DATA COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING*

INTRODUCTION

Computer technology has changed the way we live and work over the years. However this impact
enhanced further with the use of communication technology to transport information over long
distances in a short span of time. The developments in communication technology has permitted
amazing advances in the computing area as well and the term ‘distributed computing’ is an
example of the same.

The fusion of computing and communication technologies is producing a phenomenon referred to

as 'technological convergence'. Technological Convergence is the technological merger of several
industries through devices that exchange information in the electronic (digital or binary) format as
used by computers. These industries include computers, communications, consumer electronics,
entertainment and mass media, etc. Users can employ communication technology for a number
purposes ranging from telephone related services such as fax, voice mail, and e-mail to
voice/video communication via videoconferencing and picture phones to on-line information
services such as e-mail, bulletin boards and chat, games and entertainment, tele-shopping, to
portable work such as mobile workplace, virtual offices, etc.

DATA COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS

The term ‘communication’ refers to the electronic transfer of information from one location to
another. The ability to connect a device by communication lines to other devices and sources of
information is known as ‘Connectivity’. The Television, Telephone set are instruments of
communication. The term 'Telecommunication' is also used sometimes in place of 'Data
Communication' because Telecommunication is a broader term and it refers to all types of
communication including long distance communication through the use of common carrier, for
example, STD, ISD, etc. Data communication is a more specific term and is confined to digital data
communication only.

Communication has spread to every nook and corner of the globe. William Gibson coined the term
‘cyberspace’ in his novel ‘Neuromancer’ to refer to a futuristic computer network that people use
by plugging their brains into it. Today this term ‘cyberspace’ refers to the computer online world or
the whole wired and wireless world of communication. The Internet is one such example.

COMPONENTS OF DATA COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

A simple data communication system consists of sending and receiving devices and the
communication media or channel.

 Sending Devices

 Receiving Devices

 Communication Channel

The sending and receiving equipment’s are also referred as Data Source and the Data Sink.
These are basically the input, output, and processing and storage devices. When a message is
sent from one device referred as source to another referred as sink, the source acts as sending
equipment while the sink acts as receiving equipment. When the message is sent the other way,
the roles of the two devices are reversed. The sending and the receiving devices both could be
computers or one could be a terminal and the other may be a printer etc.
The distance between the two locations may be as close as a room or a building or countries or
the outer edge of the solar system. The data may be voice, sound, text, video, graphics or all of
these together. The equipment sending them may be a television, cable, radio or microwave or a
*
Dr. A K Saini, Reader, USMS, GGSIP University, Delhi
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computer. The data communication has a significant role in an organization due to the fact that
organization needs to exchange information both internally as well as with the outside world.

DATA COMMUNICATION MEDIA

SOURCE/ DATA
TRANSMITTER SINK/RECEIVER

SENDING RECEIVING

Figure 1.1: Basic Telecommunication System

ANALOG AND DIGITAL SIGNALS

Data communication media can carry two basic types of signals, analog and digital signals.

Analog signals are continuous waves or electric signal in the form of a wave without any break or
discontinuity. The wave is called a 'carrier wave'. All the earlier devices of communications such as
TV, radio, telephone, etc. were designed to handle analog signals. They can travel long distances
but gets affected by ‘Noise’, which is another analog signal and thus affects the contents. Also the
signal strength gets weakened over long distances and hence
needs to be boosted. ln this process, the noise also gets amplified.

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0

Digital Signal
Figure 1.2: Analog and Digital Signals

The data transmission takes place by altering or modifying the characteristics of the wave. The two
characteristics that can be modified are: Frequency and Amplitude.

Frequency is the number of times a wave repeats during a specific time interval i.e. how many
times it completes a cycle in a second. Higher the frequency means more closely the waves are
packed.

Amplitude is the height of a wave within a given period of time. It actually refers to the strength of a
signal. Higher the amplitude, louder is the sound.

Digital signals on the other hand are discrete bursts or On/Off pulses rather than continuous
waves. It represents the On/Off or present/absent electrical signals/pulses. This two-state kind of
signal is used to represent the two-state binary codes 0s and 1s that computers use. The
presence of an electrical pulse represents a 1 bit while its absence represents a 0 bit.

Digital transmission is preferred over analog transmission due to high quality as they gets less
affected by 'noise' and therefore can be amplified without accumulating noise.

COMMUNICATION PROCESSORS

The process of communication makes use of a number of the hardware devices. Communication
processors are the hardware devices that support data transmission and reception across a
telecommunication system. These devices include: modems, multiplexors, front-end processors
and concentrators.

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Modem

The sending and receiving devices are connected to the communication media through a piece of
equipment called Modem. A modem is a device, which electronically converts digital signals to
analog signals and vice versa. The conversion of signal from digital to analog is called modulation
and from analog back to digital is called demodulation. The modem (formed by combining words
Modulation and Demodulation) is necessary at both the ends of the communication media
(generally used in pairs) because computer can handle only digital signals while the
communication lines generally handle only voice or analog signals. The modems are available in
different speeds ranging from 600 bps (bits per second) to as high as 56,600 bps (or 56.6kbps).

Figure 1.3: Modulation and Demodulation

The criteria for choosing a modem involves following decisions:

1. External or Internal - Modems could be either internal or external.

An internal modem is an integral part of the system cabinet. It is

a circuit board (PCB) that plugs into a slot inside the system
cabinet. These days most of the systems come which are
Internet ready (with internal modem already installed). The
advantage of internal modem is that it doesn't take any extra
space on the desk, is less expensive than an external
modem and doesn't require a separate power cord as it gets power from the system power
supply like any other internal component.

