Computer Networks UNIT I Introduction

The term Computer Networks can be referred to as an interconnected collection of computers for information exchange. One or more transmission paths, often the universally present telephone lines, can establish the interconnection. The Uses of Computer Network 1. Resource Sharing: Resource sharing is the primary goal, which makes all programs, data and equipment available to everyone on the network regardless of the physical location of the resource and the users. A network of computers can provide a powerful communication medium among widely separated people. 2. High Reliability: High reliability can be achieved by having alternative sources of supply. Since all information can be replicated on more than one machine, if one of them is unavailable due to a failure, the other copies could be used. The presence of multiple CPUs means that if one goes down, the others may be able to take over its work, although at reduced performance. The ability to continue to work even during a hardware failure is of great importance. 3. Economical: Another goal is saving money. Small computers have a much better price and performance ratio than large ones. A network of small powerful personal computers can achieve almost the same performance as that of larger mainframes. 4. Communication Medium: A computer network can provide a powerful communication medium among widely separated people. Using a network a report can be prepared by two or more people together living far apart. Changes made to a document kept online will be reflected to everyone on the network. This speedup makes cooperation among people easy. In the long run, the use of networks to enhance human-to-human communication may prove more important than technical goals. Network Objectives 1. To provide sharing of resources such as information or processors. 2. To provide interprocess communication such as among users and processors. 3. To improve reliability of the networks through backup and recovery. 4. To provide distribution of processing functions. 5. To furnish centralized control for a geographically distributed system. 6. To provide centralized management and allocation of network resources. Page 1

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7. 8. To provide compatibility of dissimilar equipment and software. To provide network users with maximum performance at minimum cost.

Applications of Networks 1. Access to Remote Programs: Programs residing on various remote terminals could be executed or used for various purposes like gathering statistical information. A company that has produced a model simulating the world economy may allow its clients to log in over the network and run the program to see how various projected inflation rates, interest rates, and currency fluctuations might affect their businesses. 2. Access to Remote Databases: Another major area of network use is access to remote databases. A centralized database is maintained to provide various services. With the help of this database, a person sitting at home can make reservations for airplanes, trains, buses, hotels, restaurants, theaters, and so on, anywhere in the world with instant confirmation. Home banking and the automated newspaper also fall in this category. 3. Communication Medium: A third category of potential widespread network use is as a communication medium. One can send electronic mail from one terminal to another anywhere in the world. The mail can contain digitized voice, still pictures and even moving television and video images. Advantages of Networks The important advantages of computer network can be summarized as below: 1. Modern organizations today are widely dispersed, with offices located in diverse parts of a country and the world. Many of the computers and terminals at the sites need to exchange information and data. A network provides the means to exchange data and to make programs and data available to all the people of the enterprise. 2. The networking of computers permits the sharing of resources. Such load sharing permits a better, more even utilization of resources. 3. Networking also supports the critical function of backup. 4. The use of networking allows a very flexible working environment. Employees can work at home by using terminals tied through networks to the computer at the office.

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The objective of this lesson is to understand the fundamentals of Computer Networks, which include a wide range of topics from network and data communication concepts. The fundamental concepts include applications of network, advantages of network and network topology. The Open System Interconnection model is a layered frame work for design of network systems that allows for communication across all types of computer systems. Understanding the fundamentals of the OSI model provides a solid basis for exploration of data communication. At the end of the lesson you learn about Standard organizations and Example Networks.

1.2 Content
1.2.1 Network Structure In any network there exists a collection of machines intended for running user or application programs. These machines are called host or end system. The hosts are connected by the communication subnet. The job of the subnet is to carry messages from host to host. The subnet consists of two distinct components: transmission lines and switching elements. Transmission lines move bits between machines. The switching elements are specialized computers used to connect two or more transmission lines. When data arrive on an incoming line, the switching element will choose one of them and place it on the output line, called IMPs (Interface Message Processors).

