Computer Network UKM

COMPUTER NETWORK

1. Objectives
1. To test, assemble and familiarise with network equipment
2. To connect, configure, and access a network
3. To test, inspect and diagnose a network service

2. Introduction
In a network system, the terminals are connected to each other to enable
information sharing. The main reasons for designing a network system are:

a. For information exchange between remote systems

b. For information sharing within a workgroup
c. To create centralised security and management systems
d. To provide system infrastructure with high reliability and backup capability
e. For optimisation of resource utilisation
f. Effective and efficient communication medium

In a nutshell, the connection and service of a particular network involves the

hardware equipment, the software and also the network protocol.

Networks can be classed as either a Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan

Area Network (MAN), or Wide Area Network (WAN). There are a number of models that
one can use to design a fully functional network, which are peer-to-peer, client/server and
terminal/mainframe.

A peer-to-peer network model only permits a computer to link information and

copy to and from other computers or printers that are connected to that same network.

In the client/server model on the other hand, primary information is stored in a

specific server and clients can access and modify those information, provided it has the
servers permission.

A mainframe stores and process information that can only be accessed by

terminals that are connected to it. Table 1 shows the classification of networks based on
distance and location of processors.

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Distance between Processors Location Network Types

processors (m)
0.1 Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Data Stream Machine
1 System Computer
10 Room
100 Building Local Area Network (LAN)
1000 Campus
10000 City Metropolitan Area Network
(MAN)
100000 Country Wide Area Network (WAN)
1000000 Continent
10000000 Planet Internet

Table 1: Network Classification

Important things to take into account when developing a network:

a. Data transfer medium that is hard to replace once connected to the network.
b. Network infrastructure in terms of the equipment that need to be upgraded from time
to time.
c. Network size i.e. LAN, WAN and MAN.
d. The available facilities in handling and managing the network.

LAN Technology

LAN technology currently can support a data rate of 10 to 100 Mbps with low
latency, which is only around 10s, and has low transfer error. Network topologies that
are typically used are star, ring and bus as shown in the diagram in Figure 1.

Ring
topology
Bus
topology

Star
topology

Figure 1 : Types of network topology

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The star topology consists of a computer that acts as a network centre for all
other computers that are connected to it.

The ring topology on the other hand does not have any centre computer. All
information transfer from one terminal will go through all the other terminals in turns
before coming to the correct delivery address.

In the bus topology, the terminals are connected to one another by using the bus
system therefore they can be connected and disconnected easily. This also enables the
network to be expanded easily by simply connecting new computers.

There are some popular LAN technology such as Ethernet, Token Ring and
FDDI. Each technology has its own protocol and hardware configuration. Ethernet is by
far the most popular LAN technology to date. It uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access with
Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol based on the IEEE 802.3 convention. Ethernet
provides a range of transfer medium with different bit rates from 1Mbps to 1000Mbps.

There are a number of ways to build an Ethernet system i.e. by 10Base2,

10Base5, or 10BaseT connection. Each type of connection has its own advantages and
disadvantages, and has a specific maximum connection length. 10Base2 is also known as
Thinnet (50 MHz frequency) with maximum connection length of 185m, distance
between computers of 0.5m, 30 maximum nodes and allowable network size of 925m.
Every node is connected using BNC connectors. No drop cable is needed and is usually
applied in office network applications.

10Base5 is also called Thicknet (basic band frequency of 500 MHz) with
maximum connection length of 500m, distance between transceiver of 2.5m, 100
maximum number of nodes, length of Attachment Unit Interface (AUI) up to 50m and
maximum network size of 2500m. This type of connection is typically used as the
backbone for an entire network. There are other categories of cables available such as the
category three (Cat3 10BaseT) with frequency 16MHz and the category five (Cat 5
10BaseT and 100BaseT). Other than that, fibre optic cables are also widely used as
1000BaseT connection or Gigabit Ethernet with no frequency limit.

WAN Network

A WAN is a network that connects computers within a wide area equivalent to a

country such as JARING and COINS. All WAN networks are connected via the Internet.
Every host is connected to a subnet, which functions as information carrier bridging one
host to another. A subnet consists of two components called a transmitter line and a
switching element respectively. The transmitter line carries bits from one host to another
and the switching element connects two or more transmitter lines. When data arrive at the
input line, switch element will choose the appropriate output line to ensure that the data
can be sent to the correct destination. Every host is connected directly to LAN and in
certain cases it can be connected directly to a router.

An example of the uses of a router is to connect two remote LANs together

through WAN connection. A router works in the third OSI layer. Therefore, a router is
essentially used to send or direct data packets to its destination via the most optimal
route. The direction of the data packets can be learnt from the third OSI layer that is the

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IP address. A router is always referred to as gateway, but a gateway is not necessarily a

router. Every router contains its own hardware and software components such as the
Cisco router that uses a software called Cisco IOS (Internetworking Operating System).
The hardware of a router consists of a CPU (Cisco 2505 router uses a 20MHz Motorola
68EC030 processor), NVRAM, flash RAM and also RAM. The connections to other
network peripherals are done via ports, such as the serial port.

Network services involve the utilisation of several Network Protocols. A

Protocol, in general sense, is a set of rules that have to be adhered to by two parties that
are interacting with each other so that the communication process runs smoothly and
effectively. Therefore, a network protocol can be seen as the protocol that is being used
by each computer in a network to enable them to communicate to one another. A network
protocol is also known as a communication protocol.

