hardware to connect one topology with another topology.
• Usually, hybrid architectures are larger in scale so they require a lot of cables in the
installation process.
Networking Devices :
• Router
• Switch
• Hub
• Bridge
• Repeater
What is router
• A router is a device like a switch that routes data packets based on
their IP addresses. The router is mainly a Network Layer device.
Routers normally connect LANs and WANs and have a dynamically
updating routing table based on which they make decisions on routing
the data packets. The router divides the broadcast domains of hosts
connected through it.