External Modem Internal Modem

Figure 1.4: External and Internal Modems

External modem:

An external modem is a separate device from the computer. It is a portable, pocket size
box device. The modem is connected to the computer through a cable to a port in the back
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 of the computer (generally COM or USB port). The external modem has a separate power
supply with an adapter and a power cord. The modem is connected to the telephone line
through a standard telephone jack. There is another socket at the back of the modem,
which allows connecting a telephone instrument on the same telephone line. The
advantage of the external modem is that it can be used with different computers. The
process of communication and the status of the modem are visible to a user through
different LEDs on the modem. In addition it also helps in isolating the computer's internal
circuitry from phone-line conducted lightening surges. Users therefore prefer the external
modem to the internal modems.

2. Communication Speed

The communication speed of a modem is the speed at which modem transmit data and receive.
The faster the modem, lesser is the time needed to transmit the data. The users generally refer to
bits per second (bps) or kilobits per second (kbps) to refer to the data transmission speeds. For
example, a 33,600 bps modem is capable of transmitting 33600 bits per second while 56.6 Kbps
modem is capable of transmitting 56600 bits per second.

Baud Rate is another measure of the transmission speed. Baud is a measure of signaling speed
and indicates the number of times per second the transmission signal changes its value or pattern.
Multiplexer

In conventional approach, each transmission line with a modem permits the connection of only one
terminal. These lines always have far greater capacity than a single microcomputer or a terminal
can use. Since operating such lines is expensive, it’s more efficient if several communications
devices can share a line at the same time. It is therefore necessary to have techniques to enhance
the communications efficiency of expensive transmission lines. The two major techniques for
better utilisation of the lines are: Multiplexing and Compression.
Compression refers to the down squeezing or compressing the data so that a low speed, cheap
transmission line can be used for transmission. This is achieved through certain utilities such as
WinZip.

Multiplexing is the ability of a number of devices to share a transmission line. This refers to the
transmission of multiple signals over a single communication channel. There are three devices,
which can achieve Multiplexing. These are: Multiplexers, Concentrators and. Front-end
Processors.
Multiplexer is an electronic device that permits a single communication channel to carry data
transmission from many sources simultaneously. It concentrates the output from many low speed
terminals into a data stream that can be transmitted over a higher speed line. This enables the low
speed lines to achieve their optimum speed over the communication media. The multiplexers are
thus cost saving efficiency devices and are simple, rugged and transparent to the user. Similar
types of multiplexers are generally required at both ends of the shared line so that number of low
speed shared lines multiplexed at one end may be de-multiplexed back into the same number of
lines at the other end. There are three major types of multiplexers: Frequency Division Multiplexers
(FDM), Time Division Multiplexers (TDM) and Statistical Time Division Multiplexer (STDM).
Generally TDM is preferred over other types because it provides higher data transmission speeds
and is cheaper.

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 COMMUNICATION
LINES
High Speed
Communication
Channel
DATA
MULTIPEXO MULTIPEXO
FROM
R R
LOW
SPEED

Modem Modem

Figure 1.5: Multiplexing

Concentrator

Concentrator is a piece of hardware that enables several devices to share a single communication
line. A concentrator collects data to be transmitted over the line in a temporary storage area and
forwards the data when enough data is accumulated to be sent over the line economically i.e. in
economic batches.

Front-end Processors

In large mainframe computers, the CPU must communicate with several running applications and
the connected computers at the same time. This routine communication requirement puts heavy
load on expensive CPU time. In such situations, use is made of special purpose devices to handle
the network communication thereby saving precious CPU time. One such device is called Front
End Processor (FEP). The FEP is a smaller computer that is connected to a larger computer and
assists with communications functions. This could be a minicomputer that transmits and receives
messages over the communication channels, corrects errors, and relieves the larger computer of
routine computational tasks.

COMMUNICATION MEDIA AND CHANNELS

In order to communicate data from one location to another, some form of a pathway is required.
These pathways are referred to as communication channels. A channel is the path, either wired or
wireless, over which information moves in a telecommunication system from its source to its
destination. Various channels occupy various radio-wave bands on the electromagnetic spectrum
as shown in figure 1.7.

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 Figure 1.6: e-m spectrum of frequencies

Classification of Communication Channels

The communication channels or media that are available can broadly be divided into two
categories:

 Wired/Guided/Physical Media

 Wireless/Unguided/Non-Physical Media

The most popular physical lines or wired channels that are used to create telecommunication
networks are:
 Twisted-pair wire
 Coaxial cable and
 Fiber-Optic cable

The twisted-pair and the coaxial cable are in common use but fiber optic cable is the future.

The two principal types of wireless channels are:

 Microwaves and
 Satellite Systems

Twisted-pair wire: The telephone line used in our house is probably twisted-pair wire. Twisted-pair
wire consists of two or more strands of separately insulated copper wire twisted around each other
in pairs. One wire is used for sending the data and the other for receiving the data. The twisting
reduces the electrical interference through interaction of magnetic fields. The wire is then
protected by an outer layer of insulation and is bound together into large cables. Each pair can
handle a single phone conversation. This is the least expensive and easy to install media. The
disadvantage of this is its narrow bandwidth and is therefore not suitable for higher transmission
rates. It also doesn't protect well against electrical interference. These are primarily used for
creating telephone networks. It will continue to be used for years as most part of the world is
already served by twisted-pair wire. This comes in two types: Shielded
Twisted-Pair (STP} and Unshielded Twisted-Pair (UTP).

Twisted Coaxial
Figure 1.7: Twisted-pair and Coaxial Cable

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Coaxial Cable: Coaxial cable is a phenomenon of the cable TV industry. Coaxial cable is made up
of one copper wire called central conductor surrounded by an insulating material encased in a
closely woven mesh of copper wire. The outer conductor is properly covered in a protected plastic
sheath. It is available in a variety of sizes and types, which can support impressive data
transmission speeds and capacities. Coaxial cable is much better at resisting noise than
the twisted-pair wiring and is therefore used to carry high-speed data traffic and television signals.
It provides faster transmission rate of about 200 megabits per second, compared to 10 megabits
per second for twisted pair. These are about 10-20 times more expensive than the twisted-pair
cable. The data transmission over the coaxial cable is of two basic types:

 Baseband transmission: Analog transmission with one signal at a time

 Broadband transmission: Digital transmission with multiple signals simultaneously at

speeds beyond 56.6 kbps. This mode is used extensively these days.

