Lecture Note - Com221 - Basic Computer Networking
Lecture Note - Com221 - Basic Computer Networking
COM 221
Lecture One
Basic Concept of Networking
Network Defence
This vital element covers everything needed to keep the network safe. Defences
include firewalls, content filters, load balancers, and intrusion detection and
prevention systems.
These networks connect devices in a limited area, like a school or an office setup.
Yes, you can have a one-person network, and here it is! One person uses a PAN to
connect with various devices, such as their laptop, printer, scanner, etc.
Not only are PANs a thing, but there are also several types.
Body Area. This PAN travels with you. This network could theoretically
describe you when you have your smartphone and Fit bit on you.
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Offline. If your home devices (e.g., television, phone, video camera,
refrigerator) are linked into one network but NOT connected to the Internet,
that’s an Offline or Home PAN.
Small Home/Office. This example uses a VPN to connect your devices to
the Internet and your workplace’s network.
MANs take the LAN model and greatly expand its range. In fact, it typically takes
a series of LANs and connects them into one network, usually via a phone
exchange line. MANs are typically a government network created to connect with
businesses and citizens.
Finally, there's the most extensive network available, the Wide Area Network.
WANs cover a substantial geographical area such as a state, province, or even an
entire nation, using phone lines, satellite links, or cables.
Private networks. A company with many offices in one region can be linked
together via a WAN.
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Data is centralized
Updates occur almost immediately
It expands the users’ reach to a worldwide scope
Now that we’ve answered “what is a computer network,” let’s explore why you
want to create one. Here are eight vital objectives associated with building and
running a computer network.
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8. Streamlined Collaboration and Communication: Computer networks make it
easier for staff from different departments to talk, plan, share, and
collaborate.
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Lecture Two
Network Devices
Links
Links are the methods used to transmit data. They break down into:
Wired links. These links include phone lines, coaxial cable, and fiber optics.
Non-wired links. Wireless connections include cellular networks, satellites,
or other forms of radio or electromagnetic signals.
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computer from one of those popular stores or big companies on the web, most of
their computers have a network card tested and ready. If you go to a store that sells
or manufactures computers, you will ask them to install or make sure that the
computer has a network card.
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Wireless Network Cards
Depending on your network or budget of customers, instead of using wired
network cards, you can use wireless ones. Most laptops already have a built-in
wireless card so you may not have to acquire one. Many new desktop computers
now have built-in wireless capability as shown in fig 2.
Overall, the physical installation of a wireless network card follows similar rules as
that of a wired NIC. They usually come with simple to follow instructions but it
may be a good idea to install the wireless network adapters once installing the
wireless router. Also, it may be a good plan to purchase the network cards and the
wireless router from the same manufacturer.
Most desktop computers come without a wireless network card. If you buy a
computer from a store and if you wish to use wireless networking, you'll buy a
wireless network card separately. As stated already, a wireless network card isn't
particularly tough to install.
Besides the wireless network cards that can be installed within the computer, you'll
use external cards. These are installed using a USB port known as USB adapter as
shown in fig 3.
These adapters, like most USB objects, are easy to connect and use. Like any other
hardware parts, when you connect these, the computer detects them and helps you
to get them ready for use.
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Unlike desktop computers, nowadays most laptops come equipped with a wireless
network card. This means that, after purchasing or acquiring a laptop, you should
simply check whether it has a wireless adapter. Therefore, check its documentation
properly.
2.3 Hubs
A hub is a rectangular box that is used as the central object on which the computers
and other devices are connected. To make this possible, a hub is equipped with
small holes called ports. Fig 4 shows such type of hub:
Figure 4: Hub
It comes with 4 ports, depending on its type and is equipped with 4, 5, 12, or more
ports. Fig 2.5 shows hub with 8 ports:
When configuring 8 bit hub, you need to attach an RJ-45 cable from the network
card of a computer to one port of the hub. In most cases for a home-based or a
small business network, you will not need (or should not use) a hub.
Hubs are the simplest way to connect 2 or more computers, servers and peripherals
to form a simple network. A hub receives signals from each machine though wired
connections, and then broadcasts them to all the other connected machines. So, if
computer A sends out a signal, Computers B, C and D can all receive it, even
though the signal was meant only for computer D.
Hubs are of 2 types:
Active Hub: they are smarter than the passive hubs. They not only provide
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the path for the data signals in fact they regenerate, concentrate and strengthen the
signals before sending them to their destinations. Active hubs also are termed as
“repeaters”.
Passive Hub: they're more like point contact for the wires to inbuilt the physical
network. They have nothing to do with modifying the signals.
2.4 Switches
A switch is a network device that selects a path or circuit for sending a unit of data
to its next destination. Basically, switches are used to enhance functionality to a
internetwork LAN rather than being used to create a internetworks. The main
purpose of switches is to make LAN work better, optimizes its performance, and
provide more bandwidth for the LAN users. Switches do not forward packets to
other networks as router do. They only switch frames from one port to another
within the switched network.