Figure 1.1: Relation between Hosts and the Subnet There are two types of communication subnet; 1. Point-to-Point Channel: When a message called packet is sent from one IMP to another, the packet is received at every intermediate IMP, stored there until the required output line is free and then forwarded towards the destination. Here the network contains numerous cables or leased telephone lines each connecting a pair of IMPs. This principle is also called store-and forward or packet-switched subnet. Almost all wide area networks use this kind of subnets. When point-to-point subnet is used, the design of IMP interconnection topology is important. The following figure shows the several topologies available. Page 3

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Figure 1.2: Some possible topologies for a Point-to-point Subnet (a) Star (b) Ring (c) Tree (d) Complete (e) Intersecting Rings (f) Irregular Local area networks have a symmetric topology, whereas wide area network have irregular topologies. 2. Broadcast Channel: Most local area networks and a small number of wide area networks are of this type. In a local area network, the IMP is reduced to a single chip embedded inside the host, so there is always one host per IMP, whereas in a wide area network there may be many hosts per IMP. Broadcast systems have a single communication channel that is shared by all the machines on the network. Packets sent by any machine are received by all the others. An address field within the packet specifies for whom it is intended. Upon receiving a packet, a machine checks the address field. If the packet is intended for some other machine, it is just ignored. Broadcast systems generally also allow the possibility of addressing a packet to all destinations by using a special code in the address field. When a packet with this code is transmitted, it is received and processed by every machine on the network. Some broadcast systems also support transmission to a subset of the machines, known as multicasting. The following figure shows some broadcast topologies:

Figure 1.3: Communication Subnets using Broadcasting (a) Bus (b) Satellite or Radio (c) Ring Page 4

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In a bus or cable network, at any instant one machine is master and is allowed to transmit. All other machines should not send the messages. An arbitration mechanism is needed to resolve conflicts when two or more machines want to transmit simultaneously. This mechanism may be centralized or decentralized. A second possibility is a satellite or ground radio system. Each IMP has an antenna through which they can send and receive. All IMPs can hear the output from the satellite, and in some cases they can also hear the upwards transmissions of their fellow IMPs to the satellite as well. A third broadcast system is ring in which each bit propagates around on its own, not waiting for the rest of the packet to which it belongs. Typically, each bit circumnavigates the entire ring in the time it takes to transmit a few bits, often even before the complete packet has been transmitted. Broadcast subnets can be further divided into static and dynamic, depending on how the channel is allocated. A typical static allocation would be to divide uptime into discrete intervals, and run a round robin, allowing each Mac machine to broadcast only when its time slot comes up. Static allocation wastes channel capacity when a machine has nothing to say during its allocated slot. Dynamic allocation methods for a common channel are either centralized or decentralized. In the centralized channel allocation method, there is a single entity, which determines who goes next. It might do this by accepting requests and making a decision according to some internal algorithm. In the decentralized channel allocation method, there is no central entity; each machine must decide for itself whether or not to transmit. 1.2.2 Network Topology A network is a logical extension of a data communication system. The term Topology, in the context of a communications network, refers to the way in which the end points or stations of a network are linked together. It determines the data paths that may be used between any pair of stations of the network. The network designer has three major goals when establishing the topology of a network: 1. Provide maximum possible reliability to assure proper receipt of all traffic (alternate routing). 2. Route the traffic across the least-cost path within the network between the sending and receiving host (although the least-cost route may not be chosen if other factors, such as reliability, are more important). 3. Give the end user the best possible response time and throughput. The more common network topologies are: The hierarchical topology (tree) The horizontal topology (bus) The star topology The ring topology (hub) The completely connected topology Page 5

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The mesh topology Hierarchical Topology The Hierarchical topology is also called a tree topology or a tree network. It is one of the common networks found today.

Figure 1.4: Hierarchical Topology The host at the highest order of the hierarchy is in control of the network. Traffic flows among and between the hosts are initiated by the host at the root. A distributed aspect can be implemented by providing methods for the sub-ordinate hosts to directly control the hosts below them in the hierarchy. This reduces the workload of the central host at the root. Advantage: 1. The topology is attractive because of simplicity of control. 2. Since sub-ordinate hosts can be added easily to the network, complex networks can be evolved. Disadvantage: 1. As the host at root controls all traffic between and among the host, it presents reliability problems. 2. If the upper-most machine fails, the network capabilities are lost completely, if the others are not backed up. Horizontal Topology (BUS) This arrangement is quite popular in local area networks. It is relatively simple to control traffic flow between and among the DTEs (Data Transmission Equipments) because the bus permits all stations to receive every transmission. That is, a single station broadcasts to multiple stations.