Fiber-Optic Cable: It is relatively new among the transmission media but is surely going to be the
technology of the future systems. An optic cable consists of thousands of hair thin strands of glass
fibers that are bound together as a cable and transmit not electricity but pulsating beams of light
generated by lasers at very high speed transmission frequencies. A single glass fiber can handle
over 30000 telephonic conversations at the same time compared to about 6000 calls on a
standard copper coaxial cable. In addition, the light pulses through fiber optic cable are unaffected
by noisy electrical environments and are virtually impossible to cut and therefore are highly
resistant to being tapped. This cable is lighter and more durable than twisted-pair and coaxial
cable as it is unaffected by erosion from chemicals in the atmosphere and higher temperatures.
Optic cable provides a higher bandwidth with little data loss. This allows the transmission speeds
as high as 5 gigabits per second. It can transmit data over long distances i.e. 100 Kms as
compared to 1 km for coaxial cable without using a repeater.

Figure 1.8: Fiber-optic cable

The major drawback of the fiber-optic cable has been high cost and the material's inability to bend
around tight corners. However presently a new material called 'graded-index plastic optical fiber'
that is cheaper, lighter and more flexible than glass fibers is being used. The plastic flexible fiber
can handle loops and curves with ease and thus are better than glass for such type of wiring. The
cost differential between copper and the optical fiber is fast declining and is therefore affordable for
network cabling.

The laying of fiber-optic cable to replace the decades old twisted pair cables has already been
undertaken by the government through various private operators in the metro-cities. (You may
have witnessed the various multi-coloured cables being laid by digging various roads throughout
the country). This cable is most often used as the backbone medium of a network.

Microwave: The use of cables discussed above present several problems such as expense in
installation, changing cables to meet new requirements, laying of cables, etc. A solution to this is
the use of unguided media. Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves that vibrate at 1 Ghz
(gigahertz) per second or higher. They can transmit voice and data through the atmosphere as
super-high frequency signals. Data is transmitted along the ground route by microwave (repeater)
station, which receives the data, amplifies it and again transmits it to the next station. Microwave
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systems are mainly used for high volume, long distance communication as they generally provide
more than ten times the data carrying capacity of cables without laying any cables. It is useful in
situations where it is physically difficult to lay wires between the sender and the receiver. Despite
the fact that fiber-optic cables can transmit data 10,000 times faster than microwave and satellite
systems, microwave and satellite communication offers over-riding advantages of not laying any
cables.

Figure 1.9: Microwave Systems(Source: IT in Business-SENN)

However, microwaves have a severe limitation. Microwaves cannot bend around the corners or
around the earth's curvature and therefore interrupt the line of sight signals. Line-of-sight means
that they must be visible to each other and there should be an unobstructed view between the
transmitter and the receiver. Therefore microwave antennas (dish, horn shaped or parabolic) need
to be installed on towers, buildings, and hilltops and these cannot be spaced more than 25-30
miles apart with no obstruction in between. The higher the tower, the greater is the range. With a
100-meter high tower, distances of 100 km between towers are feasible. The size of the dish
varies with the distance. Another difficulty with this channel is that airwaves are becoming
saturated with microwave signals therefore alternative means need to be explored. Also the
microwave propagation is affected by environmental interferences such as heavy rain,
thunderstorms and other atmospheric phenomenon.

Satellite: Satellite is a major advance in the field of wireless communication in the recent years.
Similar to microwave transmission, the satellite also must receive and transmit data via line of
sight. Communication satellites are like sky stations or microwave relay stations in orbit around
the earth at 22,300 miles above the equator. These satellites are generally placed in three orbits:
Geo-stationary (22300 miles above earth), Medium (about 6000 miles above the earth) and Low
earth orbit (about 400-1000 miles above the earth). In geo-stationary orbit, the satellites travel at
the same speed as the earth, they appear to be stationary in space to a person on the ground i.e.
they are geo-stationary. This enables the microwave earth stations to be able to beam signals to a
fixed location above. The geo orbit can provide a global coverage for beaming signals. However,
the geo satellites are large and expensive and transmission from it suffers with propagation delay
i.e. gap between sending and receiving. The low earth orbit satellites overcome these limitations
as they are very close to earth. They consume less power, cost less and eliminate propagation
delay.

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 Figure 1.10: Communication Satellite and Transmission

Security and Privacy of data is a serious issue with this method. All stations falling under the
downlink beam can receive the transmission including private stations. The implications are
obvious. Therefore some form of data encryption is required to keep the data secret.

The speeds of the above communications channels are listed in table below:

S.No. Communication Channel Transmission Speed

1. Twisted-Pair Wire 300bps to 10 Mbps (million bits per second)

2. Coaxial Cables 56 Kbps (thousand bits per second) to 200 Mbps

3. Microwave 256 Kbps to 100 Mbps

4. Satellite 256 Kbps to 100 Mbps

5. Fiber-Optic Cable 500Kbps to 10 Gbps (billion bits per second)

Table 1.1: Speeds of Communication channels

CHARACTERSTICS OF COMMUNICATION CHANNEL

There are a large number of factors that determines the capabilities and efficiency for transmission
by a communication channel or media. These factors are:

 Transmission Speed
 Data Transmission methodology
 Mode of Transmission
 Direction of data transmission
 Data Transmission Technology

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Transmission Speed

The transmission speed of a communication channel is determined by the frequency and

bandwidth of the transmission media. It determines the amount of data that can be transmitted
over a channel. Bandwidth is the range of frequencies available for transmission of data over a
channel. It is the difference between the lowest and the highest frequencies transmitted by a
particular medium or channel. The higher the frequency wider is the bandwidth and
correspondingly higher is the data rate.