Switches are capable of determining the destination of each individual traffic
element (such as an LAN frame) and selectively forwarding data to the one
computer that actually needs it. By generating less network traffic in delivering
messages, a switch performs higher than a hub on busy networks. This simply
means that switches break up collision domain.
When a signal enters a port of the switch, the switch looks at the destination
address of the frame and internally establishes a logical connection with the port
connected to the destination node. Other ports on the switch have no part within
the connection. The result is that each port on the switch corresponds to an
individual collision domain, and network congestion is avoided.
Note that switches create separate collision domain for each port but a single
broadcast domain.
Thus, if a 10-Mbps Ethernet switch has 10 ports, every port effectively gets the
complete bandwidth of 10 Mbps-to the frame, the switch's port seems to provide a
dedicated connection to the destination node. There are two main types of
switches.
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Layer-2 switches operate at the data-link layer of the OSI model and are based on
bridging technologies. They establish logical connections between ports based on
mac addresses. Use layer-2 switches for segmenting your existing network into
smaller collision domains to improve performance.
Layer-3 switches operate at the layer 3 of the OSI model and are based on routing
technologies. They establish logical connections between ports based on network
addresses. Use these for connecting different networks into an internetwork. Layer-
3 switches are typically known as routing switches or multilayer switches.
2.5 Routers
Routers are network layer devices and are notably known as Layer- 3 devices of
the OSI Model. They process logical addressing information within the Network
header of a packet like IP Addresses. Router is used to form larger complex
networks by complex traffic routing. It’s the ability to connect dissimilar LANs on
the same protocol. It additionally has the ability to limit the flow of broadcasts.
This simply means that routers break up broadcasting domain which is set of all
devices on a network segment that hear all broadcasts sent on that segment.
Figure 6: Router
Breaking up a broadcast domain is important because when a host or server sends a
network broadcast, every device on the network must read and process that
broadcast. When a router’s interface receives this broadcast, it simple discard the
broadcast without forwarding it on to other networks. Router also breaks collision
domain.
When a router receives the data, it determines the destination address by reading
the header of the packet. Once the address is determined, it searches in its routing
table to get know how to reach the destination so forwards the packet to the higher
hop on the route. The hop may be the final destination or another router.
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Routing tables play a very pivotal role in letting the router makes a decision. So, a
routing table has to be compelled to be updated and complete. The 2 ways through
which a router will receive information are:
• Static Routing: In static routing, the routing information is fed into the routing
tables manually. It doesn't solely become a time-taking task but gets prone to errors
as well. The manual change is additionally needed just in case of statically
configured routers when change within the topology of the network or within the
layout takes place. So static routing is feasible for tinniest environments with
minimum of one or two routers.
2.7 Repeaters
Repeaters are network device used to regenerate or replicate a signal. Repeaters are
employed in transmission systems to regenerate analog or digital signals distorted
by transmission loss. Analog repeaters frequently will solely amplify the signal
while digital repeaters will reconstruct a signal to near its original quality.
In a data network, a repeater will relay messages between sub networks that use
different protocols or cable types. Hubs will operate as repeaters by relaying
messages to all connected computers. A repeater cannot do the intelligent routing
performed by bridges and routers.
In a wireless communications system, a repeater consists of a radio receiver, an
amplifier, a transmitter, an isolator, and 2 antennas. The transmitter produces a
signal on a frequency that differs from the received signal. This so-called
frequency offset is critical to prevent the strong transmitted signal from disabling
the receiver. The isolator provides additional protection in this respect. A repeater,
once strategically located on top of a high building or a mountain, will greatly
enhance the performance of a wireless network by permitting communications
over distances much greater than would be possible without it.
Lecture Three
Internetworking Basics
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Due to exponential growth in network and networking, and geographical proximity
of network users, there exists the challenge of connecting sometimes many
relevant networks together so that all the users can share the networks’ wealth.
Another challenge is the need to break up one large network into a number of
smaller ones because users’ response has dwindled to a trickle as the network grew
and grew, and LAN traffic congestion reached overwhelming proportions.
Breaking up a large network into a number of smaller ones is called network
segmentation and it is accomplished using routers, switches and bridges. Possible
causes of LAN traffic congestions are
i. Too many hosts in a broadcast domain
ii. Broadcast storm
iii. Multicasting
iv. Low bandwidth.
Internetworking Models
There are two types of internetworking models namely Open System
Interconnection (OSI) model and Department of Defense (DoD) Model.
Open System Interconnection (OSI) Model
Initially, computers could typically communicate only with computers from the
same manufacturers. To break this barrier, International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) created OSI model in the late 1970s.
The OSI model was meant to help vendors create interoperable network devices
and software in the form of protocols so that different vendor network could work
with each other. It is the primary architectural model for networks. It describes
how data and network information are communicated from an application on one
computer, through the network media to an application on another computer. The
OSI reference model breaks this approach into layers.