Figure 1.5: Horizontal Topology Page 6

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Advantage: 1. 2. 3. Disadvantage: 1. Only one-communication channel exists to service all the devices on the network. 2. The entire network is lost, in the event of communication channel failure. Easy to construct the network. Simplicity in traffic control between and among hosts. All stations receive every transmission.

Star Topology In a star configuration of computer network, there is a host computer which is attached to local computers through multiple communication lines. The local computers are not linked directly to each other and can communicate only via the host computer. The routing function is performed by the host computer which centrally controls communication between any two local computers by establishing a logical path between them.

Figure 1.6: Star Topology Advantage: 1. Traffic flow is simple and easy to control 2. Star topology has minimal line cost because only n-1 lines are required for connecting n nodes. 3. Transmission delays between two nodes do not increase by adding new nodes to the network because any two nodes may be connected via two links only. 4. If any of the local computers fail, the remaining portion of the network is unaffected. Disadvantage: The system crucially depends on the central node. If the host computer fails, the entire network fails.

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Ring Topology The Ring topology is so named because of the circular aspect of the data flow. In most instances, data flows in one direction only, with one single station receiving the signal and relaying it to the next station on the ring. The logic to implement a ring network is relatively simple. Each component is tasked with a straightforward job of accepting the data, sending it to the host, attached to it, or sending it out on the ring to the next intermediate component.

Figure 1.7: Ring Topology

Advantage: 1. The ring network works well where there is no central-site computer system. It is a truly distributed data processing system. 2. It is more reliable because communication is not dependent on a single host computer. If one line between any two computers breaks down, or if one of the computers breaks down, alternate routing is possible. Disadvantage: 1. In a ring network, communication delay is directly proportional to the number of nodes in the network. Hence addition of new nodes in the network increases the communication delays. 2. If a channel between two nodes fails, the entire network is lost. Completely Connected Topology A completely connected network has a separate physical link for connecting each node to any other node. Thus, each computer of such network has a direct dedicated link, called a point-to-point link with all other computers of the network. The control is distributed with each computer deciding its communication priorities.

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Figure 1.8: Completely Connected Network Advantage: 1. This type of network is very reliable, as any line breakdown will affect only communication between the connected computers. 2. Each node of the network need not have individual routing capability. 3. Communication is very fast between any two nodes. Disadvantage: 1. It is the most expensive system from the point of view of line costs. Mesh Topology The Mesh topology has been used in the last few years. Its attraction is its relative immunity to bottleneck and failure problems. Due to the multiplicity of paths from the DTEs and DSEs (Data Switching Equipment), traffic can be routed around failed components or busy nodes. Even though this approach is an expensive undertaking, some users prefer the reliability of the mesh network to that of the others, especially for networks with only a few nodes that need to be connected.

Figure 1.9: Mesh Topology 1.2.3 Network Architecture

To reduce the network design complexities, most networks are organized as a series of layers or levels, each one built upon its protocol predecessor. The number of layers, the name of each layer, the contents of each layer and the function of the layer differ from network to network. A layer format is as shown below:

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Figure 1.10: Layers, Protocols and Interfaces Layer n on one machine carries on a conversation with layer n on another machine. The rules and conventions used in this conversation are collectively called layer n Protocols. The entities comprising the corresponding layers on different machines are called peer processes. In reality, no data is directly transferred from layer n on one machine to layer n on the other machine. Each layer passes data to the layer immediately below it, until the lowest layer is reached. The lowest layer is the Physical medium, through which the communication occurs. Between each pair of adjacent layers there is an interface that defines primitive operations and services the lower layer offers to the upper one. 1.2.4 OSI Reference Model

This model is based on a proposal developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as a first step towards International Standardization of the various protocols that has seven layers. The model is called the ISO OSI (Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model), because it deals with connecting open systems that is, systems that are open for communication with other systems. But according to OSI reference model, the principles used to arrive at the layers can be noted as below: 1. A layer should be created where a different level of abstraction is needed. 2. Each layer should perform a well-defined function. 3. The function of each layer should be chosen with an eye towards defining internationally standardized protocols. 4. The layer boundaries should be chosen to minimize the information across the interfaces.