Bandwidth = Highest Frequency – Lowest Frequency

The bandwidth depends upon three major factors: the material of the media, the diameter of the
conductor and the resistance of the media. For example: the cellular phone operates in a
frequency band of 800-900 MHz i.e. their bandwidth is 100 MHz.

Note: Frequency is the number of times a wave completes a cycle per second. The unit of measurement is hertz (Hz).
1Hertz = 1 cycle per second
1000 Hertz = 1 KHz (Kilo Hertz)
1 million Hertz = 1000 KHz = 1 MHz (Megahertz)

1 billion Hertz = 1000 MHz = 1 GHz (Gigahertz)

Data Transmission Methodology

Based on the transmission of pattern of bits, the data are transmitted along a communication
media in two ways:
 Serial Transmission
 Parallel Transmission

In serial data transmission, the data is sent bit by bit for each byte over the communication line till
all the bits are transmitted i.e. bits are transmitted sequentially one after the other. The
receiver receives the data in the same manner i.e. bit by bit. This is similar to traffic flowing in a
single-lane road. For example, the world HAPPY will be transferred as: bits of byte 'H' shall be
sent first, then all the bits of byte ‘A’ shall be sent and so on till all the bits of ‘Y’ are sent. Serial
transmission is found in communications line, modems, etc.

Figure 1.10:Serial Transmission

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 Figure 1.12: Parallel Transmission

Since the bit is nothing but electronic signal, therefore there should be some mechanism to
recognise the characters at the receiving end i.e. beginning and end of a byte or character. The
techniques employed for the purpose are: Synchronous transmission, Asynchronous transmission
and Iso-chronous transmission.

In parallel transmission, all the bits of each byte are sent through separate parallel paths so that all
the bits of a byte reach at the destination simultaneously. This is similar to traffic moving in
separate lanes at the same speed on a multilane road. For example, if there are 8 bits in one byte,
then parallel transmission will take only one machine cycle for transmission of a character while
serial transmission will take eight machine cycles for it. This clearly implies that parallel
transmission is much faster than serial transmission. The parallel mode of transmission is used for
internal communication in the computer system (data and address bus) or between devices that
are located within few feet of each other (upto 15 feet ) such as CPU to Printer and Memory to
CPU. The problem with this mode is that it is more expensive as more wiring is needed for setting
up extra bit paths.

Transmission Modes

The data transmission may be either: Asynchronous transmission, Synchronous transmission or

Iso-chronous transmission.

Asynchronous transmission is the most commonly used technique for data transmission with most
microcomputers. In this, one character or a byte is sent or received at a time and each byte is
preceded by a 'start bit' and ends with a 'stop bit'. The 'start' bit represents the beginning of a
character and a 'stop' bit indicates its end. For this reason, it is also referred as 'start-stop
transmission'. To check for errors in the data transmission, use is made of an extra bit known as
'parity bit'. For example, when an operator at a keyboard types a message, with each keystroke,
the binary code for that character is immediately sent to the computer. Other uses of this
transmission are: Computer to Computer, Computer to Terminals, etc. This method is not used
when great amounts of data must be sent rapidly. The primary disadvantage of this method is the
additional overhead due to redundant information in the form of start and stop bits and is therefore
suitable for low speed data transmission only.

Synchronous transmission sends a group of characters in a continuous bit stream or as a block.

The data blocks are preceded and followed by unique pre-determined characters called ‘sync
bytes’ (start and stop). The data transfer is controlled by a timing signal initiated by the sending
device. The sync characters are transmitted at the beginning and at the end of the blocks. These
characters synchronize internal clocks in the sending and receiving device so that they are in time
with each other thereby avoiding any data loss. It is used for fast transmission of large volume of
data at a single time. The disadvantage of this method is that it is more expensive than the
asynchronous transmission. In case of any transmission error, the synchronous method will affect
the whole block of data while in asynchronous only one byte will be affected.

Iso-chronous Transmission method combines the features of both the synchronous and the
asynchronous modes of transmission. This is generally used to achieve higher speed of
transmission while retaining the advantages of asynchronous transmission.

Asynchronous Transmission

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 Synchronous Transmission

Figure 1.13: Asynchronous and Synchronous Transmission

Direction of Data Transmission

When two computers are communicating with each other, based on the direction of data transfer,
there are three ways of arranging the communication channel. These are:

 Simplex
 Half Duplex and
 Full Duplex

Simplex mode is the transmission in one direction only i.e. data can travel in single direction. The
role of the source and the sink are well defined in this arrangement. Example is: Radio and TV
broadcast, in which the signal is sent from the transmitter to your antenna and there is no return
signal. Other examples are: Pagers, Data entry terminals, computerised data collection devices
such as seismograph sensors that measure earthquakes, etc.

Half duplex mode permits data transmission in both the directions but only one direction at a time
on a single channel. It means initially the first station transmits, the second waits and once the
transmission is over the second station can start the transmission and first station waits. This is
similar to the traffic management on a narrow bridge. It is a common transmission method with
microcomputers. Examples are: police wireless communication where both parties must take turns
talking.

Full duplex mode implies simultaneous data transmission in both the directions on different
channels i.e. data travels back and forth at the same time. This mode is frequently used in
computer networks. Example is: Telephone communication where two people talking and listening
simultaneously.

