NETWORKING

FUNDAMENTALS
 Objectives
 Identify Network devices

 Identify Network Media Types.

 Identify the types of Networks

 Understand the Network Protocols

 Understand the OSI Model

 Understand the TCP/IP Model

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 Network basics

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 What is a Network
 A network is two or more computing devices linked together using a
transmission media that allows the transfer of information.

There are two main components used to set up a network:

 The hardware: The entities that want to share the information or
resources e.g. servers and workstations and the medium that enables the
entities to communicate, which is a cable or a wireless medium.

 The software: Installed on the computers to allow them to communicate.

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Networking Devices

5
 Repeater

A repeater is a network device used to regenerate a signal.

Repeaters regenerate analog or digital signals distorted by transmission
loss due to attenuation. A repeater does not perform intelligent routing.

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 Hub
Hubs concentrate connections. In
other words, they take a group of
hosts and allow the network to see
them as a single unit.

This is done passively, without any

other effect on the data
transmission.

Active hubs not only concentrate

hosts, but they also regenerate
signals.
7
 Bridge

Bridges convert network transmission data formats as well as perform basic

data transmission management. Bridges, as the name implies, provide
connections between LANs. Not only do bridges connect LANs, but they
also perform a check on the data to determine whether it should cross the
bridge or not. This makes each part of the network more efficient.

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 Workgroup Switch

Workgroup switches add more

intelligence to data transfer
management.

Switches can determine whether

data should remain on a LAN or
not, and they can transfer the data
to the connection that needs that
data.

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 Router
Routers have all capabilities of the previous devices. Routers can
regenerate signals, concentrate multiple connections, convert data
transmission formats, and manage data transfers.They can also connect to
a WAN, which allows them to connect LANs that are separated by great
distances.

10
 Network Media and
Connectors

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 Introduction
There are three primary types of cable media that can be used to
connect systems to a network;
 Coaxial cable,

 Twisted-pair cable, and

 Fiber-optic cable.

 Transmission rates that can be supported on each of these physical

media are measured in millions of bits per second, or megabits per
second (Mbps).

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 Twisted-Pair Cable
 Twisted-pair cabling gets its name by having four pairs of wires that
are twisted to help reduce crosstalk or interference from outside
electrical devices.
 Crosstalk is interference from adjacent wires.

There are two forms of twisted-pair cabling;

 Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) and

 Shielded twisted-pair (STP).

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 Unshielded Twisted-Pair (UTP)
 The typical twisted-pair cable for network use contains four pairs of wires.

 Each member of the pair of wires contained in the cable is twisted around the other.

 The twists in the wires help shield against electromagnetic interference.

 The maximum distance of UTP is 100 meters.

 UTP cable uses small plastic connectors designated as registered jack 45, or most
often referred to as RJ-45.

 You will need a special crimping tool when creating the cables to make contact
between the pins in the connector and the wires inside the cable.

 They should not be used in environments containing large electrical or electronic

devices.

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 Unshielded Twisted-Pair (UTP)

 UTP cabling has different flavors, known as grades or categories.

 Each category of UTP cabling was designed for a specific type of

communication or transfer rate.

 The most popular today being CAT 5e, which can reach transfer
rates of over 1000 Mbps or 1 gigabit per second (Gbps).

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 UTP Category

UTP Category Purpose Transfer Rate

Category 1 Voice only

Category 2 Data 4 Mbps

Category 3 Data 10 Mbps

Category 4 Data 16 Mbps

Category 5 Data 100 Mbps

Category 5e Data 1 Gbps (1000 Mbps)

Category 6 Data 10 Gbps

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 Shielded Twisted-Pair (STP)

 Shielded twisted-pair (STP) cable is very similar to UTP

cabling.

 It differs from UTP in that it uses a layer of insulation within the

protective jacket, which helps maintain the quality of the
signal.

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 Straight-Through Vs Crossover Cables
 CAT 5 UTP cabling usually uses only four wires when sending and
receiving information on the network.