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of OSI model is to allow different vendors networks to interoperate. OSI has seven
layers namely:
1. Application Layer
2. Presentation Layer
3. Session Layer
4. Transport Layer
5. Network Layer
6. Data Link Layer
7. Physical Layer
Application Layer:
Application marks the point where users actually communicate to the computer.
This layer only comes into play when it’s apparent that access to the network is
going to be needed soon.
Application layer acts as an interface between the actual application program –
(which isn’t resident in the layered structure) and the next layer down, by
providing ways for the application to send information down via the protocol stack.
For example, you can use internet explorer or Firefox to view HTML documents
saved in your system when network components such as TCP/IP, NIC etc are
disabled. But problem comes when you want to retrieve HTML documents using
that is not resident in the application layer using HTTP because internet explorer or
Firefox will response to these requests. So what internet explorer or Firefox does
is to interface with application layer protocols when it needs to deal with remote
resources.
Application layer is also responsible for identifying and establishing the
availability of the intended communication partner, and determining whether
sufficient resources for the intended communication exist.
Presentation Layer
Presentation layer as the name implies, presents data to the application layer and is
responsible for data translation and code formatting. This layer is essentially a
translator and provides coding and conversion functions. A successful data transfer
technique is to adapt the data into a standard format before transmission.
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Computers are configured to receive this generically formatted data and then
convert the data back into its native format for actual reading. By providing
translation services, the presentation layer ensures that data transferred from the
application layer of one system can be read by the application layer of another one.
Tasks like data compression, decompression, encryption, and decryption are
associated with this layer.
Session Layer
The session layer is responsible for setting up, managing, and then tearing down
sessions between Presentation layer entities. This layer also provides dialogue
control between devices, or nodes. It coordinates communication between systems
and serves to organize their communication by offering three different modes:
simple duplex, half duplex and full duplex
Transport Layer
Transport layer segments and reassemble data into a data stream. Services located
in the transport layer both segment and reassemble data from upper – layer
applications and unite it onto the same data stream. They provide end – to – end
data transport services and can establish a logical connection between the sending
host and destination host on an internetwork.
Network Layer
Network layer also called layer 3 manages device addressing, tracks the location of
devices on the network, and determines the best way to move data, which means
that the network layer must transport traffic between devices that aren’t locally
attached. Routers (layer 3 devices) are specified at the network layer and provide
the routing services within an internetwork.
Data Link Layer
Data link layer provides the physical transmission of the data and handles error
notification, network topology, and flow control. This means the data link layer
will ensure that messages are delivered to the proper device on a LAN using
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hardware addresses and translates messages from the network layer into bits for the
physical layer to transmit.
Data link layer formats the message into pieces, each called a data frame, and adds
a customized header containing the hardware destination and source address. This
added information forms a sort capsule that surrounds the original message. It is
data link layer that is responsible for the actual unique identification of each device
that resides on a local network. For a host to send packets to individual hosts on a
local network as well as transmitting packets between routers, the data link layer
uses hardware addressing. Each time a packet is sent between routers, it’s framed
with control information at the data link layer, but that information is stripped off
at the receiving router and only the original packet is left completely intact. This
framing of the packet continues for each hop until the packet is finally delivered to
the correct receiving host. It is important to understand that the packet itself is
never altered along the route; it’s only encapsulated with the type of control
information required for it to be properly passed on to the different media types.
Switches and bridges both work at the data link layer and filter the network using
hardware media access control (MAC) addresses. Layer – 2 switching is
considered hardware-based bridging because it uses specialized hardware called an
application – specific integrated circuit (ASIC). ASICs can run up to gigabit
speeds with very low latency rates.
Definition: Latency is the time measured from when a frame enters a port to time
it exists a port.
Switches and Bridges read each frame as it passes through the network. The layer
– 2 device then puts the source hardware address in a filter table and keep track of
which port the frame was received on. After a filter table is built on the layer – 2
device, it will only forward frames to the segment where the destination hardware
address is located.
Note: Layer – 3 device such as router primarily need to locate specific network
while layer – 2 device (switches and bridges) need to locate specific device.
Routers use routing table to map internetworks while switches and bridges use
filter table to map devices.
Physical Layer
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Physical layer sends and receives bits. Bits comes in values of 0 or 1. It
communicates directly with the various types of communication media. Different
kinds of media represent these bit values in different ways. Some uses audio tones,
while others employ state transitions – changes in voltage from high to low and
low to high. The physical layer specifies the electrical, mechanical, procedural and
functional requirements for activating, maintaining, and deactivating a physical
link between end systems. This layer is also where you identify the interface
between the data terminal equipment (DTE) and data communication equipment
(DCE). DCE is locate at the service providers end, while DTE is the attached
device. The services available to the DTE are most often accessed via a modem or
channel service unit/data service unit ) CSU/DSU).
These layers and their functions are summarized in the table below
S/N Layer Functions
1 Application Provides a user interface: file, print, message, database
and application services
2 Presentation Presents data
Handles processing such as encryption, compression,
and translation services
3 Session Dialog control, keeps different applications data
separate
4 Transport Provides reliable and unreliable end-to-end connection
Performs error correction before retransmit.
