Networking Basic

Network elements:

The diagram shows elements of a typical network, including devices, media, and services, tied
together by rules, that work together to send messages. We use the word messages as a term that
encompasses web pages, e-mail, instant messages, telephone calls, and other forms of
communication enabled by the Internet.

Four elements of a network:

Networking is a very graphically oriented subject, and icons are commonly used to represent
networking devices. On the left side of the diagram are shown some common devices which
often originate messages that comprise our communication. These include various types of
computers (a PC and laptop icon are shown), servers, and IP phones. On local area networks
these devices are typically connected by LAN media (wired or wireless). The right side of the
figure shows some of the most common intermediate devices, used to direct and manage
messages across the network, as well as other common networking symbols. Generic symbols
are shown for:

• Switch - the most common device for interconnecting local area networks
• Firewall - provides security to networks
• Router - helps direct messages as they travel across a network
• Wireless Router - a specific type of router often found in home networks
• Cloud - used to summarize a group of networking devices, the details of which may be
unimportant to the discussion at hand
• Serial Link - one form of WAN interconnection, represented by the lightning bolt-shaped
line
twork Interface Card - A NIC, or LAN adapter, provides the physical connection to the
network at the PC or other host device. The media connecting the PC to the networking device
plugs directly into the NIC.

Physical Port - A connector or outlet on a networking device where the media is connected to a
host or other networking device.

Interface - Specialized ports on an internetworking device that connect to individual networks.

For a network to function, the devices must be interconnected. Network connections can be
wired or wireless. In wired connections, the medium is either copper, which carries electrical
signals, or optical fiber, which carries light signals. In wireless connections, the medium is the
Earth's atmosphere, or space, and the signals are microwaves. Copper medium includes cables,
such as twisted pair telephone wire, coaxial cable, or most commonly, what is known as
Category 5 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cable. Optical fibers, thin strands of glass or plastic
that carry light signals, are another form of networking media. Wireless media may include the
home wireless connection between a wireless router and a computer with a wireless network
card, the terrestrial wireless connection between two ground stations, or the communication
between devices on earth and satellites. In a typical journey across the Internet, a message may
travel across a variety of media.

Human beings often seek to send and receive a variety of messages using computer applications;
these applications require services to be provided by the network. Some of these services include
the World Wide Web, e-mail, instant messaging, and IP Telephony. Devices interconnected by
medium to provide services must be governed by rules, or protocols. In the chart, some common
services and a protocol most directly associated with that service are listed. Protocols are the
rules that the networked devices use to communicate with each other. The industry standard in
networking today is a set of protocols called TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol). TCP/IP is used in home and business networks, as well as being the primary protocol
of the Internet. It is TCP/IP protocols that specify the formatting, addressing and routing
mechanisms that ensure our messages are delivered to the correct recipient.

The Messages

In the first step of its journey from the computer to its destination, our instant message gets
converted into a format that can be transmitted on the network. All types of messages must be
converted to bits, binary coded digital signals, before being sent to their destinations. This is true
no matter what the original message format was: text, video, voice, or computer data. Once our
instant message is converted to bits, it is ready to be sent onto the network for delivery.

The Devices

To begin to understand the robustness and complexity of the interconnected networks that make
up the Internet, it is necessary to start with the basics. Take the example of sending the text
message using an instant messaging program on a computer. When we think of using network
services, we usually think of using a computer to access them. But, a computer is only one type
of device that can send and receive messages over a network. Many other types of devices can
also be connected to the network to participate in network services. Among these devices are
telephones, cameras, music systems, printers and game consoles.

In addition to the computer, there are numerous other components that make it possible for our
instant message to be directed across the miles of wires, underground cables, airwaves and
satellite stations that might exist between the source and destination devices. One of the critical
components in any size network is the router. A router joins two or more networks, like a home
network and the Internet, and passes information from one network to another. Routers in a
network work to ensure that the message gets to its destination in the most efficient and quickest
manner.

