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UNIT – III: INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER NETWORKS CHAPTER-4

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER NETWORKS

Computer Network-
A computer network is a set of nodes like computers and networking devices that are connected through
communication for the purpose of communication and sharing resources(hardware/software) among the users.
Computer network uses distributed processing in which task is divided among several computers.

Networks are used to:

(Benefits of computer network)
• Facilitate communication through email / video conferencing / instant messaging or any other mode.
• Share hardware devices like a printer or scanner
• Enable file sharing
• Share information
Disadvantages of computer network
• Lack of robustness, security issue, cost of network.

Types of Computer network

Categorized by size-

1)LAN Local Area Network

Network where two or more computers are connected within 1 km.
LAN exists within a campus.
It is owned by a single organisation.

2)MAN Metropolitan Area Network

It covers up to 50 km area.
MAN is larger than a LAN but smaller than WAN.
MANs are usually characterised by high speed connections.

3)WAN Wide Area Network

It spans a large geographical area often a country or a continent.
Internet is the largest WAN.
Wide area networks are widely used in the field of business, government, education etc.

4)PAN Personal Area Network

Personal Area Network refers to the network created by persons or individuals.
Example-: If you are sending files from your smartphone to another smartphone using Bluetooth or any other
app is considered as Personal Area Network.

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Network Devices-:

(i)Hub:
It connects multiple computer networking devices together.
A hub can be used with both digital and analog data.
Connects multiple computers in a single LAN network of one workgroup.
Generally HUBs are available with 4,8,12,24,48 ports

(ii)Switch:
Switches generally have a more intelligent role than hubs.
It maintains limited routing information about nodes in the internal network.
It allows connections to systems like hubs or routers.

(iii) Router:
It interconnects different networks.
The simplest function of a router is to received packets from one connected network and pass them to second
connected network.
Routers are used to divide internal network into two or more sub networks.
It contains information about the systems connected to it and where to send requests if the destination is
unknown.

(iv) Gateway:
A networking device capable to convert protocols so that two different network architecture based system can
communicate with each other.
It is a network device that is used to connect two or more dissimilar networks.
EG-: A computer with multiple Mics connected to different networks.

(v) Modem:
Modulation means digital to analog signal conversion and its vice versa is known as demodulation.
Modems (modulators-demodulators) are used to transmit digital signals over analog telephone lines.
Digital signals are converted by the modem into analog signals of different frequencies and transmitted to a
modem at the receiving location.

(vi) Repeater:
A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it.
In a network signal travels a long distance in transmission media.
Due to resistance of media signal becomes weak.
Repeater is a networking device which regenerates the signal and forwards these signal with more power.

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Network Topology-:
Topology refers to the way in which the workstations attached to the network are interconnected.

(i) Bus Topology:

It uses a common single cable to connect all the workstations.
Each computer reforms its task of sending messages without the help of the central server.
However, only one workstation can transmit a message at a particular time in the bus topology.
Advantage:
Easy to connect and install.
Involves a low cost of installation time.
Can be easily extended.
Disadvantages:
The entire network shuts down if there is a failure in the central cable.
Only a single message can travel at a particular time.
Difficult to troubleshoot an error

(ii) Star Topology:

It is based on a central connection which acts as a hub.
A star topology is common in home networks where all the computers connect to the single central computer
using a hub.
Advantages:
Easy to troubleshoot.
A single node failure does not affect the entire network.
In case a workstation fails, the network is not affected.
Disadvantages:
Longer cable is required.
The cost of the hub and longer cable makes it expensive over other topologies.
In case hub fails, the entire network fails.

(iii) Tree Topology:

It combines the characteristics of the linear bus and star topologies.
It consists of groups of star configured connected to a bus backbone cable.
Advantages:
Eliminates network congestion.
The network can be easily extended.
Faulty nodes can be easily isolated from the rest of the network.
Disadvantages:
Uses large cable length.
Requires a large amount of hardware components and hence is expensive.
Installation and reconfiguration is very difficult.

(iv) Mesh Topology:

In this topology, each device is connected to every other device on the network through a dedicated point-to-
point link.
When we say dedicated, it means that the link only carries data for the two connected devices only.
Advantages:
It is secure because there is a point to point link thus unauthorized access is not possible.
No data traffic issues as there is a dedicated link between two devices which means the link is only available
for those two devices.
Disadvantages:
Amount of wires required to connect each system is tedious.
Since each device needs to be connected with other devices, number of I/O ports required must be huge.
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Internet
The Internet is world wide system of computer networks i.e., network of networks.
Through Internet, computers become able to exchange information with each other and find diverse
perspective on issues from a global audience.
All computer on the Internet, communicate with one another using TCP/IP, which is a basic protocol of the
Internet.
Internet has been the most useful technology of the modern time, which helps us not only in our daily lives, but
also in our personal and professional lives developments. Internet is not governed by any single organisation.
A volunteer group W3C has been formed to help, coordinate and wrist with the development of the Internet.