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5. The number of layers should be large enough that the distinct functions need not be thrown together in the same layer and small enough that the architecture does not become unwieldy. The Physical Layer The Physical layer is concerned with transmitting raw bits over a communication channel. Efforts should be made to see that, when a 1 bit is sent, it is received by the other side as a 1 bit, not as a 0 bit. The design issues here largely deal with mechanical, electrical, and procedural interfaces, and the physical transmission medium. The Data Link Layer The main task of the data link layer is to take a raw transmission facility and transform it into a line that appears free of transmission errors to the network layer. It accomplishes this task by having the sender break the input data into data frames (typically a few hundred bytes), transmit the frames sequentially, and process the acknowledgement frames sent back by the receiver. Frame boundary identification is taken care of by this layer. In case of information frame loss, this layer retransmits the same frame in a controlled manner. It handles flow control and uses the channel bandwidth efficiently (piggy backing). The Network Layer The Network layer is concerned with controlling the operation of the subnet and the number of packets routed from the source to destination is also determined. This layer is concerned with finding a path (routing) for communication along with congestion control mechanisms. It also takes care of the problems that will arise when heterogeneous networks are interconnected. In broadcast networks, the routing problem is simple, so the network layer is often thin or even nonexistent. The Transport Layer It accepts data from the session layer, splits it into small units if needed, and passes it to the network layer and ensures that all the pieces arrive correctly at the other end. It also determines what type of service needs to be provided to the session layer and the users of the network. The transport layer is a true source-to-destination or end-to-end layer. In addition to multiplexing several message streams into one channel, the transport layer, must take care of establishing and deleting connections across the network. The Session Layer The Session layer allows users on different machines to establish sessions between them. A session allows ordinary data transport and might be used to allow a user to log into a remote time-sharing system or to transfer a file between two machines. One of the services of the session layers is to manage dialogue control. Sessions can allow traffic to go in both directions at the same time, or in only one direction at a time. Page 11

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If traffic can only go one way at a time the session layer can help keep track of whose turn it is. Another service provided is the token management. This service prevents both the sides from performing the same operation at the same time. Session layer provides tokens. Only the side holding the token can perform the critical operation. Yet another service is Synchronization. This service attempts to solve problems that might arise during long duration file transfer between machines on the network. The Presentation Layer This layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information transmitted. A typical e.g. is encoding data in a standard agreed way (i.e., from one format to another format which is suitable for the users machine). Converting from the representation used inside the computer to the network standard representation is handled by this layer. This layer handles data compression and cryptography. The Application Layer The Application layer contains a variety of protocols that are commonly needed. One way to solve the problem of incompatible terminal types is to define an abstract network virtual terminal. To handle each terminal type, a piece of software must be written to map the functions of the networks virtual terminal onto the real terminal. All virtual terminal software is in this layer. Another important function is file transfer. Different file systems have different file naming conventions and different ways of representing text lines. Transferring file between two different systems requires handling these and other incompatibilities. The sending process has some data it wants to send to the receiving process. It gives the data to the application layer, which attaches an application header to the front of presentation layer. The presentation layer, not aware of what data has been received, transforms it in various ways, adds a header to the front of it and gives the result to the session layer. This process is repeated till the data reaches the physical layer, where the actual transmission of data to receiving machine takes places. On the receiving machine, as the data moves up the layers, the various headers are removed before the message arrives at the receiving process.

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1.2.5 Data Transmission in the OSI Model

Figure 1.11: An example of how the OSI Model is used 1.2.6 Design issues for the layers

The key design issues in computer networking are found in several layers. 1. Connection Management: Every layer must have a mechanism for connection establishment. Since a network has many computers with multiple processes, a mean is needed to specify a source (with whom it wants to establish a connection) and a specific destination. 2. Connection Termination: When a connection across the network is no longer needed, efforts should be taken to terminate them. 3. Addressing Techniques: Due to the existence of large number of destinations, some form of addressing technique is needed. Data Transfer Mode: Data can travel in any of the three modes listed below: Page 13

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1. Simplex Communication: communication). Data travels only in one direction (one way

