Computer Networks

● Network : A network is a set of devices that are connected with a physical media link. In
a network, two or more nodes are connected by a physical link or two or more networks
are connected by one or more nodes. A network is a collection of devices connected to
each other to allow the sharing of data.

● Network Topology : Network topology specifies the layout of a computer network. It

shows how devices and cables are connected to each other.

Types of Network Topology :

● Star :
● Star topology is a network topology in which all the nodes are connected
to a single device known as a central device.
● Star topology requires more cable compared to other topologies.
Therefore, it is more robust as a failure in one cable will only disconnect a
specific computer connected to this cable.
● If the central device is damaged, then the whole network fails.
● Star topology is very easy to install, manage and troubleshoot. It is
commonly used in office and home networks.

● Ring :
1. Ring topology is a network topology in which nodes are exactly connected to two
or more nodes and thus, forming a single continuous path for the transmission.
2. It does not need any central server to control the connectivity among the nodes.
3. If the single node is damaged, then the whole network fails.
4. Ring topology is very rarely used as it is expensive, difficult to install and
manage.
5. Examples of Ring topology are SONET network, SDH network, etc.
● Bus :
1. Bus topology is a network topology in which all the nodes are connected to a
single cable known as a central cable or bus.
2. It acts as a shared communication medium, i.e., if any device wants to send the
data to other devices, then it will send the data over the bus which in turn sends
the data to all the attached devices.
3. Bus topology is useful for a small number of devices.
4. As if the bus is damaged then the whole network fails.

● Mesh :
1. Mesh topology is a network topology in which all the nodes are individually
connected to other nodes.
2. It does not need any central switch or hub to control the connectivity among the
nodes.
3. Mesh topology is categorized into two parts: Fully connected mesh topology:
In this topology, all the nodes are connected to each other. Partially connected
mesh topology: In this topology, all the nodes are not connected to each other.
4. It is robust as a failure in one cable will only disconnect the specified computer
connected to this cable.
5. Mesh topology is rarely used as installation and configuration are difficult when
connectivity gets more.
6. Cabling cost is high as it requires bulk wiring.
● Tree :
1. Tree topology is a combination of star and bus topology. It is also known as the
expanded star topology.
2. In tree topology, all the star networks are connected to a single bus.
3. Ethernet protocol is used in this topology.
4. In this, the whole network is divided into segments known as star networks which
can be easily maintained. If one segment is damaged, there is no effect on other
segments.
5. Tree topology depends on the "main bus," and if it breaks, then the whole
network gets damaged

● Hybrid :
1. A hybrid topology is a combination of different topologies to form a resulting
topology.
2. If star topology is connected with another star topology, then it remains a star
topology. If star topology is connected with different topology, then it becomes a
Hybrid topology.
3. It provides flexibility as it can be implemented in a different network environment.

● Different Types of Networks : (Imp) - Networks can be divided on the basis of area of
distribution. For example:
● PAN (Personal Area Network): Its range limit is up to 10 meters. It is created for
personal use. Generally, personal devices are connected to this network. For example
computers, telephones, fax, printers, etc.
● LAN (Local Area Network): It is used for a small geographical location like office,
hospital, school, etc.

● HAN (House Area Network): It is actually a LAN that is used within a house and used to
connect homely devices like personal computers, phones, printers, etc.

● CAN (Campus Area Network): It is a connection of devices within a campus area which
links to other departments of the organization within the same campus.

● MAN (Metropolitan Area Network): It is used to connect the devices which span to
large cities like metropolitan cities over a wide geographical area.

● WAN (Wide Area Network): It is used over a wide geographical location that may range
to connect cities and countries.

● GAN (Global Area Network): It uses satellites to connect devices over the global area.

● VPN (Virtual Private Network) : VPN or the Virtual Private Network is a private WAN
(Wide Area Network) built on the internet. It allows the creation of a secured tunnel
(protected network) between different networks using the internet (public network). By
using the VPN, a client can connect to the organization’s network remotely.

● Advantages of VPN :

1. VPN is used to connect offices in different geographical locations remotely and is

cheaper when compared to WAN connections.

2. VPN is used for secure transactions and confidential data transfer between
multiple offices located in different geographical locations.

3. VPN keeps an organization’s information secured against any potential threats or

intrusions by using virtualization.

4. VPN encrypts the internet traffic and disguises the online identity.

● Types of VPN :
● Access VPN: Access VPN is used to provide connectivity to remote mobile users and
telecommuters. It serves as an alternative to dial-up connections or ISDN (Integrated
Services Digital Network) connections. It is a low-cost solution and provides a wide
range of connectivity.
● Site-to-Site VPN: A Site-to-Site or Router-to-Router VPN is commonly used in large
companies having branches in different locations to connect the network of one office to
another in different locations. There are 2 sub-categories as mentioned below:
● Intranet VPN: Intranet VPN is useful for connecting remote offices in different
geographical locations using shared infrastructure (internet connectivity and servers)
with the same accessibility policies as a private WAN (wide area network).
● Extranet VPN: Extranet VPN uses shared infrastructure over an intranet, suppliers,
customers, partners, and other entities and connects them using dedicated connections.