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 Figure 1.14: Simplex, Half Duplex and Full Duplex

NETWORKING

The microcomputers with all their benefits and usefulness have serious shortcomings also. Initially
these computers were designed with a single user in mind with its dedicated resources i.e. as
single user machines with peripherals attached directly to it. The multi-user activity was delegated
to minicomputer and mainframe computer systems, which were quite expensive and could be few
in number. With the declining cost of microcomputers and increasing processing power, the
organisations find it cost-effective to acquire large number of microcomputers.

One way of using this large number of micro-computers is to provide every user a microcomputer
or a PC. In view of the inter-disciplinary nature of information processing, the earlier method
suffers from a number of drawbacks the most important being the duplication of hardware,
software and human resources. An alternative solution to this is to link or connect together all the
computers in some manner so as to exchange or share data among each other.

A computer network may be considered as inter-connection of standalone computers and

hardware devices for the purpose of information exchange. Such a network consists of
communication media, devices and software needed to connect two or more computer systems
and/or devices. The commonly shared devices are: Printers, CD-Drives, Scanners, etc. It is the
tying together of so many communications devices in so many different ways that is changing the
world we live in and has changed the focus from mere computing to information technology. The
physical location of a network could be a room, a single storyed building, a small complex, a
cluster of buildings, a country or the entire globe. The connecting media could be a copper wire,
optical fiber, microwave or satellite.

TYPES OF NETWORKS

There are many different ways to categorise networks. Since people need to communicate over
long as well as short distances, the geographic size of networks is important. One of the most
common basis of classification is therefore the size or geographical scope of the network. The
three principal types of networks are:

 Wide Area Network -A wide area network (WAN) is a communication network that permits
message, voice, image signals or computer data over a widely dispersed geographical area,
such as a state or a country or the entire globe. The examples are: Telephone systems, the
worldwide information superhighway i.e. the Internet. The Internet links together thousands of

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 computer WANs. WANs use a broad range of communication media for interconnection such
as: switched and leased lines, microwave circuits, optical fiber, coaxial cable and satellite
systems. Some WANs are commercial, regulated networks, while others are privately owned.
These generally provide data transmission rates from 28.8 kbps to 2 Gbps.

 Metropolitan Area Network - A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a communication network

covering a geographic area of about 5-50 Kms i.e. approximately the size of a city or suburb. A
MAN connects LANs in different areas to each other. Cellular phone network is a good
example of MAN. They use the coaxial cable or optical fiber cable as primary medium of
transmission although some of these make use of microwave systems as well. The major
users of this type of network are large companies that need to communicate within a
metropolitan area at high speeds. These networks provide moderately fast transmission rates
but are costly to install. The data transmission rates offered by these networks range from
64000 bps to 600 Mbps.

 Local Area Network -A local area network (popularly called as LAN) is a privately owned
communication network that connects two or more communication devices within a confined
geographical area usually 0-5 Kms through a common circuit. Their span could be a room, a
building, group of buildings or a campus. The LAN transmission media usually do not cross
roads or other public thoroughfares. These networks offer high-speed data transmission
compared to standard telephone circuits.

LOCAL AREA NETWORKS

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a transmission system in which large number and variety of
computers (PCs, mini or mainframe) and related equipment's (printers, scanners, storage devices
etc.) are connected together which permits exchange of information at high speed and over limited
distances usually 0-5 km and offset some of the high costs of automating processes. It may also
be defined as a network covering a clearly defined area ranging from a room to an office complex
such as hospital, college or university campus. Through specialized hardware and software,
each department's LAN is connected to a larger LAN within the company's building. Then this
larger LAN may be connected to a larger MAN that may interconnect different offices and
branches in the large city. Finally the company's MAN may be connected to a WAN
interconnecting the company's regional or international offices.

The figure shows a typical LAN system, which essentially consists of several workstations and
servers. The servers can be File Server, Print Server and Communication Server. These
servers provide file storage and access facility, printing facility and external communication
facility to all the workstations connected in the network. The workstation can be a PC or a
terminal with multi-user and multi-tasking capability.

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 Figure 1.15: Components of a typical LAN
(Source: Practical Information Technology: William, Sawyer, Hutchinson)

Types of Local Area Networks (LANs)

A. Client-Server LAN and Peer-to-Peer LAN:

The Client Server LAN consists of two types of devices: the supplying devices called ‘server’ and
the requesting devices called ‘client’. The server is a very powerful computer and manages the
shared devices. There are different servers for different tasks such as printing, databases, e-mail,
Internet, fax, etc. Each of these servers handles specific tasks. For example, Mail server will
manage e-mails, fax server will manage fax communications, database server will manage the
data, etc. These are more expensive and difficult to set up.

The peer-to-peer networks overcome the above limitations of client-server networks. As the term
‘peer’ indicates ‘equality’, these networks allow direct communication between all the inter-
connected computers without needing a server. All the computers have equal privileges. This
arrangement is suitable for about 20-25 computers and as more computers are added to the
network, the performance goes down.

B. Homogenous or Heterogeneous Networks:

Homogenous networks that makes use of only one type of server, nodes or clients, operating
system and network interface card. All equipments are from the same vendor and nodes makes
use of similar protocol. On the other hand, a heterogeneous network makes use of equipments,
software, etc. of different vendors. They makes use of different media and different protocols.

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 Client-Server LAN File Server

Figure 1.16:Client-Server and Peer-to-Peer LAN

(Source: Practical Information Technology: William, Sawyer, Hutchinson)

C. Value Added Networks:

Value-added networks (VANs) are types of WANs. VANs provide an alternative to organizations
designing and managing their own networks. These are private, data-only networks that are
managed by outside third parties. The entire investment in the infra-structure such as network
equipment, software, etc. is made by the service provider. The Subscribers to this service need to

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pay only for the amount of data they transmit plus a fixed subscription fee. The line charges are
shared by all the users and therefore proves to be a cost-effective solution.