 The four wires of the eight that are used are wires 1, 2, 3, and 6.

 When you configure the wire for the same pin at either end of the cable,
this is known as a straight-through cable.

 A cross over cable is the one used to connect similar devices e.g. two
computer systems directly together without the use of a hub..

 It is created by switching wires 1 and 2 with wires 3 and 6 at one end of

the cable.

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 Straight Through Cross Over

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 Rollover

 A rollover cable is a popular cable type in the networking world

and is used to connect to a Cisco device such as a router or a
switch.

 Also known as a console cable, this cable connects from the

computer’s serial port to the console port of the router or
switch.

 Once the network administrator connects to the console port,

he or she is then able to configure the router or switch.
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 Coaxial Cable
 Made up of One strand (a solid-core copper wire) surrounded by a
layer of insulation( Dielectric).
 Covering that insulation is braided wire and metal foil, which shields
against electromagnetic interference.
 A final layer of insulation covers the braided wire.
 Because of the layers of insulation, coaxial cable is more resistant to
outside interference than other cabling.
 There are two types of coax cabling:
 Thinnet and thicknet.
 The two differ in thickness and maximum cable distance that the signal
can travel.
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 Thinnet
 This refers to RG-58 cabling, which is a flexible coaxial cable about ¼-inch
thick.

 Thinnet is used for short-distance communication and is flexible enough to

facilitate routing between workstations.

 Thinnet connects directly to a workstation’s network adapter card using a

British naval connector (BNC) and uses the network adapter card’s internal
transceiver.

 The maximum length of thinnet is 185 meters.

 Transfer Rate of 10 Mbps.

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 Thicknet
 Also known as RG-8, gets its name by being a thicker cable than thinnet.

 Thicknet cable is about ½-inch thick and can support data transfer over
longer distances than thinnet.

 Thicknet has a maximum cable length of 500 meters and usually is used as
a backbone to connect several smaller thinnet-based networks.

 Connection from the transceiver to the network adapter card is made using a
drop cable to connect to the adapter unit interface (AUI) port connector.

 Transfer Rate of 10 Mbps

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 Fiber-Optic Cable
 Fiber-optic cables use optical fibers that carry digital data signals in the form
of modulated pulses of light.

 An optical fiber consists of an extremely thin cylinder of glass, called the

core, surrounded by a concentric layer of glass, known as the cladding.

There are two fibers per cable;

 One to transmit and one to receive.

 The core also can be an optical-quality clear plastic, and the cladding can
be made up of gel that reflects signals back into the fiber to reduce signal
loss.
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 Fiber-Optic Cable
There are two types of fiber-optic cables:
 Single-mode fiber (SMF) and
 Multimode fiber (MMF).

 Single-mode fiber Uses a single ray of light, known as a mode, to

carry the transmission over long distances.

 Multimode fiber Uses multiple rays of light (modes) simultaneously,

with each ray of light running at a different reflection angle to carry the
transmission over short distances.

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 Fiber-Optic Cable
 Fiber-optic cable supports up to 1000 stations and can carry the signal up
to and beyond 2 kilometers.

 Fiber-optic cables are also highly secure from outside interference, such as
radio transmitters, arc welders, fluorescent lights, and other sources of
electrical noise.

 On the other hand, fiber-optic cable is by far the most expensive of these
cabling methods.

Fiber-optic cables can use many types of connectors among them;

 The straight-tip (ST) connector and

 The subscriber (SC) connector.

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 Fiber-Optic Cable
 The ST connector is based on the BNC-style connector but has a
fiber-optic cable instead of a copper cable.

 The SC connector is square and somewhat similar to an RJ-45

connector.

 Regardless of the connector type, the fiber-optic cable still functions

at the same speed, which is typically 1000 Mbps and faster.

 The connector must match the device to which it is being

connected, since the two-connector types are not interchangeable.
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 Types of Networks

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 WANs, LANs, and MANs
A local area network (LAN)
 typically is confined to a single building, such as an office building,
your home network, or a college campus.

