Network Architecture
Words Synonymous with the term
Architecture
Topics
• Peer to Peer Network Structure
• Client-Server Network Structure
• Networking Dilemma
• OSI Reference Model
• TCP/IP Reference Model
Network Structures Contrasted
Peer-to-peer client server
Nodes treated equally clients and servers
1-tier 2-tier
E.g. Bluetooth e.g. Wi-Fi
Simple Complex
Unstructured (hard hoc) Structured
Contains few nodes contains many nodes
Cheap Expensive
For communication and data transfers
Peer-to-peer Network Architecture
•Also referred to as ad hoc networks (not controlled over
infrastructure)
•One-tier system connects computers of the same capabilities
and functions
•They are simple, not structured, do not require infrastructure,
e.g Bluetooth
•Advantages:
•Easy to install and configure
•Machines don’t depend on the presence of a dedicated
server
•Users control their own shared resources
•Inexpensive to purchase and operate
•Need no additional equipment or software beyond a suitable
operating system
•No dedicated administrators are needed
•Work best for networks with 10 or fewer users
Disadvantages:
•Network security applies to only a single resource at
a time
•Users might be forced to use as many passwords as
there are shared resources
•Each PC must be backed up to protect shared data
•When a shared resource is accessed, performance
of the PC where the resource resides is reduced
•There is no centralized organizational scheme to
locate or control access to data
•Access to a shared resource is unavailable if PC
where resource resides is turned off/crashes
•Doesn’t usually work well with more than 10 users
Client server Network Architecture(Two-tier)
•A network architecture in which each computer or
process on the network is either a client or a server.
Clients
•Applications that run on single user workstations that
provides presentation services and appropriate
computing, connectivity and database services and
interfaces relevant to business needs
•Rely on servers for
•Files
•Devices
•Processing power
•Example: E-mail client
•An application that enables you to send and receive
e-mail
Servers
•run on one or more multi-user processors with
memory to provide computing, connectivity and
database services and interfaces relevant to business
needs
•Computers or processes that manage network
resources
•Disk drives (file servers)
•Printers (print servers)
•Network traffic (network servers)
•Example: Database Server
•A computer system that processes database
queries
Client Server Models
•Where to push the application to
•Fat clients
Client has resources (hardware and software)
The client knows how the data is organized and
where it is
Different clients access the same applications
different ways
•Fat servers (thin-client) e.g n-computing
The client depends on server for resources
The server more complicated
The clients are less complex
More of the code runs on the server
The network interaction is minimized
The client almost acts as an interface
Networking Dilema
It is easy to design and run a peer to peer network due to its simplicity,
but due to complexity (involving many issues) of a client server network
such as:
•Many different types of transmission media (twisted pairs, coaxial
cables, fibre optics, infrareds, radio waves etc)
•Variety of hardware (NICs, PCIs, hubs, repeaters, bridges, switches,
routers)
•Protocols (IP, ICMP, SMTP, UDP, TCP)
•Applications (web browsers, e-mails)
•Packet size
•Packet structure
•Speed of transmission
•Synchronization of senders & receivers
•Error detection and correction
•Physical circuitry of the sender and receiver
All these call for a common set of agreed cobination of issues to make
communication effective by a way of standization.
OSI Reference Model (Layered)
• OSI (open systems interconnection) model was developed by
international standards organization (ISO)
• It splits the hardware and software of networks into seven layers.
• A layer is a collection of related functions that provide services to
the layers below it and receives services above it.
Layer Name
7 Application
6 Presentation
5 Session
4 Transport
3 Network
2 Data Link
1 Physical
The bottom 3 layers of ISO provide network services and the upper 4
layers provide services to the end users
(7) Application
• The layer produces and prepares data for
transmission over the network, therefore deals with
applications that:
– Are specifically written to run over the network
– Allow access to network services
– Directly represent the services that directly support user
applications
• handles network access, flow control and error
recovery
• Examples Word, Spreadsheet, and e-mail, http DNS,
FTP, SNMP, DHCP, SMTP, Telnet
A B
Message
Application Application
Data
Presentation Presentation
Session Session
Transport Transport
Network Network
Data Link Data Link
Physical
(6) Presentation (Network Translator)
• Translates from one network system to a universal network
system so that terminal system can convert the universal
system to suite its local network system (e.g protocol,
hardware and application)
• responsible for protocol conversion, character conversion,
data encryption / decryption, expanding graphics
commands, data compression
• sets standards for different systems to provide seamless
communication from multiple protocol stack
• provides encryption compression and terminal emulation
e.g. a gateway
• ASCII, EBCDIC,
A B
Message
Application Application
Data
Local Universal Local
Presentation Presentation
Data
Session Session
Transport Transport
Network Network
Data Link Data Link
Physical
(5) Session Layer (Inter host communications)
• Establishes/starts(e.g log in or in which mode-simplex?),
maintains/progress(e.g browsing or transferring a mail) and
ends/stop (e.g log out) sessions across the network
• responsible for name recognition (identification) so only the
designated parties can participate in the session
• provides synchronization services by planning check points in the
data stream => if session fails, only data after the most recent
checkpoint need be transmitted
• manages who can transmit data at a certain time and for how long
• Examples are interactive login and file transfer connections, the
session would connect and re-connect if there was an interruption;
recognize names in sessions and register names in history –
• e.g. Telnet, FTP, NetBIOS, TCP, Duplexing
A B
Message
Application Application
Data
Local Universal Local
Presentation Presentation
Data
start proceed/progress end
Session Data Session
Transport Transport
Network Network
Data Link Data Link
Physical
(4)Transport layer (End-to-end data delivery)
• Interface between hardware and software.