2. Half-duplex Communication: Data travels in both directions but not simultaneously. 3. Full-duplex Communication: Data travels in both sides simultaneously (two way communication). 5. Error Control: Error control is an important issue because physical communication circuits are not perfect; hence detecting and error-correcting codes are used. 6. Packet Sequencing: A data block is divided into number of fragments. Protocol must provide some way of sequencing these packets, to prevent any possible loss. Maintenance of sequence of information transferred is important. 7. Synchronization: Alleviating the problem of speed mismatch between faster sender and slower receiver must be taken care. Due to varying speeds between different machines, some method of speed compatibility among these is essential to prevent the swamping of data over a slow terminal. 5. Routing Information: When there are multiple paths existing between source and destination, a route must be chosen taking into account the cost per each feasible route. Message disassembling, transmitting and assembling details are considered in case of long message transfer. 1.2.7 Communication between Layers

In layered protocols, a layer is a service provider and may consist of several service functions. For example, one layer could provide service functions for code conversions such as International Alphabet #5 (IA5) to/from EBCDIC, TELEX to/from ASCII, Videotext to/from EBCDIC, and calendar dates to/from numeric form. A function is a subsystem of a layer. Each subsystem may also be made up of entities. An entity is a specialized module of a layer or subsystem. The basic idea for a layer is to add a value to the upper layers it services. Consequently, the top layer, which interfaces directly with the end-user applications, is Page 14

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provided with full range of services offered by all the lower layers. The upper layers to the lower layers dictate the actual services invoked.

Figure 1.12: Service Provider Figure 1.12 shows the standard terminology for interfacing with a layer or a service provider. Four transactions, called primitives, are invoked to and from the layer through identifiers called service access point (SAP). Some sessions do not require all transactions. The functions include: Request: Primitive by service user to invoke a function. Indication: Primitive by service provider to i. invoke a function or ii. indicate a function has been invoked at a service access point (SAP) Response: Primitive by service user to complete a function previously invoked by an Indication at that SAP. Confirm: Primitive by service provider to complete a function previously invoked by a Request at that SAP. Primitives are usually implemented as software procedure calls and the arguments of the call are OSI ICIs (Interface Control Information). A user application invokes a service provider function by sending a request to the next lower layer. This service request is affirmed by the service provider returning a confirm. If the service is going to provide a function for another user (here user B), the service provider must send an indication to B, after which B is required to provide a response. Assuming the service provider is a layer, it connects to the users A and B through layer service access points (SAPs). A and B must know the associated SAP to receive the specific service from the service provider. The SAP contains the address or identifier of the specific service function.

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Figure 1.13: Service Provider Figure 1.13 provides another view of the process. The service provider is in the middle of the diagram, with users A and B on each side. The request is sent to the service provider, which sends user B an indication. User B provides a response, which is transmitted through the service provider as confirm to A. The service provider could be a layer, a function, or an entity within the layer, and the process is merely establishing a common means of communication among and between the layers. The standard terminology used for layered networks to request services is shown in Figure 1.14

Figure 1.14: Communications between Layers SDU: Service Data Unit; Unit; IDU: Interface Data Unit; PCI: Protocol Control Information; ICI: Interface Control Information. PDU: Protocol Data

In this illustration, three layers are involved in the communications process: layers N + 1, N and N 1. The lettering and numbering of the layers is relative. In this illustration, layer N is the focus of attention. Consequently, the layer above it is designated N + 1 and the layer below it is N 1. Five components are involved in the layers communicating with each other. Their functions are as follows:

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SDU (service data unit): User data transferred transparently by layer N + 1 to layer N, and subsequently to N 1. PCI (protocol control information): Information exchanged by peer entities at different sites on the network to instruct an entity to perform a service function. PDU (protocol data unit): The combination of the SDU and PCI. ICI (interface control information): A temporary parameter passed between N and N 1 to invoke service functions. IDU (interface data unit): The total unit of information transferred across the layer boundaries; it includes the PCI, SDU and ICI. The IDU is transmitted across the service access point (SAP). When the IDU from layer N + 1 passes to layer N, it becomes the SDU to that layer. In turn, the ICI is broken out in layer N, performs its functions, and is discarded. The SDU at layer N has a PCI added to it as well as another ICI, to become the IDU to layer N 1. Thus a full protocol unit is passed through each layer. The SDU has a PCI added at each layer. In effect, this adds a header at each layer. The header is used by the peer layer entity at another node of the network to invoke a function. The process repeats itself through each layer. A Pragmatic Illustration