A wide area network (WAN)

 spans multiple geographic locations and is typically made up of
multiple LANs.

Metropolitan area network (MAN)

 is not used often anymore; it refers to a network that exists within a
single city or metropolitan area.

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 LAN Network Configurations
Networks can be divided into one of two categories:
 Peer-to-peer

 Server-based networks.

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 Peer-to-Peer Network
 No dedicated servers, instead, a number of workstations are
connected together for the purpose of sharing information or
devices.

 When there is no dedicated server, all workstations are considered

equal; any one of them can participate as the client or the server.

 Most of the modern operating systems such as Windows XP and

Windows Vista already have built-in peer-to-peer networking
capabilities, which is why building a peer-to-peer network would be a
“cheap” network solution.

 The disadvantage of a peer-to-peer network is the lack of centralized

administration—with peer-to-peer networks, you need to build user
accounts and configure security on each system.

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 Peer-to-Peer Network

 peer-to-peer networks are designed for fewer than

 10 systems, and with Microsoft client operating systems such
as Windows XP Professional.

 only 10 concurrent network connections to those clients are

allowed.

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 Server-Based Networks

 Data files that will be used by all of the users are stored on the
one server.

 This will help by giving a central point to set up permissions on

the data files, and it will give a central point from which to back
up all of the data in case data loss should occur.

 With a server-based network, the network server stores a list

of users who may use network resources and usually holds
the resources as well.
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 Server-Based Networks
There are a number of different roles that a server could play on a network:
 File and print servers
 Application servers
 Web servers
 Directory servers
 It is important to note that a server can have numerous roles at the same
time.

 A server can be a file and print server, as well as an application server,

 or it can be a file, print, and directory server all at the same time.

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 NETWORK
PROTOCOLS

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 Introduction
 These are rules determining how computers communicate with each other.

 Examples of protocols include: IP, TCP, HTTP, FTP, UDP, SMTP, POP and
IMAP.

 Two Hosts communicating with each other must have the same protocol.

 Several protocols may work together in what is known as a protocol stack

or suite (a collection of protocols and the logical order in which they work
together) e.g. TCP/IP and IPX/SPX.
 TCP/IP
 Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the world’s most
popular open-system protocol suite because it can be used to communicate
across any set of interconnected networks.

 It consists of a suite of communication protocols, the Transmission Control

Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP).

 The IP protocol splits and forwards packets to the appropriate computer while
the TCP protocol provides security and reliability to the IP protocol.

 It provides remote file transfer, remote login, mail transfer and many other
internet services.
 Configuring TCP/IP
 TCP/IP networks require careful configuration and each device must be provided with
the following information:
 IP Address: A unique Number that is used to identify the location of each device on a
network e.g. 131.107.3.100.
 Subnet mask: A number used in conjunction with the IP address to determine whether
a device is located on a local or remote network.
 Default Gateway: The IP address of a router to which information destined for a remote
network should be sent by default. It is not compulsory but failure to enter it would limit
the device to communicate on the local network only.
 DNS Server: Servers that resolve TCP/IP host names to their IP addresses. They are
identified by their IP addresses.

NOTE:
To view TCP/IP information use command IPCONFIG.
IP Addresses can be configured manually or Automatically using DHCP.

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 Open System
Interconnection (OSI)
Reference Model

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 Introduction
 The OSI reference model describes how information from a one
computer moves through a network medium to a another computer.
 It is composed of seven layers, each specifying particular network
functions.
 The layers are:
 Layer 7-Application
 Layer 6-Presentation
 Layer 5- Session
 Layer 4- Transport
 Layer 3- Network
 Layer 2- Data Link
 Layer 1 -Physical
 Functions of OSI layers
 Application: It Provides a User interface that allows a user
to perform network-related activities such as Electronic
messaging (SMTP,POP) , Browsing (Http) and File transfer
services (FTP).