There are several types of protocol and each has its own specific function and
role in the OSI seven layer model. All types of protocol have its own advantages and
disadvantages based on their applications and the network product used. One type of
protocol might only work in one layer in the OSI seven layer model while others might
work in more than one layer. Despite the differences, all protocols essentially work
within the OSI layers.

For example, Ethernet works in the second OSI layer, which is the data
connection layer. Each layer needs to follow a certain working procedure and all the
works must be done consistently between all communication levels in OSI. The role of
protocol in a data-transmitting computer is to divide the data into smaller chunks called
packets, to add addressing information in each packet and to prepare the packets for
transmission to the destination using a network card via cable. At the destination
computer, the protocol will prompt the received data packets to be collected via a
network card at the buffer, compiled and converted into executable form.

One of the most used protocols in campus network is the Transmission Control
Protocol/ Internet protocol (TCP/IP). To enable computers to communicate with each
other in a network, the IP address and other parameters such as Domain Name System
(DNS) and gateway have to be configured. These parameters can be set to be unique
(static) or dynamic through the data server base called Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP).

There are a number of utilities that can be used to test the physical connection
and the performance of a network such as the Packet Internet Grouper (PING) and
TRACEROUTE. Ping is the simplest and most useful trouble-shooting tool for analysing
network problems. It uses one of the TCP/IP protocol families called Message Control
Protocol (ICMP) that works at the network layer. The other useful utility is traceroute,
which records the packet route from the senders computer to the specified destination.
Every router or network that the packet goes through is called a hop. With Traceroute
utility, the location of a problematic router can be determined. Traceroute works in the
third layer, which is the network layer and is usually, implemented using the User
Datagram Protocol (UDP).

Computers that have been networked can provide and accept various services
using specific protocols. Some of most used protocols are Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP or WWW), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), electronic mailing or email using Post

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Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Internet Relay Chat
(IRC), FINGER, ARCHIE and TELNET. With all these protocols and their respective
applications, computer and network security has become one of the most important
aspects of networking that needs to be given special attention.

3. Pre-Laboratory
1. Explain the types and wiring diagram of UTP cable in networking.
2. Explain the types and wiring diagram of coaxial cable and BNC connector in
networking.
3. Identify the procedure to test UTP and coaxial cable.
4. Explain the function of a router, terminator, repeater and access point.

4. Equipment
A. Hardware

1. 3 desktop computers
2. Network interface card (NIC)
3. UTP cable, coaxial cable
4. Router, terminator, repeater
5. Access point and wireless bus card
6. Network testing equipment

B. Software

1. Windows OS Win98/ WinXP

2. Related software FTP/ PING/ Traceroute

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5. Experiment
ALL OBSERVATIONS DURING EXPERIMENTS MUST BE DOCUMENTED.
DISCUSS YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS OBTAINED FOR EACH
EXPERIMENT.

A. Hardware Testing and Configuration

1. Cable, terminator and repeater testing

a. Identify and differentiate the types of cables provided.

b. Identify and obtain the parameters for the router, terminator and repeater.
c. Connect the UTP cable to the RJ-45 connector and test the connection.
d. Identify each port in the router and its function.
e. Connect all tested cables. Test the connection.

2. Network Interfacing Card (NIC) and WLAN card testing

a. Identify the type and properties of all the NIC cards provided.
b. Test all the cards whether they are functioning properly.

3. WAP (Wireless access point) testing

a. Obtain and identify all WAP parameters.

b. Connect the WAP to the router using UTP cable and test the connection.

B. Network Configuration

1. Network card configuration

a. Obtain the computer name, workgroup, IP, gateway and DNS parameters for all
computers.

2. WLAN configuration and signal strength test

a. Choose the best access point that will give the strongest signal.
b. Run a ping test on the WAP address from each computer that has been connected
to the network.

3. Network configuration testing (for both computers)

a. Test your configuration using the ipconfig command at the command line prompt.
b. Test the connection between the connected computers by using the ping
<gateway address> command at the command line prompt.
c. Test the connection between the connected computers by using the nbtstat a
<IP address of another computer> command at the command line prompt.
d. Use the Map Network Drive command by doing the following steps :
i. Right click My Computer.
ii. Type in the command :

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\\<IP address of another computer>\<folder name>

Figure 2 : Map network drive window

C. Service Test
1. Open server test software, Ping Plotter. Another software includes :
Ping Plotter : (http://www.pingplotter.com)
VisualRoute : (http://www.visualware.com)

2. Test the network performance in the faculty, campus and outside the campus. Write
down the website address for each test. Example of test window as in Figure 3.
Discuss your observations and results obtained from the software.

Figure 3: Example of test window (Ping Plotter)

3. Using any web-based test you know, conduct an internet performance test for both
computers.

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6. Questions
1. What is the main difference between a straight through and a crossed-over cable
connection?
2. Explain the actual hardware configuration and connection of a network based on a
star and wireless topology.
3. How do you assemble, test and configure if there are more than one network in the
same computer?
4. Explain other methods to configure WAP using arp command (Address Resolution
Protocol) at the command line prompt.
5. What does subnet mean and how do you classify an IP address? How many
computers can be connected to the Campus Network based on the allocated IP
address?
6. Recommend a list of hardware, software and network topology that can be used to
build a network in a Cyber Caf.

7. Reference
1. http://www.cisco.com
2. http://www.microsoft.com
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20090730172718/http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/
Lab/3731/computer_internet/internet/internet.html

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