Figure 1.15: Communications between Two Sites in a Network The words user data and headers substitute the abstract concepts of SDUs and PCIs. As each unit traverses through the layers, it has a header added to it. This becomes the user data unit to the subsequent lower layers. Finally, the full protocol data unit is passed onto the communications path, where it arrives at the receiving site, coming up through the layers in the reverse order it went through them from the sending site. The headers added at the peer layers at the transmitting site are used to invoke symmetrical and complementary functions at the receiving site. After the functions are performed, the unit is passed up to the next layer. The header that was added by the peer entity at the transmitting site is stripped off by the peer entity at the receiving site. Page 17

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Figure 1.16: Invoking Support Functions with the PCI (Header) The header is instrumental in invoking the functions across the network to the peer layer. The above figure is an expansion of the previous one. Instructions have been placed in the headers to invoke functions in the peer entities at another node in the network. Three layers are involved. The layers will invoke one service entity from each layer. Layer N + 1 invokes a service entity to provide a sequence-check field at the transmitting site. The receiving sites N + 1 layer checks for any sequence errors in the transmission by using the sequence check field as a comparison to a receive counter. The service entity in layer N adds an error-check field in the form of a header to be used at the receiving N layer to provide an assurance that data is arriving error free. Last, an entity in N 1 compresses the code. At the receiving node, the header will be used to instruct the N 1 layer to convert the code back to its original form. The ICI is used only between adjacent layers at the same node. The ICI provides instructions to be performed by the lower layers going out of the sending node site and the upper layers coming into the receiving node site. 1.2.8 Standards Organization

The International Telegraph & Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT) a member of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a treaty organization formed in 1865, sponsors a number of standards dealing primarily with data communications networks, telephone switching standards, digital systems, and terminals. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a voluntary body. It consists of national standardization organizations from each member country. The activities of ISO are principally from the user committees and manufacturers. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the primary U.S. organization on OSI. The European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) is dedicated to the development of Page 18

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standards applicable to computer and communications technology. ANSI is active in developing standards for data communications for the OSI, as well as for encryption activities and office systems. The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) is a national trade association which has been active for many years in the development of standards. Its best-known standard is EIA-232-D. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has been involved for many years in standards activities. The IEEE activity addresses local area networks and many other standards. Network Standardization The procedure adopted by ISO is as follows: 1. A working group is formed and the DP (Draft Proposal) is designed first. The DP is circulated among the member bodies for comments. 2. After a majority approves, a DIS (Draft International Standard) is developed and circulated for comments. 3. At the end of the DIS round, the final text called IS (International Standard) is developed, approved and published. Apocalypse of Two Elephants

Figure 1.17: The Apocalypse of the Two Elephants The above graph concludes the following: When a new subject is discovered, a lot of activity is involved, which includes research papers, testing etc. This is shown by the first crest. After this the trough indicates a low standardization effort. This may be due to poor understanding of the concept. Once the concept is standardized and well framed, a lot of interest is shown by organizations in incorporating the facility and perhaps a lot of investment in the project. 1.2.9 Example Networks

Numerous networks are currently operating around the world. Some of them owned by governments, some for research work, some are owned by private organizations and so on. Page 19