 Presentation: It presents data to the Application layer and

is responsible for Character code translation (e.g. ASCII to
EBCDIC), Data Compression and Data Encryption.
 Functions of OSI layers
 Session: It creates, maintains and Terminate connection/session between source
applications and destination application. A session is identified using a unique
number (Port Number) e.g. 80 for http connections and 23 for telnet sessions.

 Transport: It provide end-to-end data transport services and can establish a logical
connection between the sending host and destination host on an internetwork.
maintains flow control of data and provides for error checking and recovery of data
between the devices.
 Protocols that operate at this layer include TCP for reliable Communication and UDP for
Non-Reliable Communications.

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 Functions of OSI layers
 Network: It manages device addressing, tracks the location of
devices on the network, and determines the best way to move data
Routing.
 Routers (layer 3 devices) operate at this layer and provide the
routing services within an internetwork.
 Protocols that operate at this layer include:
 Routed Protocols e.g. IP and IPV6
 Routing protocols e.g. RIP, EIGRP and OSPF which send route update
packets.
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 Functions of OSI layers
 Datalink: Provides the physical transmission of the data and handles
error notification, network topology, and flow control.

 It ensure that Data Frames are delivered to the proper device on a LAN
using hardware/Mac/Physical addresses.

 Switches/Bridges Operate at this layer.

 Layer two protocols include Frame Relay, Point-to-Point (PPP) and

HDLC.

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 Functions of OSI layers
 Physical: It is the lowest layer of the OSI model which is concerned with how
data is transmitted on the communication media.

 OSI physical layer has three fundamental functions such the physical
components, data encoding and signaling. The physical elements are about the
hardware devices such electronic, media and connectors devices that transmit
and carry the signals to represent the bits. Encoding is about method to
knowing a stream of data bits. Signaling is about generating electrical, wireless
or optical signal that represent by 0 or 1 and what it means.

 Hubs and Repeaters operate at this layer.

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 TCP/IP Model

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 TCP/IP Model

 A four-layer model developed by the United States Defense

Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA or ARPA).

 It is similar in concept to the seven-layer OSI model.

 The four layers of the TCP/IP model map out to the seven

layers of the OSI, but you may find that one layer of the

TCP/IP model combines multiple layers of the OSI model.

TCP/IP TCP/IP Model Layers!
 TCP/IP TCP/IP Model Layers!

Application layer: It is responsible for making the network request

(sending computer) or servicing the request (receiving computer).
 Popular application-layer protocols include;
 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

 Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP)

 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

 TCP/IP TCP/IP Model Layers!

Transport Layer: Responsible for both connection-oriented

communication and connectionless communication.
 When the request comes down from the higher (application) layer, a
transport protocol is then chosen.
 The two transport protocols in TCP/IP are the Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP) for reliable communications (i.e. guarantees the
delivery of a message) and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for non-
reliable communications (Connectionless and does not guarantee
delivery of a message.
 TCP/IP TCP/IP Model Layers!
Internet Layer: It determines who is responsible for the delivery of the
information.
 Protocols that run at the Internet layer include IP, ICMP, and ARP.
 IP is a layer-3 protocol (of the OSI model) and is responsible for logical
addressing and routing.
 ICMP is the protocol in the TCP/IP protocol suite that is responsible for error
and status reporting. Programs such as Ping and Tracert use ICMP.
 Ping reports the time interval between sending the request and receiving the
response while Tracert traces the path taken to a particular host. This utility
can be very useful in troubleshooting internetworks.
 TCP/IP TCP/IP Model Layers!

Network Interface Layer:

 Specifies details of how data is physically sent through the
network, including how bits are electrically signaled by
hardware devices that interface directly with a network
medium, such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, or twisted-pair
copper wire.
 Protocols that operate at this layer include Ethernet, Token
Ring, FDDI, X.25, Frame Relay, RS-232, v.35
 Summary
In this topic you have learnt:
 What a Network is and the various components of a Network.

 Different Network Media Types.

 Categories of Networks.

 What Network protocols are and their importance in a Network.

 The OSI Model and the functions of OSI Layers.

 The TCP/IP Model and the function of TCP/IP Model Layers.

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