• Divides large messages into packets/segments
• manages the flow control of data between parties across
the network(transports information) to ensure packets
delivery by providing acknowledgment of successful
transmissions; requests retransmission if some packets
don’t arrive error-free
• Re-assembles packets at the receiving end into a complete
message in the order of transmission
• E.g. switches, UDP, TCP, ICMP, SPX, NetBIOS / NetBEUI
A B
Message
Application Application
Data
Local Universal Local
Presentation Presentation
Data
start proceed/progress end
Session Data Session
breaking flow control re-assembling
Transport Transport
Packets
Network Network
Data Link Data Link
Physical
(3) Network layer (Path determination and logical
addressing)
R2 R4
Packets use Packets take Packets use
specific route any route specific route
A
MAC
R1
IP R6 MAC
B
R3 R5
LAN 1 WAN LAN 2
(3) Network layer (Path determination and logical addressing)
• Focuses on the internet issues
• Routes packets to different network routes
• Adds unique addressing information to packets
• Translates physical address (MAC) to logical
network address (IP)
• responsible for addressing, routing and re-routing
(managing network problems)
• e.g. IP, IPX, ICMP, AppleTalk, routers, switches
A B
Message
Application Application
Data
Local Universal Local
Presentation Presentation
Data
start proceed/progress end
Session Data Session
breaking flow control re-assembling
Transport Transport
Packets
MAC IP MAC
Network Network
@packet
Data Link Data Link
Physical
(2) Data link Layer (Physical
Addressing/configuration)
• Focuses on LAN issues
• defines the methods used to transmit and receive data on
the actual network (LAN): data must be directed to the
right LAN
• Intelligent issues like a bridge and CSMA/CD are used in
this layer
• The receiving end therefore packages raw bits from the
Physical layer into data frames for delivery to the right
Network layer
• Responsible for physical addressing, access control and
error-free transfer of frames to other computer via the
Physical Layer
• e.g CSMA/CD, bridges, switches, NIC, Ethernet
A B
Message
Application Application
Data
Local Universal Local
Presentation Presentation
Data
start proceed/progress end
Session Data Session
breaking flow control re-assembling
Transport Transport
Packets
MAC IP MAC
Network Network
@packet
Data Link Data Link
Frames
Physical
(1) Physical layer (Media, signal and binary transmission)
• Deals with the actual physical connection
between devices (the hardware itself; passive
devices).
• transmits raw bit stream over physical cable
• Responsible for bit synchronization, bit rate
control and physical topologies
• e.g. NICs, Cables, amplifiers, repeaters,
modem, hubs, RJ-11, RJ-45
A B
Message
Application Application
Data
Local Universal Local
Presentation Presentation
Data
start proceed/progress end
Session Data Session
breaking flow control re-assembling
Transport Transport
Packets
MAC IP MAC
Network Network
@packet
Data Link Data Link
Frames
Raw bits
Physical
TCP/IP Protocol Architecture
• Developed by the US Defense Advanced Research
Project Agency (DARPA)
• For packet switched network (ARPANET)
• Used by the global Internet and it contains
[Link] access layer
[Link] layer
[Link] layer
[Link] layer
• It uses encapsulation/decapsulation process in
transmissting and receiving messages as explained
in the next slide
Protocol Operation of Sending and Receiving a
Message/Data
Application
Data
Protocol Operation of Sending and Receiving a
Message/Data
Transport
Application
Data Breaking data to packets
TCP Flow control
Re-assembling packets
Protocol Operation of Sending and
Receiving a Message/Data
DA-IP
Routing
IP
Transport SA-IP
Application
Data Breaking data to packets
TCP Flow control
Internet Re-assembling packets
Protocol Operation of Sending and
Receiving a Message/Data
DA-MAC DA-IP
Ethernet
Error Check (CRC) Routing
IP
SA-MAC
Transport SA-IP
Application
Data Breaking data to packets
TCP Flow control
Internet Re-assembling packets
Network
Access
Protocol Operation of Sending and Receiving a Message/Data
1. The Application layer protocol, HTTP, delivers the HTML formatted
web page data to the Transport layer.
2. Transport layer breaks data into TCP segments each with header label
containing information about how process running on the destination
computer should receive the message and also contains the information
to enable the destination process to reassemble the data back to its
original format, encapsulates and sends it to Internet layer.
3. The Internet layer, IP protocol encapsulates the TCP segment into an
IP packet by adding IP header that contains source and destination host
IP addresses, as well as information necessary to deliver the packet to
its corresponding destination process then sent to Network access layer
4. The Network Access layer encapsulates it in a frame header and
trailer. Each frame header contains a source and destination physical
address. The physical address uniquely identifies the devices on the
local network. The trailer contains error checking information. Finally
the bits are encoded onto the Ethernet media by the server NIC.
Advantages of Layered Architecture
• Any given layer can be modified or upgraded without effecting the
other layers.
• Modularization by means of layering simplifies the overall design.
• Different layers can be assigned to different standards, committees,
and design teams.
• Different mechanisms (packet-switching, circuit-switching) may be
used without efiecting more than one layer.
• Different machines may be plugged in at different layers.
• The relation between different control functions can be better
understood.
• Common lower levels may be shared by different higher levels.
• Functions (especially at lower levels) may be removed from software
to hardware and microcodes.
• Increases the compatibility of difierent machines.
Disadvantages of Layered Architecture
• Total overhead is higher
• Two communicating machines may have to
use certain functions which they could do
without layers
• As technology changes, the functions may not
be in the most cost-efiective layer