The Medium

To send our instant message to its destination, the computer must be connected to a wired or
wireless local network. Local networks can be installed in homes or businesses, where they
enable computers and other devices to share information with each other and to use a common
connection to the Internet.

Wireless networks allow the use of networked devices anywhere in an office or home, even
outdoors. Outside the office or home, wireless networking is available in public hotspots, such as
coffee shops, businesses, hotel rooms, and airports.

Many installed networks use wires to provide connectivity. Ethernet is the most common wired
networking technology found today. The wires, called cables, connect the computers and other
devices that make up the networks. Wired networks are best for moving large amounts of data at
high speeds, such as are required to support professional-quality multimedia.

The Services

Network services are computer programs that support the human network. Distributed on devices
throughout the network, these services facilitate online communication tools such as e-mail,
bulletin/discussion boards, chat rooms, and instant messaging. In the case of instant messaging,
for example, an instant messaging service, provided by devices in the cloud, must be accessible
to both the sender and recipient.
The Rules

Important aspects of networks that are neither devices nor media are rules, or protocols. These
rules are the standards and protocols that specify how the messages are sent, how they are
directed through the network, and how they are interpreted at the destination devices. For
example, in the case of Jabber instant messaging, the XMPP, TCP, and IP protocols are all
important sets of rules that enable our communication to occur.

The Network architecture:

Networks must support a wide range of applications and services, as well as operate over many
different types of physical infrastructures. The term network architecture, in this context, refers
to both the technologies that support the infrastructure and the programmed services and
protocols that move the messages across that infrastructure. As the Internet, and networks in
general, evolve, we are discovering that there are four basic characteristics that the underlying
architectures need to address in order to meet user expectations: fault tolerance, scalability,
quality of service, and security.

Fault Tolerance

The expectation that the Internet is always available to the millions of users who rely on it
requires a network architecture that is designed and built to be fault tolerant. A fault tolerant
network is one that limits the impact of a hardware or software failure and can recover quickly
when such a failure occurs. These networks depend on redundant links, or paths, between the
source and destination of a message. If one link or path fails, processes ensure that messages can
be instantly routed over a different link transparent to the users on either end. Both the physical
infrastructures and the logical processes that direct the messages through the network are
designed to accommodate this redundancy. This is a basic premise of the architecture of current
networks.
Scalability

A scalable network can expand quickly to support new users and applications without impacting
the performance of the service being delivered to existing users. Thousands of new users and
service providers connect to the Internet each week. The ability of the network to support these
new interconnections depends on a hierarchical layered design for the underlying physical
infrastructure and logical architecture. The operation at each layer enables users or service
providers to be inserted without causing disruption to the entire network. Technology
developments are constantly increasing the message carrying capabilities and performance of the
physical infrastructure components at every layer. These developments, along with new methods
to identify and locate individual users within an internetwork, are enabling the Internet to keep
pace with user demand.

Quality of Service (QoS)

The Internet is currently providing an acceptable level of fault tolerance and scalability for its
users. But new applications available to users over internetworks create higher expectations for
the quality of the delivered services. Voice and live video transmissions require a level of
consistent quality and uninterrupted delivery that was not necessary for traditional computer
applications. Quality of these services is measured against the quality of experiencing the same
audio or video presentation in person. Traditional voice and video networks are designed to
support a single type of transmission, and are therefore able to produce an acceptable level of
quality. New requirements to support this quality of service over a converged network are
changing the way network architectures are designed and implemented.

Security

The Internet has evolved from a tightly controlled internetwork of educational and government
organizations to a widely accessible means for transmission of business and personal
communications. As a result, the security requirements of the network have changed. The
security and privacy expectations that result from the use of internetworks to exchange
confidential and business critical information exceed what the current architecture can deliver.
Rapid expansion in communication areas that were not served by traditional data networks is
increasing the need to embed security into the network architecture. As a result, much effort is
being devoted to this area of research and development. In the meantime, many tools and
procedures are being implemented to combat inherent security flaws in the network architecture.