5 Network Provides logical addressing which routers use for path
determination.
6 Data Link Combines packets into bytes and bytes into frames
Provides access to media using MAC addresses
Perform error detection and not error correction
7 Physical Moves bits between devices
Specifies voltage, wire speed, and pin-out of cables.
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2. Allows various thpes of network hardware and software to communicate
3. Prevents changes in one layer from affecting other layers, so it does not
hamper development.
Communication protocols
TCP/IP is the predominant model for today’s Internet structure and in contrast to
OSI presents this standard layer configuration for communication links:
Network access layer: Defines how the data gets physically transferred.
Internet layer: Packages the data into understandable packets so it can be
sent and received.
Transport layer: Allows the network devices to maintain conversations.
Application layer: Establishes how high-level applications access the
network for purposes of data transfer.
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receives segments from the Host-to-Host layer and fragments them into datagrams
(packets) if necessary. IP then reassembles datagrams back into segments on the
receiving side. Each datagram is assigned the IP address of the sender and of the
recipient. Each router (layer 3 device) that receives a datagram makes routing
decisions based on the packet’s destination IP address.
IP Addressing
One of the important topics in any discussion of TCP/IP is IP addressing. An IP
addressing is a numeric identifier assigned to each machine on an IP network. It
designates the specific location of a device on the network. An IP address is a
software address, not hardware address – the latter is hard-coded on a hardware
interface card (NIC) and used for finding hosts on a local Network. IP addressing
was designed to allow a host on one network to communicate with a host on a
different network regardless of the type of LANs the hosts are participating.
IP Terminology
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IPv4 is the fourth version of IP, which establishes the rules for computer networks
functioning on the principle of packet exchange. It can uniquely identify devices
connected to the network through an addressing system. Whenever a device gets
access to the Internet (whether it's a switch, PC, or other devices), it is assigned a
unique, numerical IP address such as [Link] as shown below.
An IPv4 address consists of 32 bits of information. These bits are divided into four
sections referred to as octets or bytes, each consisting 1 byte (8bits). You represent
an IP address using one of the three methods:
- Dotted – decimal, eg: [Link]
- Binary, eg: 10101100.00010000.0001110.00111000
- Hexadecimal, eg: AC.10.1E.38
Network Addressing
The network address uniquely identifies each network. Every machine on the
same network shares that network address as part of its IP address. In the IP
address: [Link] for example, 172.16. is the network address.
The node address is assigned to, and uniquely identifies each machine on a
network. This part of the address must be unique because it identifies a particular
machine – individual as oppose to a network, which is a group. This number can
also be called host address. In the sample IP address [Link], the 30.56 is the
node address.
Network is classified based on the network size, thus we have
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Class A Network for small number of networks possessing a very large number of
nodes.
Class C Network is for very large networks with small number of nodes.
In between Class A and Class C networks lies the Class B network.
Network Address Range: Class A
The designers of the IP address scheme said that the first bit of the first byte in a
Class A network address must always be off or 0. This means a Class A address
must be between 0 and 127 inclusive.
Consider the following network address:
0xxxxxxx
If we turn the other 7bits all off and then turn them all on, we will find the Class A
range of network address.
00000000 = 0
01111111 = 127
This is obtained by convert the binary bits to decimal.
So, a Class A network is defined in the first octet between 0 and 127.
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Network Address Range: Class C
For Class C network, the first 2bits of the first octet is always turne on, but the
third bit is always turned off. Following the same process as the previous classes
covert from binary to decimal to find the range. Thus, the range for Class C
network will be:
11000000 = 192
11011111 = 223
Summary of the three classes of network are given below:
Class A Address:
In Class A network address, the first byte is assigned to the network address, and
the remaining three bytes are used for the node address. The Class A format is:
Network . node . node . node
For example, in IP address [Link], the 49 is the unique network address and
22.102.70 is the unique node address. Every machine on this particular network
would have the distinctive network address 49.
Class A network address are one byte long, with the first bit of that byte reserved
and the remaining bits available for manipulation (addressing). As a result, the
maximum number of Class A networks that can be created is 128. Why? Because
each of the seven bits positions can be either 0 or 1, thus, 27=128 . The network
address of all 0s (00000000) and 127 cannot be used because network of all 0s is
reserved for default rout and 127 is reserved for diagnostics. So in essence, we
have only numbers 1 through 126 to use as Class A network address. This means
that the actual number of usable Class A network address is 128−2=126. Each
Class A address has three bytes (24bits positions) for the node address of a
machine. This means that there are 224=16,777,216 uniquely combinations and
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therefore, precisely that many possible unique node address for each Class A
network. Because node address with two patterns of all 0s and all 1s are reserved,
the actual maximum usable number of nodes for a Class A network is
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2 −2=16,777,214
The valid host are the numbers in between the network address and the broadcast
address: [Link] through [Link]
Note that 0s and 255 can be valid host ID. All you need to remember when trying
to find valid host address is that the host bits cannot be all turned off or on at the
same time.