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Public Networks The networks which is owned either by Government or by private organization but by an individual network operator, providing communication services for the customers hosts and terminals. Such a system is called public networks. All of them use of OSI model and the standard CCITT (Consultative Committee International for Telephony and Telegraphy, a French standard organization) or OSI protocols for all the layers. For the lowest three layers, CCITT has issued recommendations that have been universally adopted by public networks worldwide. These layers are always known collectively as X.25 standards. The physical layer protocol, called X.21, specifies the physical, electrical and procedural interface between the host and the network. The data link layer standard has a number of variations. They all are designed to deal with transmission errors on the telephone line between the users equipment and the network. The network layer protocol deals with addressing flow control, delivery confirmation, interrupts and related issues. ISO has developed standards for a connection-oriented transport layer service definition and a connection-oriented transport layer protocol. Also it has adopted standards for the connection-oriented session service and protocol and presentation service and protocol. The Application layer contains following protocols: FTAM (File Transfer, access and Management) protocol, which provides a way to transfer, access and generally manipulate remote files in a uniform way. MOTIS (Message-Oriented Text Interchange Systems) protocol is used for electronic mail. VTP (Virtual Terminal Protocol) provides a terminal-independent way for programs to access remote terminals. JTM (Job Transfer and Manipulation) protocol is used for submitting jobs to remote mainframe computers for batch processing. ARPANET The ARPANET (American Research Project agency NET work), now called DARPA, owned by US Defense, does not follow the OSI model at all. The IMP-IMP protocol really corresponds to a mixture of the layer 2 and layer 3 protocols. Layer 3 also contains an elaborate routing mechanism. In addition, there is a mechanism that explicitly verifies the correct reception at the destination IMP of each and every layer of protocol sent by the source IMP. The ARPANET does have protocols that roughly cover the same territory as the OSI network and transport protocols. The network protocol, called IP (Internet Protocol) is connectionless and was designed to handle the interconnection of the vast number of WAN and LAN. The ARPANET transport protocol is a connection-oriented protocol

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called TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). There is no session or presentation layer protocol in ARPANET. The ARPANET services include files transfer, e-mail and remote login. These services are supported by well-known protocols FTP, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer protocol) and TELNET (remote login). SNA (System Network Architecture) It is IBMs network architecture. It was developed mainly to interconnect dissimilar user machines. An SNS network consists of machines called node of which there are four types: 1. Type 1 - Terminals 2. Type 2 - Controllers, machines that supervise the behaviors of the terminals and other peripherals 3. Type 3 - Front End Processor (FEP), relieve the Host of the work and interrupt handling associated with data communication 4. Type 4 - Hosts Each node contains one or more NAUs (Network Addressable Unit) which is a piece of software that allows a process to use the network. There are three kinds of NAUs. ALU (Logical Unit) is the usual variety to which user process can be attached. A Physical Unit (PU) is used to make a node on-line, take it off-line, test it and perform similar network management functions. The third kind of NAU is SSCP (System Services Control Point), has complete knowledge of and control over all the front ends, controllers and terminals attached to the host. Enduser NAU Services Data Flow Control Transmission Control Path Link Control Data Link Control Physical Link Control Figure 1.18: Protocol Hierarchy in SNA The lowest SNA layer takes care of physically transporting bits from one machine to another. The data link layer constructs frames from the raw bit stream, detecting and recovering from transmissions errors. Layer 3 in SNA, called Path Control, is concerned with establishing a logical path from source NAU to destination NAU. Path Control consists of three sublayers. The highest sublayer does the global routing, deciding which sequence of subareas should be used to get from the source sub area to the destination subarea. The sequence is called virtual route. Two sub areas may be connected by several kinds of communication lines Page 21

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so that the next sub layer chooses the specific lines to use, giving an explicit route. The lowest sublayer splits traffic among several parallel communication links of the same type to achieve greater bandwidth and reliability. It is the job of Transmission Control Layer to create, manage and delete transport connections (sessions). The Data Link Layer keeps track of which end of session is supposed to talk next. This layer is also doing error recovery functions. The NAU services layer provides two classes of services to the user process. First there are presentation services such as text compression. Second there are session services for setting up connections. In addition there are network services which maintain the operation of the network.

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Computer Networks 1.3 Revision Points

Computer Network A network is a communication system that allows users to access resources on other computers and exchange messages with other users. It allows users to share resources on their own systems with other network users and to access information on centrally located systems or systems that are located at remote offices. It may provide connections to the Internet or the networks of other organizations. Protocol It is a set of rules that governs the data communication is called Protocol. The Key elements of protocol are Syntax, Semantics and Timing. Topology A network topology is the physical layout of a network. Network Architecture A set of layers and protocols is called as network architecture. Open System Interconnection (OSI) The Open System Interconnection (OSI) Model is a layered frame work for design of network systems that allows for communication across all types of computers systems. The OSI model acts as a baseline for creating and comparing networking protocols. The goal of this model is to break down the task of data communication into simple steps, these steps are called layers. The OSI model consists of seven distinct layers and each layer has certain responsibilities. System Network Architecture (SNA) SNA was designed in the days when large numbers of nonprogrammable terminals connected to IBM host systems. SNA was designed for centralized IBM-only mainframe computing environments; it was inadequate in peer-to-peer, client/server, multivendor, and multiprotocol network environments. SNA provided static routing between interconnected hosts so that a user working at one of the terminals could access any of the interconnected hosts.