In the present day context, with increasing proliferation of Internet, companies are transmitting
their data using Internet instead of the VANs. To cope-up with this challenge the VANs are
providing additional services for secure e-mail management, data transmission, management
reporting, EDI, etc.

D. Virtual Private Networks:

A virtual private network (VPN) is a type of Wide Area Network. VPNs make use of Internet
technology to reduce communication costs thereby making them low cost alternatives to private
WANs. It provides a gateway between a corporate LAN and the Internet. A VPN is a secure
connection between two points across the Internet, enabling private communications to take place
securely over the public infrastructure. Using VPN, companies can also save on long distance
communication costs as remote locations can be accessed for the cost of just making a local call
to an ISP. VPN services are offered by the Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Advantages of LAN

The network arrangement of computers in an organisation provides many advantages. Some of

the major advantages are:

 Sharing of Peripheral Devices - LAN allows the sharing of expensive hardware resources
among various systems in the network. These resources could be Laser Printers, Scanners,
High Capacity Storage devices, etc. Since every new piece of hardware is quite expensive and
to justify their purchase, companies want them to be shared by many users. For example,
coloured laser printer.

 Sharing Of Programs And Data - In organisations, people generally use the same software for
standardization and need to access similar sets of data. e.g. MS-Office Suite. It would be
expensive for any organisation to purchase copy of this software for each computer or user.
Instead, the company can procure a network version of the software so as to serve many
users.

 Easy Maintenance and Upgrades - It is much easier to update or maintain Software on the
server than it is to update on each individual system.

 Faster Communication - The greatest feature of networks is electronic mail (e-mail). With e-
mail, everyone on a network can easily keep others posted about important information. Even
the messages could be sent to people even though they are not available to receive them on
their desk or system. This helps in achieving paperless office communication.

 Security and Backup of Information - Earlier individual employees were having complete
information about the work related to them. If they leave or are dismissed, the information used
to leave with them. With networking, all such data would be backed up or duplicated on a
networked storage devices shared by others. Also it secures the data from natural calamities.

 Sharing of Databases – Networking is useful in sharing or accessing the databases within the
organization or public databases. For example, searching MTNL database for a telephone
number, accessing Hewlett Packard network for product information.

 Low Cost - With the advances in communication technology LAN are proving to be cost-
effective. They offer an inexpensive method of connectivity by relatively low cost per
connection through the use of low cost PCs.

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 High Speed - The data transfer rates of LAN is generally quite high of the order of 1-10 mbps
(million bits per second). This high speed is desirable in bulk data transfer, high-resolution
colour graphics, etc.

Components of a LAN

A Local Area network is made up of several standard hardware and software components:

Communication Cable - LANs like any network require a media for communication. This media
could be either wired or wireless. The wired LAN is more popular and may use twisted- pair wiring,
coaxial cable, or optic-optic cable for interconnection. Wireless connection may use radio-wave
transmission. Wireless networks are especially useful if computers are portable and are moved
often.

Microcomputers – To set up a network, we require two or more microcomputers. One of the

system acts as a server and the other as a workstation or both may be workstations. Server is a
computer on the network that is accessible to network users.

Network Interface Cards - For connecting two or more computers on a network, a special cable
and a network interface card (NIC) are required in each computer and the server. The cable is
used to connect the NIC to the transmission media i.e. cabling system. The Network Interface
Card must be installed in the all the computers. It allows the microcomputer to be connected to a
cabling system and transmits data between computers attached to the data transmission media at
high speeds.

Network Operating Systems -The processes that take place on the hardware devices of a LAN
must be controlled by software. This software is called Network Operating System (NOS). It is
similar to the fact that we need an Operating system (Windows 95 or 98 or MSDOS) to make use
of the computer hardware. Therefore NOS manages the activity of the network by managing the
file server and making the network resources accessible and easy to use. The NOS manages the
server security and provides the network administrator with the tools to control user access to the
network i.e. it controls which files a user can access as well as how the user accesses the files.
Some examples are: Novell Netware, Windows NT, Apple's Local Talk, etc.

Other shared Devices - Printers, Fax machines, Scanners, Storage Devices, CD-Drives and other
peripherals are optional devices that may for part of a network for sharing among the users of the
network.

Network Inter-connecting Devices - Bridges and Gateways serve the purpose of interconnecting
several networks. A bridge is an interface that allows connection of similar networks. A gateway is
an interface that allows connection of even dissimilar networks for communication.
Network Topologies

The computers connected in a network may be arranged in different ways. The logical
arrangement or layout of computers of a network in relation to one another is referred to as
“Topology”. Topology therefore refers to the physical pattern to which a network confirms.
Depending on the needs of the organisation, different types of network design are required but
certain fundamental rules will always be desirable. It is essential to understand in this context the
following basic terms. A system on a network is called a node. Nodes are connected to each other
by links. Links can be network cables, telephone lines, leased lines, satellite etc. A map of the
communication link between nodes is called the network topology.

The most common network topologies are:

 Bus

 Ring
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  Star

Bus Topology: Also referred to as linear network, this is the simplest layout in which various
devices are connected to a common cable or bus (network backbone), which is shared by the
devices (see figure). The cable is generally a coaxial cable and is terminated at both ends. The
advantage with this topology is that it is simple to set up and easy to extend. Also if one device
connected to the bus fails, the rest of the network is not affected. The network fails only if the cable
or the bus fails the chances of which are remote as bus is simply a cable. In this type of network,
the users are allowed access to the bus on first-come first-served basis. The disadvantage of this
arrangement is the need to handle collisions between data, which increases with increase in
number of nodes.

The bus topology is generally used for local area networks and military data highways. This does
not involve high initial investment and the cost per node is generally lower than star networks but
higher than ring networks.