Class B Address:
In a Class B network address, the first two bytes are assigned to the network
address and the remaining two bytes are used for node addresses. The format is
Network . Network . node .node
For example, in the IP address [Link], the network address is 172.16 and the
node address is 30.56
With a network address being two bytes (8bits each), there would be 216=65,536
unique combinations. But Class B network address must start with binary digit 1
then 0. This leaves 14 bits position for use, therefore, we 214=16,384 unique Class
B network address. A Class B address uses two bytes for node address. This is
2 −2 pattern (all 0s and all 1s), for a total of 65,534 possible node address for each
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Class B network.
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Here’s an example of how to find the valid hosts in a Class B network:
- All host bits turned off is the network address: [Link]
- All host bits turned on is the broadcast address: [Link]
The valid host would be the numbers in between the network address and
broadcast address: [Link] through [Link]
Class C Address
The first three bytes of a Class C network address are dedicated to the network
portion of the address, with only one byte remaining for the node address. The
format is:
The valid host would be the numbers in between the network address and
broadcast address: [Link] through [Link]
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The use of IPv6 not only will solves the problem of limited network addresses
resources but also resolves the barriers for multiple access devices to connect to the
Internet.
The IPv6 is a network layer protocol that allows communication and data transfer
between two different hosts. It sets specific rules that help identify the separate
hosts and track their location. That way, they could exchange information
successfully. Only when the two corresponding IP addresses are identified, the
route could be established, and the hosts are able to communicate.
IPv6 operates with 128-bit addresses given 2128 Internet addresses in total. Each
address includes eight different groups of strings, and every group has four
characters (alphanumeric), divided by a colon.
That guarantees that we should have available unique IP addresses to assign to all
of the new devices for a very long time.
3ffe:1900:fe21:4545:0000:0000:0000:0000.
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Types of Internet Protocol version 6 addresses
Now we know what an IPv6 address is. So, let’s take a look at its three different
types: unicast, anycast, and multicast, which are defined by RFC 4291: IP Version
6 Addressing Architecture.
Furthermore, IPv6 does not support broadcast addresses. Multicast addresses are
used to implement the broadcast features.
The main contrast between IPv4 and IPv6 is in the increased number of addresses.
The IPv4 is a 32-bit IP address, and IPv6 is a 128-bit IP address. Yet, IPv4 is still a
popular choice compared to IPv6.
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IPv6 holds eight header fields with a length of 40-characters. IPv4 holds 14
header fields with a length of eight characters.
IPv6 does not include any checksum fields.
The Internet is a pretty extensive cable network. It connects numerous data centers
placed all over the world and the users that desire to reach and connect with their
services. All of the network points are connected with massive cables.
When a user wants to view a particular website, it has to type its domain name
(hostname) and connect to the web server that holds the information for it. Every
website on the Internet is hosted on web servers in different data centers. That way,
you can access websites, applications, and services.
IP address – definition
The IP address serves as an ID and identifies all of the various hosts on the
network – both servers and users. There are two main types of IP addresses:
You are probably wondering why we are talking about IP addresses. In reality, to
access a website, we just type domain names. So, let’s find out more!
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Domain Name System explained
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a global database that contains all of the
existing domain names and their IP addresses. It answers the DNS queries of the
users for the domain names and their IP addresses daily.
Thanks to this arrangement, it is easy for users to type the domain name and reach
the website. The user requests the needed IP address (IPv4 or IPv6), and it first
checks the DNS cache of the device. If it’s not available there, the recursive DNS
server performs the next step. It searches for the answer until it reaches the
authoritative DNS server that holds the needed information (A record or AAAA
record). This whole process is also known as DNS resolution.
IPv6 has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is important to know what
you can expect from this new Internet Protocol.
Advantages of IPv6
Disadvantages of IPv6
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As we mentioned there are some drawbacks of the protocol, which are:
Slow adaptation: It is based on the fact that IPv4 is still very popular, and a
large part of users are using it. The transition to the newer IPv6 is a slow
process.
Connection: IPv4 and IPv6 devices are not able to communicate directly.
Yet, there are very few occasions that they would need to.
Readability: Operating and learning IPv6 subnetting can be complicated on
its own. Additionally, if you just think about remembering or memorizing
your IPv6 address seems like a difficult task.
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Category 6 was revised with greater than before category 6 (Cat-6a) which
shows testing for 500 MHz communication. It is noted that higher communication
frequency will eliminate alien crosstalk (AXT) that allow for longer range upto 10
Gb/s.
Fig 1.1 Types of CAT cable
It is found that certain Cat-6 cables will carry out nylon spline that will help
to remove crosstalk. It is noted that mostly spline is not required in Cat-5 cable. In
Cat-6 cable, spline is not required either the cable is long or short and as per
standard. Fig 1.1 shows Cat-5e cable with spline.