● IPv4 Address : An IP address is a 32-bit dynamic address of a node in the network. An

IPv4 address has 4 octets of 8-bit each with each number with a value up to 255. IPv4
classes are differentiated based on the number of hosts it supports on the network.
There are five types of IPv4 classes and are based on the first octet of IP addresses
which are classified as Class A, B, C, D, or E.
● OSI (Open System Interconnections) (Imp) : It is a network architecture model based
on the ISO standards. It is called the OSI model as it deals with connecting the systems
that are open for communication with other systems. The OSI model has seven layers.
The principles used to arrive at the seven layers can be summarized briefly as below:
1. Create a new layer if a different abstraction is needed.
2. Each layer should have a well-defined function.
3. The function of each layer is chosen based on internationally standardized
protocols.
● Seven Layers :
1. Physical Layer
● It is the lowest layer of the OSI reference model.
● It is used for the transmission of an unstructured raw bit stream over a physical
medium.
● Physical layer transmits the data either in the form of electrical/optical or
mechanical form.
● The physical layer is mainly used for the physical connection between the
devices, and such physical connection can be made by using twisted-pair cable,
fibre-optic or wireless transmission media.

2. DataLink Layer
● It is used for transferring the data from one node to another node.
● It receives the data from the network layer and converts the data into data frames
and then attaches the physical address to these frames which are sent to the
physical layer.
● It enables the error-free transfer of data from one node to another node.

Functions of Data-link layer:

● Frame synchronization: Data-link layer converts the data into frames, and it ensures
that the destination must recognize the starting and ending of each frame.

● Flow control: Data-link layer controls the data flow within the network.
 ● Error control: It detects and corrects the error occurred during the transmission from
source to destination.

● Addressing: Data-link layers attach the physical address with the data frames so that
the individual machines can be easily identified.

● Link management: Data-link layer manages the initiation, maintenance and termination
of the link between the source and destination for the effective exchange of data.

3. Network Layer

● Network layer converts the logical address into the physical address.

● The routing concept means it determines the best route for the packet to travel from
source to the destination.
Functions of network layer :

● Routing: The network layer determines the best route from source to destination. This
function is known as routing.

● Logical addressing: The network layer defines the addressing scheme to identify each
device uniquely.

● Packetizing: The network layer receives the data from the upper layer and converts the
data into packets. This process is known as packetizing.

● Internetworking: The network layer provides the logical connection between the
different types of networks for forming a bigger network.

● Fragmentation: It is a process of dividing the packets into fragments..

4. Transport Layer

● It delivers the message through the network and provides error checking so that no error
occurs during the transfer of data.

● It provides two kinds of services:

○ Connection-oriented transmission: In this transmission, the receiver sends the

acknowledgement to the sender after the packet has been received.
 ○ Connectionless transmission: In this transmission, the receiver does not send
the acknowledgement to the sender.

5. Session Layer

● The main responsibility of the session layer is beginning, maintaining and ending the
communication between the devices.

● Session layer also reports the error coming from the upper layers.

● Session layer establishes and maintains the session between the two users.

6. Presentation Layer

● The presentation layer is also known as a Translation layer as it translates the data from
one format to another format.

● At the sender side, this layer translates the data format used by the application layer to
the common format and at the receiver side, this layer translates the common format into
a format used by the application layer.
Functions of presentation layer:

○ Character code translation

○ Data conversion

○ Data compression

○ Data encryption

7. Application Layer

● Application layer enables the user to access the network.

● It is the topmost layer of the OSI reference model.

● Application layer protocols are file transfer protocol, simple mail transfer protocol,
domain name system, etc.

● The most widely used application protocol is HTTP(Hypertext transfer protocol ). A user
sends the request for the web page using HTTP.
● TCP/IP Reference Model : It is a compressed version of the OSI model with only 4
layers. It was developed by the US Department of Defence (DoD) in the 1860s. The
name of this model is based on 2 standard protocols used i.e. TCP (Transmission
Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol).
1. Link : Decides which links such as serial lines or classic Ethernet must be used
to meet the needs of the connectionless internet layer. Ex - Sonet, Ethernet
2. Internet : The internet layer is the most important layer which holds the whole
architecture together. It delivers the IP packets where they are supposed to be
delivered. Ex - IP, ICMP.
3. Transport : Its functionality is almost the same as the OSI transport layer. It
enables peer entities on the network to carry on a conversation. Ex - TCP, UDP
(User Datagram Protocol)
4. Application : It contains all the higher-level protocols. Ex - HTTP, SMTP, RTP,
DNS.