Ring Topology: In this topology each device is serially connected in a closed ring pattern. This
means each node is connected only to the two neighboring nodes. There is no central node or
server. (see figure )The connections to the computer are not direct and instead each computer
attaches to a hub and the ring itself resides inside the hub. The transmission medium, which could
be a coaxial cable or twisted pair, is connected to the node generally by a repeater. The data
travels only in one direction from one node to another i.e. if any device sends a message to
another device, the message has to pass through all the intervening nodes. Therefore each node
in the ring is critical for the network as failure of one may fail the entire network. The performance
of this network is determined by the transmission media used and the capability of the repeater.

Each additional node in the network affects the efficiency of the network. The system is difficult to
extend as each additional node requires systems disruption and affects performance.

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Star Topology: In this network topology, all the communication devices or nodes are connected to
a central device or server through individually dedicated cables. This layout is like the shape of a
star with cables connected not directly to the computer but through a central hub. When one of the
computers on the network wants to communicate to a node, it sends a signal to the central server,
which in turn routes it to the node it is addressed to. The central hub generally does all the
processing and stores the database. If the connection between any computer and the hub fails,
the rest of the network continues to work. However, in case the central hub fails, the entire network
fails. The central hub also prevents collisions between messages. Therefore central hub is critical
in star networks as its capacity to accept and transmit messages greatly affects the performance
of the network.

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The implementation of this topology requires a high initial investment, as central hub has to be
installed with margin for expansion. The extension of the network is limited by the hub capacity but
is quite low. These are generally used for connecting remote or local terminals with the main
computer system.

NETWORK INTERCONNECTIVITY

As networks proliferate in the workplace, homogenous networks are no longer the rule but rather
the exception. Instead heterogeneous or hybrid networks have become prominent in the
workplace. These networks use different technology i.e. they may differ in topology, protocol or
operating system. For example, some networks contain a mixture of PCs running on a bus
network using Windows NT or Novell Netware, Linux workstations using Ethernet on a token ring,
etc.

During the first few years of networking, the systems were designed to communicate with devices
using the same topology and protocol on a homogenous networked environment. The ability to
connect two heterogeneous networks depends on two requirements. The first requirement is that
the topologies must be able to be interconnected. Second, there must be a way to transfer
information between dissimilar systems of communication (protocols). This means that at some
point a common protocol must be employed. There are several ways to accomplish this. Most
solutions use high-level protocols for moving data and employ tools for inter-networking such as
Bridges, Routers, and Gateways.

Bridges: A bridge is an interface that enables similar networks to communicate. Both the
interconnecting networks should have the same protocol. The result is a single logical network. A
bridge can also be used to connect networks that have different physical media. For example,
connecting an optical based-based network and a coaxial cable based network. Bridges are
basically intelligent devices. It is most effective to have smaller LANs connected by bridges rather
than having a large LAN for a medium to large size multiproduct, multidivision organisation.

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 Path 2

Network Path 1 Path 4

A

Router

Path 3

Path 5 Network B

Gateways: A gateway is an interface that enables dissimilar networks to communicate. These

networks may have totally different architecture or protocols. For example, connecting a LAN with
a WAN or connecting a Novell PC-based network with a Windows NT network. It is the most
sophisticated method for interconnecting wide area networks or WANs. The gateways do not route
data packets within networks. They simply deliver their packets so the network can read them i.e.
the data packets are simply converted from one protocol format to another before forwarding it.

Routers: A router is a communication device that enables routing of information between one
network to another network but both supporting the same network layer protocol. The routers
determine the most efficient data path between two networks. When a data packet arrives at the
router, it determines best route for the packet by checking a router table. The router sees only the
packets sent to it by a previous router (router knows only where the next router is located) where
bridges must examine all packets passing through the network. Router is similar to a bridge except
that a router is a layer 3 device whereas bridge work at layer 2. Both almost can do LAN sharing
but router are mostly used when the network is vast (bigger LANS or WANS). These days we
make use of managed routers (allow login like any computer) within a LAN to handle the collision
free dynamic network communication using IP addresses.

Network A

Bridge

Network B

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NETWORK STANDARDS

One of the most difficult problems traditionally faced by computer users in an organisation is that
different vendors use different and incompatible architectures. The problem is more serious when
one goes for networking i.e. interlinking of computers and related equipment's acquired from
different vendors. This problem was first resolved through ARPANET which is a network
developed by Department of Defence Advance Research Project Agency of USA. The facilities
provided were: file transfer, terminal emulation and a number of other network functions. The
protocols used by this network became the de-facto standards for interlinking multi-vendor
systems. However, a large number of computer vendors and standardisation groups continued
trying to achieve computer interconnection through universal acceptance of their respective
computer network architectures and protocols.

OSI Reference Model

Encouraged by the motivation to achieve mutual compatibility between architectures and

protocols, the efforts were made to create an “open systems environment". As a result in the late
70s, the International Standards Organisation (IS0) came up with Open Systems Interconnection
(OSI) reference model to serve as a framework around which a series of standard protocols
could be defined. This is one of the oldest models for network communication. Other standard
network protocols available are: X.25 protocol developed by Consultative Committee for
International Telephone and Telegraph (CCITT), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP) and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), etc.

The OSI reference model is a seven-layer model performing the functions of sending and receiving
messages between the connected computers. (see Figure 1.24). A given layer may communicate
with the adjacent layer immediately above and below it.

Layer 1 is the Physical layer which is responsible for transmitting digital signals (0 and 1s) from the
sending node to other nodes. This layer defines the rules by which the data is transmitted. It
provides a physical connection for the transmission of data among network devices. It basically
deals with the hardware specifications such as signal layers, cable length, half duplex or full
duplex, cable standards, number of pins required, interfaces, etc.

Layer 2 is the Data link layer, which provides access to the physical layer. It is responsible for
transforming data or messages by breaking them into data frames sequentially. A major task of
this layer is to solve the problems caused by damaged, lost or duplicate data so that the
succeeding layers are shielded from transmission errors and can therefore presume that no errors
occur. This layer therefore provides error detection and correction, multiplexing and flow control.