Generally, Ethernet cables are twisted pair where manufactures uses
shielding so as to safeguard from interference, while unshielded twisted pair also
applied for cables among computer and wall which uses shielding cable for areas
having high interference and running cables outdoors or inside walls.
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Fig 1.2 UTP and STP Cable
There are different ways to shield an Ethernet cable, but typically it involves
putting a shield around each pair of wire in the cable. This protects the pairs from
crosstalk internally. It is found that manufactures protect the cables from foreign
identities simply by screening UTP or STP cables.
1.2 RJ-45 connectors
RJ connector is registered jack (RJ) standardized physical network interface
that connects telecommunications or data equipment. RJ45 could be a standard
type of connector for network cables. RJ45 connectors are most commonly seen
with Ethernet cables and networks. It’s an eight pins to which the wire strands of a
cable interface electrically. Standard RJ-45 pin outs define the arrangement of the
individual wires needed when attaching connectors to a cable.
Several other kinds of connectors closely resemble RJ45 and might be easily
confused for each other. The RJ-11 connectors used with telephone cables, for
example, are only slightly smaller (narrower) than RJ-45 connectors.
Fig 1.3 RJ Connector
It is noted that connectors with required jacks are mostly modular connector
which can be 50-pin miniature ribbon connector type. Such types are most
common twisted pair connector types which is 8-position, 8-contact (8P8C)
modular plug and jack called as RJ45 connector.
Creating a
Switched Wired
Ethernet LAN
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Creating Wired and
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Wi-Fi LAN
Check your progress 1
1. Which of the following connector is used with telephone cable?
a. RJ45
b. Ethernet
c. RJ 11
d. None of these
1.3 Color coding scheme
RJ-45 conductor data cable consists of 4 pairs of wires each consists of a
solid colored wire and a strip of the same colour. There are two wiring standards
for RJ-45 wiring:
T-568A
T-568B
There are 4 pairs of wires; 10BaseT/100BaseT Ethernet uses only 2 pairs:
Orange
Green
Apart from this, other two colors are:
Blue
Brown
This is used for second Ethernet line or for phone connections. The two
wiring standards are used to create a cross-over cable:
T-568A on one end
T-568B on other end
Straight-through cable:
T-568B
T-568A
7
Fig 1.4 Cable T568B and T568A
The RJ45 data cable is used to connect computers to Ethernet switch by
straight-through cables. The RJ45 cable uses only 2-pairs of wires:
Orange (pins 1 & 2)
Green (pins 3 & 6)
Pins 4, 5 (Blue) and 7, 8 (Brown) are NOT used
Straight-through cable connects:
pin 1 to pin 1
pin 2 to pin 2
pin 3 to pin 3
pin 6 to pin 6
Cross-over cables are used to connect:
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TX+ to RX+
TX- to RXThat
connects pin 1 to pin 3, pin 2 to pin 6, pin 3 to pin 1 and pin 6 to pin 2.
The unused pins are generally connected straight-through in both straight-through
and cross-over cables.
To network two computers without a hub, a cross-over cable is used. Crossover
cable is also used to connect a router to a computer, or Ethernet switch (hub)
to another Ethernet switch without an uplink. Most Ethernet switches today
provide an uplink port, which prevents a use of cross-over cable to daisy chain
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another Ethernet switch. Straight-through cables are used to connect a computer to
an Ethernet switch, or a router to an Ethernet switch.
It is noted that RJ45 cables carries 8 color coded wires, and the plugs have 8
pins and conductors. In this eight wires are used as 4 pairs, each representing
positive and negative polarity.
Fig 1.5 Colour Standard of T568A
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Fig 1.6 Colour Standard of T568B
The most commonly used wiring standard for 100baseT is T-586B
standards. Prior to EIA 568A and 568B standards, the color-coded scheme was
used to wire RJ45 cables. The table below shows pin and color schemes used in
various setup.
Table 1.1 Pin and Colour Scheme of RJ45 Connector
Check your progress 2
1. RJ-45 conductor data cable consists of ____________ of wires
a. 4 pairs
b. 2 pairs
c. 3 pairs
d. 6 pairs
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1.4 Crimping a UTP cable to RJ-45 connector
A UTP cable is one of the most popular LAN cables which consist of 4
twisted pairs of metal wires. Adding RJ45 connectors at both the ends of the UTP
cable will allow the cable to work in LAN network system. There are some steps
that to be followed to crimp UTP cable into RJ 45 connector:
Step 1: Initially cut the plastic sheath about 1 inch from end of cut cable with the
use of razor blade located in crimping tool.
Fig 1.7 Cutting of Cable sheath
Step 2: Now unwind and pair the similar colors as shown in fig.
Fig 1.8 Unwind the coloured wires
Step 3: Keep the wires in between the fingers and make the wires straight with
required colour orders.
Fig 1.9 Straighten wires with fingers
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Step 4: Use scissors to make a straight cut across 8 wires to make them short by
1/2 Inch from cut sleeve to wire end.