1.4 Intext Questions

1. Discuss the advantages and uses of Computer Network. 2. How topology is related to line configuration? 3. What are the costs considerations for choosing a topology? 4. Discuss in detail the different types of topologies and bringing out their merits and demerits. Page 23

Computer Networks
5. Describe the ISO/OSI reference model of computer network and the services provided by the layers with neat diagram. 6. Discuss in detail the design issues for layers. 7. List some of the major disadvantages with the layered approach to protocols. 8. Explain briefly the SNA architecture.

1.5

Summary
The term Computer Networks can be referred to as an interconnected collection of computers for information exchange. The interconnection can be established by one or more transmission paths, often the universally present telephone lines. Computer Network is a powerful communication medium with varied use and advantages. Its primary goal is to provide Resource Sharing, High Reliability and Saving money. Most wide area networks have a collection of hosts communicating via a subnet. The subnet may utilize multiple point-to-point lines between IMPs, or a single common broadcast channel, as in a satellite network. Local area networks connect the hosts directly onto a cable using an interface chip that is somewhat analogous to the IMP in a wide area network. Network Topology is nothing but the network configuration which determines the data paths that may be used between any pair of stations of the network. These topologies serve to reduce the costs and to provide reliability, high throughput and low delay in the networks. Networks are always designed as a series of protocol layers, with each layer responsible for some aspect of the networks operation. The seven-layer OSI model consists of the physical link layer, data link layer, network layer, transport layer, session layer, presentation layer and application layer. The physical layer is concerned with standardizing network connectors and their electrical properties. The data link layer breaks the raw bit stream up into discrete units and exchanges these units using a protocol. The network layer takes care of routing. The transport layer provides reliable, end-to-end connections to the higher layers. The session layer enhances the transport layer by adding facilities to help recover from crashes and other problems. The presentation layer deals with standardizing the way data structures are described and represented. Finally, the application layer contains file transfer, electronic mail, virtual terminal and a number of application specific protocols. Page 24

Computer Networks
Few of the networks in operation are the public networks, ARPANET, MAP and TOP, USENET, CSNET, BITNET, SNA.

1.6

Terminal Exercises
1. _________ are the rules that govern a communication exchange.

2. A tree topology is a variation of a ______________ topology. 3. A ___________ connection provides a dedicated link between two devices. 4. The ___________ layer decides the location of synchronization points. 5. Decryption and encryption of data are the responsibility of the ______________ layer.

1.7

Supplementary Materials
1. Andrew S.Tannenbaum, Computer Networks, 4th Edition, Pearson Education. 2. Behrouz A.Forouzan, Data Communication and Networking, Tata McGraw Hill Edition. 3. William Stallings, Data and Computer Communications, Pearson Education. 4. Douglas C.Comer, Computer Networks and Internet, Pearson Education.

1.8

Assignments
1. Find out what networks are used at your school or place of work. Describe the network types, topologies, and switching methods used there. 2. Which of the OSI layers handles each of the following: a. (a) Dividing the transmitted bit stream into frames. b. (b) Determining which route through the subnet to use. 3. If the unit exchanged at the data link level is called a frame and the unit exchanged at the network level is called a packet, do frames encapsulate packets or do packets encapsulate frames? Explain your answer.

1.9

Suggested Reading/Reference Books/Set Books

1. http://www.iso.ch Page 25

Computer Networks
2. http://www.iso.ch/cate/3510001.html 3. http://www.isoc.org/internet-history 4. http://www.ibm.com/Products 5. http://pclt.cis.yale.edu/pclt/COMM/SNA.HTM

1.10 Learning Activities

Collect research reports and information on OSI Model available in the Internet and in Networking Journals.

1.11 Keywords
Open System Interconnection (OSI) Protocol Topology Service Access Points (SAP) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) Electronic Industries Association (EIA) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Advanced Research Project Agency NETwork (ARPANET)

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