Course Code: SWE3003
Introduction to
Course Title:
Computer Networks
[Link] kumar
Networking Components and Devices
• Identify the purpose, features, and functions of the following network components
. Hubs . CSU/DSU
. Switches . Network interface cards (NICs)
. Bridges . ISDN adapters
. Wireless access points (WAPs)
. Routers
. Modems
. Gateways
. Transceivers (media converters)
.
. Firewalls
Identify a MAC (Media Access Control)
address and its part
• MAC addresses are the means by which systems communicate at a base level.
• A network administrator,
• to understand the purpose, function, and expression of MAC addresses.
Repeaters
• Repeaters were once used to increase the usable length of the cable, and
they were most commonly associated with coaxial network configurations
Hubs
• Hubs are simple network devices, and their simplicity is reflected in their low
cost.
• Small hubs with four or five ports
• Hubs with more ports are available for networks that require greater capacity.
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• Broadcasting
• The method of sending data to all systems regardless of the intended recipient is
referred to as broadcasting.
• On busy networks, broadcast communications can have a significant impact on
overall network performance.
Switches
• Switches are far more efficient than hubs and are far more desirable for
today’s network environments
Switches
• As with a hub, computers connect to a switch via a length of twisted-pair cable.
• Multiple switches are often interconnected to create larger networks
• Rather than forwarding data to all the connected ports, a switch forwards data
only to the port on which the destination system is connected.
• It looks at the Media Access Control (MAC) addresses of the devices connected
to it to determine the correct port.
• A MAC address is a unique number that is stamped into every NIC.
Switching Methods
• Cut-through—In a cut-through configuration, the switch begins to forward the packet
as soon as it is received.
• No error checking is performed on the packet, so the packet is moved through quickly. The downside
of cut-through is that because the integrity of the packet is not checked, the switch can propagate
errors. .
• Store-and-forward—In a store-and-forward configuration, the switch waits to receive
the entire packet before beginning to forward it. It also performs basic error checking. .
• Fragment-free—Building on the speed advantages of cut-through switching,
• fragment-free switching works by reading only the part of the packet that enables it to identify
fragments of a transmission.
• Latency
• The time it takes for data to travel between two locations is known as the latency. The higher
the latency, the bigger the delay in sending the data.
• Hubs and switches have two types of ports: medium dependent interface (MDI)
and medium dependent interface crossed (MDI-X).
• The two types of ports differ in their wiring.
• As the X implies, an MDI-X port’s wiring is crossed;
• this is because the transmit wire from the connected device must be wired to the
receive line on the other
• In the absence of an uplink port, you can connect two hubs or switches together by
using MDI-X ports, but you must use a crossover cable to do so.
Bridges
• Bridges are networking devices that connect networks
• Sometimes it is necessary to divide networks into subnets to reduce the
amount of traffic on each larger subnet or for security reasons.
• Once divided, the bridge connects the two subnets and manages the traffic
flow between them.
• Today, network switches have largely replaced bridges.
• A bridge functions by blocking or forwarding data, based on the destination
MAC address written into each frame of data.
• If the bridge believes the destination address is on a network other than that
from which the data was received,
• it can forward the data to the other networks to which it is connected
Routers
• Routers are network devices that literally route data around the network.
• By examining data as it arrives,
• The router can determine the destination address for the data;
• then, by using tables of defined routes,
• the router determines the best way for the data to continue its journey.
• Unlike bridges and switches, which use the hardware-configured MAC address
• To determine the destination of the data, routers use the software-configured network
address to make decisions.
• When a change does occur on the network, it may take some time for all the routers
to learn of the change.
• The process of each router learning about the change and updating its routing
tables is known as convergence.
• Each time the route is added to the table, the hop count for the route increases—a
problem known as the count to infinity.
How routing loops occur
• Split horizon—The split horizon algorithm addresses the problem of routing
loops by not advertising routes back on the interface from which they are learned.
• Split horizon with poison reverse—With this strategy, also known simply as
poison reverse, routers do advertise routes back on the interfaces from which
they were learned, but they do so with a hop count of infinity.
Gateways
• The term gateway is applied to
• Any device,
• System, or
• Software application
• that can perform the function of translating data from one format to another.
• The key feature of a gateway is that it converts the format of the data, not the
data itself.
• These systems transmit mail internally in a certain format.
• When email needs to be sent across the Internet to users using a different email
system,
• The email must be converted to another format,
• usually to Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
• This conversion process is performed by a software gateway.