Fig 1.10 Scissor
Step 5: Now insert 8 colour wires in RJ 45 connector by considering proper
position of blue plastic sleeve.
Fig 1.11 Wires in RJ 45 Connector
Step 6: Now crimp the cable carefully by putting RJ 45 connector in Ethernet
Crimper and push on handles tightly. You will find that copper splicing tabs on
connector will cut into each of eight wires.
Fig 1.12 Crimping of wire
After crimping UTP cable in RJ 45 connector, you find the cable as shown in fig
1.13.
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Fig 1.13 Cable in RJ 45 Connector
Check your progress 3
1. Full name of UTP is__________.
a. Universal Transport Port
b. Unshielded Transport port
c. Unshielded Twisted Pair
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d. None of these
1.5 Physically connecting individual nodes to the switch
Switches are often a valuable asset to networking. Overall, they can increase
the capacity and speed of your network. However, switching shouldn't be seen as
a cure-all for network problems.
Switches occupy the same place in the network as hubs. Unlike hubs,
switches examine each packet and process it accordingly rather than simply
repeating the signal to all ports. Switches map the Ethernet addresses of the nodes
residing on each network segment then allow only the required traffic to pass
through the switch. Once a packet is received by the switch, the switch examines
the destination and source hardware addresses and compares them to a table of
network segments and addresses.
.
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Fig 1.14 Nodes in network
Just like bridge, a switch does more of its job in high-speed hardware by
providing performance closer to single-LAN performance than bridged-LAN
performance.
Also unlike a bridge, which shares the LAN bandwidth among all of its
ports, a switch dedicates the entire LAN media bandwidth, such as 10-Mbps
Ethernet, to each port-to-port frame transmission. In this way, a switch easily
multiplies the amount of effective network bandwidth.
Fig 1.15 Connecting nodes with switches
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Check your progress 4
1. Switches operates at_____________.
a. Network layer
b. Data Link layer
c. Transport layer
d. None of these
1.6 Selection of server machine
It is found that small server look not different from high end desktop
computer which is designed for easy operating system which can run certain
desktop applications such as:
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word processor
spreadsheet
email client
web browser
A server runs a specialised operating system designed to support several
users. It’s engineered to run multiuser applications like email, messaging, and
print servers; shared calendar programs; databases; and enterprise resource
planning and customer relationship management software.
A server additionally makes it easy for your employees to share information
and collaborate, since it operates as a central repository for all of your documents,
images, contacts, and other necessary files. It can host a company intranet, for
sharing information with your employees quickly and economically. Set up a
virtual private network, and you and your employees will access the data on the
server remotely from anywhere you have internet access. On top of that, a server
can automatically back up your desktop and laptop systems; therefore you’ll never
lose critical data if one machine fails or is lost or stolen. Servers are designed to
be reliable, secure, and fault-tolerant, with redundant storage options.
When selecting correct server it is noted that it depends on large measure on
applications which you want to work on. In case of file sharing, automated client
backup, and light-duty remote access for PCs, we need to think for NAS or
Windows Home Server. In a business having more than 10 employees are using
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computers, then if you wish to use an email or print server, or you want to handle
complex database, or run sophisticated server-based applications, or you have to
store large information, or large-scale virtualization, in such cases there are more
option such as tower, rack or blade server.
Virtualization enables one server to behave as several servers, each with its
own operating system and unique set of applications. A virtual machine consists
solely of software, yet it has all the components of a physical machine: it's a
motherboard, a CPU, a hard disk, a network controller, and so on. The operating
system and other applications run on a virtual machine just as they would on a
physical machine--they see no difference between the 2 environments.
In virtualization, a program referred to as a hypervisor places an abstraction
layer between the operating systems and therefore the hardware. The hypervisor
will operate multiple virtual machines with the same OS or different OSs on the
same physical server. Microsoft, Oracle, and VMware are among the top
virtualmachine
developers.
Check your progress 5
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1. A server runs a specialised ______ system designed to support several users.
a. Operating
b. Hardware
c. OS and Software
d. None of these
1.7 Windows 8.1 Server Installation and Configuration
on Server Machine
Windows 8.1 is an upgraded version of Windows 8 which is also computer
operating system by Microsoft. It is part of Windows 8's support lifecycle and on
installation maintains access to support. According to Microsoft, the following
actions need to be performed before the installation of Windows Server:
Unplug of UPS system: Any power backup system needs to be unplugged or
removed before installing Windows Server 8.1.
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Back up data: It is highly recommended that you should take complete
backup of configuration information for servers which include booting and system
partitions.
Running of Windows Memory Diagnostic tool: Such type of testing
procedure will tests the capacity and features of computer’s RAM.
Use of mass storage drivers: You need to save driver file to appropriate
media so that you can provide it during setup.
Default action of Windows Firewall: Server applications that require
inbound connections will fail until you create inbound firewall rules that allow
these connections.
Prepare your Active Directory environment for Windows Server 2012 R2:
Before adding a Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controller or updating an
existing domain controller to Windows Server 2012 R2, prepare the domain and
forest by running [Link].