(I)URL
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator.
It is a unique identifier used to locate a resource on the Internet.
It is also referred to as web address.
URL protocols include-
-HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol),
-HTTPs (HTTP secure) for web resources, mail for email addresses,
-FTP for files on a file transfer protocol server,
-Telnet for session to access remote computers.

The URL contains three parts which are as follows:

(i) The name of the protocol to be used to access the file resource.
(ii) A domain name that identifies a specific computer on the Internet.
(iii) A path name with hierarchical description that specifies the location of a file on that computer.
e.g.,
user
You can open a URL by clicking on a or by typing the URL in the browser address bar.

(II)World Wide Web (WWW)

The world wide web is a way of exchanging information, between computers on the Internet, tying them
together into a vast collection of interactive multimedia resources.
The development of the world wide web began in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee and his colleagues at CERN, an
international scientific organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland.
The basic idea of the www was to merge the evolving technologies of computers, data networks and
hypertext into a powerful and easy to use global information system.

Advantages of world wide web are as:

(i) Availability of information i.e., you are able to access information from anywhere.
(ii) Rapid interaction communication which can be used for different services.
(iii) Facilitates access of different sources of information which is continuously updated.
(iv) Exchange of huge volumes of data as well as establishment of professional contact.

Applications of WWW:
E-Mail
Chat
VoIP
Publishing, Marketing and advertising
Research and Development
Communication
Collaboration
Industrial classification of the sample companies etc.

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I)Web (Applications of WWW)

The web is the common name for the World Wide Web, a subset of the Internet consisting of the pages that can
be accessed by a web browser.
Many people assume that the web is the same as the Internet and use these terms interchangeably.
However, the term Internet refers to the global network of servers that makes the information sharing, over the
web possible.

II)E-mail (Applications of WWW)

E-mail stands for Electronic Mail.
It is a paperless method of sending messages, notes, pictures and even sound files from one place to another
using the Internet as a medium.
e-mail address is an individual name which is used to send and receive e-mail on the Internet.
It is used to specify the source or destination of an e-mail message.
The format of an mail address is username@domain_name.

xyx @ gmail.com
↑↑
User name- xyz
Separator- @
Domain name- gmail.com

Some sites which provide the e-mail services- Gmail, Yahoo, Rediff mail etc.
Cc stands for carbon copy. It specifies recipients who are not direct addresses. This field is optional.
Bcc stands for Blind carbon copy. It is similar to Cc, except that the recipients do not get to know who the
other recipients are. This field is optional.

The most commonly used Email protocols on the internet –

POP3: Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3) is a standard mail protocol used to receive emails from a remote
server to a local email client.
POP3 allows you to download email messages on your local computer and read them even when you are offline.
IMAP: The Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is a mail protocol used for accessing email on a remote
web server from a local client.
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the standard protocol for sending emails across the Internet.

III)Chat (Applications of WWW)

Chat refers to the process of communicating, interacting and/or exchanging message over the Internet.
It involves two or more individuals that communicate through a chat enabled service or software.

There are two basic modes for chatting on the Internet as follows:
1. Text-based chat: Enables communication through sending and receiving text messages.
2. Multimedia chat: Enables communication through audio and video transmission.
A chat room is the hub of Internet chatting.
Chat rooms are actually chat servers that allow several users to login to them simultaneously.
After joining a room, you can read the message of other users and send your own messages to them or to
anyone else.

Some chat etiquette are as follows:

(i) Do not write in all capital as it symbolisies yelling.
(ii) Try your best to spell all words correctly and use proper punctuation and use polite language.
(iii) Behave the same way you would when talking to someone in real life.
(iv) Avoid chat slang.

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IV)VoIP (Applications of WWW)

Voice over Internet Protocol.
It is a technology that allows you to make voice calls using a broadband internet connection instead of a regular
phone line.
If you are calling a regular phone number, the signal is converted to a regular telephone signal before it calls
directly from a computer, a special VoIP phone or a traditional phone connected to a special adapter.
A voice over IP solution provides significant cost savings over a traditional phone system.
Users can take advantage of free calls and low rates for international calls and long distance.

Website
Basically, a website is a collection of publicly accessible, interlinked web pages that share a single domain
name.
Websites can be created and maintained by an individual, group, business or organisation to serve a variety of
purposes.
A site or website is a central location of web pages that are related and accessed by visiting the home page of
the website using a browser.
Website come in a nearly endless variety, including educational sites, news sites, forums, social media sites, e-
commerce sites and so on. The page within a website are usually a mix of text and other media.
Together, all publicly accessible websites constitute the world wide web.
The first website was built at CERN by Tim Berners-Lee and launched on August 6, 1991.
Website programming is the main method of defining the structure of a website and managing its behaviour
as visitors browse through its pages.