Layer 3 is the Network layer, which is responsible for the efficient routing, addressing and
"packetizing of data" through the network. It actually controls the operation of the combined layers
1, 2 and 3, which are sometimes referred to as ‘sub-network’. The determination of route for a
packet is crucial for large networks where multiple path choices are available. After the routing has
been established, the packet is passed down to the data link layer.

Layer 4 is the Transport layer, which ensures a reliable communication between transmitting and
receiving devices. It establishes, maintains and terminates logical connection for the transfer of
data between end users. This layer is responsible for accepting the out going data from the
session layer, splits it up into smaller packets, passes these to the network layer and ensure
reassembling of these packets at the receiving end. It insulates the layer 5 to 7 from layers 1 to 3
thereby making the upper layers independent of the changes in communication facilities.

Layer 5 is the Session layer and it deals with message transmission. It is responsible for initiating,
maintaining and terminating each logical session between end users. It provides user’s interface
into the network where user must establish a connection with user on the other machine. For
example, in a telephonic conversation, the dialogue between two users is the session.

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Layer 6 is the Presentation layer which manipulates the data for presentation to the application
layer for easy exchange of data among applications. It is mainly concerned with displaying,
formatting and editing user inputs and outputs. Its other functions are: data encryption and
decryption, screen formatting, data compression, etc.

LOCATION - 1 LOCATION - 2
SYSTEM - 1 SYSTEM - 2

APPLICATION 7 APPLICATION 7
SOFTWARE USERS OF
PRESENTATION 6 PRESENTATION 6 TRANSPORT
BASED
SERVICES
SESSION 5 SESSION 5
BOTH HARDWARE
AND SOFTWARE TRANSPORT 4 TRANSPORT 4 USER LIASON
BASED
NETWORK 3 NETWORK 3
HARDWARE NETWORK
LINK 2 LINK 2 SERVICES
BASED
PHYSICAL 1 PHYSICAL 1

COMMUNICATION PATH

Figure : OSI Reference Model

Layer 7 is the Application layer and provides a direct interface with the end user. The primary
purpose is to provide a set of utilities generally needed by the specific users such as file transfer,
E-mail, password authentication, directory services, network management, etc.

The layers 1 to 3 of the model are hardware based and the layer 4 involves both the hardware and
the software while layers 5 to 7 are software based. The layers 1 to 4 establishes connection
between computers and ensures that data is transmitted error free, while the layers 5 to 7
connects the data with the application to generate meaningful results.

The following benefits are obtained by separating network functions into seven layers:

i) Network hardware and software designers can allocate tasks more effectively among network
resources

ii) A network layer can easily be replaced by a layer from another network vendor.
iii) Processes from mainframes can be off-loaded into Front End Processors or other network
control devices.
iv) Networks can be upgraded more easily by replacing individual layers instead of the entire
software system.

However, today the OSI model has been overtaken by TCP/IP model. TCP/IP is the standard
approach used by the Internet.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was developed by U.S. Department
of Defense’s (ARPANET) in 1974. TCP/IP is the network layer, file transfer protocol used on the
Internet. As on today, it is also the world’s most popular network layer protocol used by majority of
LAN, MAN and WANs. It is an Internet networking software that controls the transmission of
packets of data over the internet. Together with Internet Protocol (IP), TCP is one of the core
protocols underlying the Internet. The two protocols are usually referred to as a group, by the term
"TCP/IP."

24
TCP enables two computers to establish a connection and exchange information. TCP/IP provides
reasonably efficient and error-free transmission of data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and also
guarantees that information packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent.
Among its tasks, TCP checks for lost packets, puts the data from multiple packets into the correct
order, and requests that missing or damaged packets be resent. Computers must run TCP to
communicate with world wide web servers

APPLICATION APPLICATION

TCP TCP

IP IP

NETWORK NETWORK
ACCESS ACCESS
PROTOCOL - 1 PROTOCOL - 2

SUB ROUTER SUB

NETWORK - 1 NETWORK - 2

Figure : TCP/IP Transmission Model

As a result, it can send large files of information across even unreliable networks with assurance
that the data received is uncorrupted. The main reason for its popularity and universal adoption is
its compatibility with a variety of data link protocols. TCP/IP protocol is very popular among the
business organization due to its reliability and its easy support for intranets.

The TCP/IP has two parts. The TCP part performs the packetizing function i.e. breaking the data
into smaller packets, numbering them, ensuring that each packet is transmitted and reassembling
these packets in a proper manner at the destination. The IP part performs the routing and
addressing functions for these packets. The IP software is used at each of the intervening node
through which the data packet passes and routes it to its final destination. On the other hand, the
TCP software only needs to be active at the sender and the receiver since it is involved only when
data comes from or goes to the application layer.

The TCP/IP architecture like OSI model is also layered. The four layers are: Network access,
Internet, Transport and application. The network access layer contains the protocols that provide
access to a communication network, such as LAN, The Internet layer consists of procedures
required to allow data to traverse multiple networks between hosts. This protocol is implemented
within hosts and routers. A router is a processor connecting two networks. The protocol at this
layer is the Internet protocol (IP). The transport layer provides the logic for assuring that data
exchanged between hosts is reliably delivered. It is responsible for directing incoming data to the
intended application. The protocol at this layer is called transmission control protocol (TCP). The
application layer contains the protocols for specific user applications.

This TCP/IP opens a transparent data pipeline between end network nodes and ensures that
data are routed properly and delivered without errors. The TCP/IP permits the routing of data
between different networks such as X.25, Ethernet and Token Ring, etc. It allows the connection
of all types of devices together with strong features for managing large networks comprising of
thousands of nodes. The best example is Internet.

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