Check your progress 6
1. Why backing up of data is required?
a. To save configuration information
b. To save System data
c. To be secure from data loss in case of system failure
d. All of these
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1.8 Windows 8.1 Desktop installation and configuration
on client nodes
Client deployment refers to the planning, installation, and management of
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Client computers and mobile devices
in your enterprise. The types of devices that you have, your business
requirements, and your preferences, determine the methods that you use to
manage computers and mobile devices.
For installation of Windows 8.1 Desktop version, the table 1.1 shows the
required parameters:
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Table 1.1 Parameters required for installation of Windows
Check your progress 7
1. What is meant by client deployment?
a. delivering software to client
b. user testing
c. It is the planning, installation, and management of System
d. All of these
1.9 Checking connectivity
The next target is to check the connectivity of modem or routers which can
be configured initially so as to use the Internet while preventing other services
from Internet. If you are not confident of your network whether it has configured
or not, in such case you have to contact network administrator. If your network is
not configured to block services, but some Internet applications work and others
do not, then the issue is probably not related to your Wi-Fi network. There are
certain steps you need to follow:
Step 1: Make sure that Wi-Fi device is ON. Computer carry inbuilt card that gets
ON when turning it ON for use. When the Wi-Fi interface is ON and connected to
Wi-Fi network, then Wi-Fi menu gets bold which is at top right corner of screen.
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When the menu becomes dark, in such case your computer gets connected to
Wi-Fi network.
Step 2: If Wi-Fi is off, choose Turn Wi-Fi On from the menu.
When you do find menu bar, then in such case select System Preferences
from Apple menu and click Network icon and after that select Wi-Fi. Now click
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on check box located next to Show Wi-Fi status in menu bar as shown:
Fig 1.16 Checking connectivity
If your Wi-Fi interface does not appear in System Preferences, then you'll
need to make assure that Wi-Fi card gets identified by computer. In such case load
using CD or from Recovery HD if OS X Lion is installed. Your computer should
be able to access available networks.
Step 3: After all when you are unable to get it online, then in such case make sure
that your computer has connected with right Wi-Fi network as per the listing from
the Wi-Fi menu as shown in figure:
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Fig 1.17 Setting of Wi-Fi
Select your network if it is not chosen. If your Wi-Fi network is secured
using a password, you will be prompted to enter a password as shown below.
Fig 1.18 Using Password
In this, you have to insert password. If you do not know your network
password, then in such case, you have to contact the administrator of Wi-Fi
network. If you are administrator/owner of network, you should configure router
to define password for network.
Your Wi-Fi network may not be visible in the list. If the network is closed,
it will not broadcast its network name. In order to join the Wi-Fi network, choose
Join Other Network from the Wi-Fi menu. You will be prompted for the network
name and security setting.
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Fig 1.19 Network name
In this, enter the name of network and select Security of your network uses.
When the network is not seen in your Wi-Fi network list, then it means that
such network is not applicable. To check the standards, you have use Network
Utility, where you should set network interface to Wi-Fi and study about
information listed after Model:
Fig 1.20 Network Utility
In case of correct Wi-Fi network, but still can’t find online, then you need to
check TCP/IP settings which is available in Network pane of System Preferences.
Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
Choose Network from the View menu.
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21
Select Wi-Fi, and then click the advanced button in the lower-left hand
corner of the screen.
Select the TCP/IP tab from the top of the screen.
After doing all setting your window will look like:
Fig 1.20 Network TCP/IP
If you see no IPv4 address, or if IP address starts "[Link]", in such
case you need to click on Renew DHCP Lease. Without the correct TCP/IP
settings, your computer will not be able to get online.
If your TCP/IP settings appear to be correct, and your computer still cannot
access the Internet, check the DNS tab. See below for this tab. DNS is an Internet
service that translates IP addresses into URLs and vice-versa. A correct DNS
configuration allows your computer to connect to [Link] without having
to enter the specific IP address of the Apple servers.
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Check your progress 8
1. Network configuration cannot be done:
a. using CD
b. online
c. pen drive
d. hard disk
1.10 Basic troubleshooting/diagnostic commands
Local area networks (LAN) are integral to the operation of many businesses
today. The most common LANs use Ethernet, a data link layer protocol, and
Internet Protocol (IP), a network layer protocol.
Root causes of network troubleshooting problems are frequently caused by
one of these three sources:
1. Physical layer: copper, fibres or wireless
Possible causes:
Damaged or dirty cabling or terminations
Excessive signal attenuation
Insufficient cable bandwidth
Wireless interference
2. Network Layer: Ethernet and IP
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Possible causes:
Damaged networking devices
Incorrect or sub-optimal device configurations
Authentication and association issues
Insufficient network bandwidth
3. Switches and VLANs
Possible causes:
Excessive utilization
Too many errors
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Incorrectly assigned VLAN membership
Traffic priority (CoS/QoS) issues
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