Web page
A web page is a document for the world wide web that is identified by a unique Uniform Resource Locator
(URL).
These pages are written in HTML, that is viewed in an Internet browser. A webpage may contain text, graphics
and hyperlinks to other web pages and files.
A webpage is often used to show private information to viewers, including pictures or videos to help illustrate
important topics.
A web page may also be used as a method to sell products or services to viewers.
The first or main page of a website is known as home page.
It helps viewers to find out what they can find on that particular site.

Types of webpages
There are two types of web pages as follows:
(i) Static Webpage: Static Webpage contains content that remains same always. They may only change if the
actual HTML file is manually edited. They are generally available to users without restriction.
(ii) Dynamic Webpage: A website is a collection of dynamic webpages. These webpages are temporary pages
that are created on-demand. This means that dynamic pages or parts of it do not exist and are only created
when there is a request.
Content in dynamic pages may be restricted to some users and will only be displayed once identification has
been established.

Differences between website and webpage are as follows:

Website
It is a cluster of related webpages addressed to a typical URL.
There is no extension used in the URL of a website.
Webpage
Webpage is a part of website which comprises links to other web pages.
The webpage URL has an extension.

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I)Web Server
A web server is a computer that runs websites.
It is a computer program that distributes web pages as they are requested.
The basic objective of the web server is to store, process and deliver web pages to the users.
The main job of a web server is to display the website content. If a web server is not exposed to the public and
is used internally, then it is called Internet server.

II)Web Hosting
A web hosting is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organisations to make their
website accessible via world wide web.
Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server. Owned and leased for use by clients as well as
providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center.

III)Web Browser
A web browser or simply browser is a special software that enables the users to read/view web- page and jump
from one webpage to another.
It displays a webpage and interprets its HTML codes.
It is the software that is needed to find, retrieve, view and send information over the Internet.

Browsers are of two types:

1. Text Based Web Browsers are the web browsers that support text only, i.e., these browsers do not support
graphics.
e.g., Lynx.
2. Graphical web browsers Graphical browser display text, images, and other web applications including video
and audio files (as compared with text only browsers).
e.g., Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla firefox etc.

Commonly used browsers

Google Chrome:
This web browser is developed by Google, and its beta version was first released in september 2008 for
Microsoft windows.
Mozilla Firefox:
Firefox is a new browser derived from Mozilla. It was released in 2004 and has grown to be the second most
popular browser on the Internet.
Internet Explorer (IE):
It is a product of Microsoft. This was introduced in 1995 along with windows 95 launch and it has passed Net
scape popularity in 1998.
Safari:
It is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and launched with Max OS X Panther. It was first released as a
public beta in January 2003.
Opera:
It is smaller and faster than most other browsers, yet it is full-featured, Fast, user friendly, with keyboard
interface, multiple windows zoom functions and more.
Lynx:
It is a fully featured world wide web browser for users on UNIX, VMS and other platforms running cursor-
addressable, character cell terminals or emulators.

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Browser Setting:
Open the Settings page.
Locate the Privacy section and choose Content settings.
In the ‘‘Content Settings’’ overlay ensure that the following options are set:
(i) Cookies: Allow local data to be set
(ii) Javascript: Allow all sites to run Java scripts
(iii) Pop-ups: Allow all sites to show popups

Add-ons
Add-ons are tools which integrate into your browser.
They are similar to regular apps or programs, but only run when the browser runs.
Add-ons can allow the viewing of certain types of web content, such as Adobe Flash player for youtube videos
etc.
Add-ons can work within the framework of the browser provided or they can provide separate functions, such
adding a status bar.
Examples of add-ons for a computer include card for sound, graphic acceleration, modem capability and
memory.
Software add-ons are common for games, word-processing and accounting programs.

Plug-ins
Plug-ins are software additions that allow for the customization of computer programs, apps and web browser
as well as the customization of the content offered by websites.
While plug-ins continue to be used by add-ons to customise programs and apps, their use in web browser has
decreased somewhat, in favour of using browser extensions instead.

A few good plugins to help customize your user experience with web browsing, content creation, and with your
favorite apps and programs:
Adobe Acrobat Reader: We’re all expected to view PDFs these days. This plugin allows you to access and view
those important documents.
Adobe Flash Player: Sometimes, in order to view videos online, a plugin called Adobe Flash Player has to be
enabled.
Bukkit Plugins: For those into Minecraft, Bukkit plugins are a type of plugin that provide countless ways to
customize how the sandbox video game can be played.
HP Print Service: Allows you to send print jobs from an Android device to an HP printer. This plugin can be
downloaded like an app from the Google Play Store.

Cookies
Cookies are messages that web servers pass to your web browser when you visit Internet sites.
Your browser stores each message in a small fill, called cookie.txt.
When you request another page from the server, your browser sends the cookies back to the server.
These files typically contain information about your visit to the web page as well as any information you have
volunteered.
Such as your name and interests.

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