● HTTP and HTTPS :

HTTP is the HyperText Transfer Protocol which defines the set of rules and standards
on how the information can be transmitted on the World Wide Web (WWW). It helps the
web browsers and web servers for communication. It is a ‘stateless protocol’ where each
command is independent with respect to the previous command. HTTP is an
application layer protocol built upon the TCP. It uses port 80 by default.

HTTPS is the HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure or Secure HTTP. It is an advanced

and secured version of HTTP. On top of HTTP, SSL/TLS protocol is used to provide
security. It enables secure transactions by encrypting the communication and also
helps identify network servers securely. It uses port 443 by default.

● DNS (Imp) :
1. DNS is an acronym that stands for Domain Name System.DNS was introduced
by Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel in 1983.
2. It is a naming system for all the resources over the internet which includes
physical nodes and applications. It is used to locate resources easily over a
network.
3. DNS is an internet which maps the domain names to their associated IP
addresses.
 4. Without DNS, users must know the IP address of the web page that you wanted
to access.
● Working of DNS (Imp): If you want to visit the website of "shaurya", then the user will
type "https://www.shaurya.com" into the address bar of the web browser. Once the
domain name is entered, then the domain name system will translate the domain name
into the IP address which can be easily interpreted by the computer. Using the IP
address, the computer can locate the web page requested by the user.

● DNS Forwarder : A forwarder is used with a DNS server when it receives DNS queries
that cannot be resolved quickly. So it forwards those requests to external DNS servers
for resolution. A DNS server which is configured as a forwarder will behave differently
than the DNS server which is not configured as a forwarder.

● SMTP Protocol : SMTP is the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. SMTP sets the rule for
communication between servers. This set of rules helps the software to transmit emails
over the internet. It supports both End-to-End and Store-and-Forward methods. It is in
always-listening mode on port 25.

● Difference Between TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram
Protocol):
1. TCP is a connection-oriented protocol, whereas UDP is a connectionless
protocol. A key difference between TCP and UDP is speed, as TCP is
comparatively slower than UDP. Overall, UDP is a much faster, simpler, and
efficient protocol, however, retransmission of lost data packets is only possible
with TCP
2. TCP provides extensive error checking mechanisms. It is because it provides
flow control and acknowledgment of data. UDP has only the basic error
checking mechanism using checksums.
 Important Protocols

A protocol is a set of rules which is used to govern all the aspects of information
communication.The main elements of a protocol are:

● Syntax: It specifies the structure or format of the data. It also specifies the order in which
they are presented.

● Semantics: It specifies the meaning of each section of bits.

● Timing: Timing specifies two characteristics: When data should be sent and how fast it
can be sent.

● DHCP: DHCP is the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. It is an application layer

protocol used to auto-configure devices on IP networks enabling them to use the TCP
and UDP-based protocols. The DHCP servers auto-assign the IPs and other network
configurations to the devices individually which enables them to communicate over the
IP network. It helps to get the subnet mask, IP address and helps to resolve the DNS. It
uses port 67 by default.
● FTP : FTP is a File Transfer Protocol. It is an application layer protocol used to transfer
files and data reliably and efficiently between hosts. It can also be used to download files
from remote servers to your computer. It uses port 27 by default.
● ICMP : ICMP is the Internet Control Message Protocol. It is a network layer protocol
used for error handling. It is mainly used by network devices like routers for diagnosing
the network connection issues and crucial for error reporting and testing if the data is
reaching the preferred destination in time. It uses port 7 by default.
● ARP : ARP is Address Resolution Protocol. It is a network-level protocol used to
convert the logical address i.e. IP address to the device's physical address i.e. MAC
address. It can also be used to get the MAC address of devices when they are trying to
communicate over the local network.
● RIP :RIP stands for Routing Information Protocol. It is accessed by the routers to send
data from one network to another. RIP is a dynamic protocol which is used to find the
best route from source to the destination over a network by using the hop count
 algorithm. Routers use this protocol to exchange the network topology information. This
protocol can be used by small or medium-sized networks.

● MAC address and IP address (Imp) :

1. Both MAC (Media Access Control) Address and IP Address are used to uniquely
define a device on the internet. NIC Card’s Manufacturer provides the MAC Address,
on the other hand Internet Service Provider provides IP Address.

2. The main difference between MAC and IP address is that MAC Address is used to
ensure the physical address of a computer. It uniquely identifies the devices on a
network. While IP addresses are used to uniquely identify the connection of a network
with that device taking part in a network.

● Ipconfig and Ifconfig :

1. Ipconfig : Internet Protocol Configuration, It is a command used in Microsoft operating
systems to view and configure network interfaces

2. Ifconfig : Interface Configuration, It is a command used in MAC, Linux, UNIX operating

systems to view and configure network interfaces

● Firewall : The firewall is a network security system that is used to monitor the incoming
and outgoing traffic and blocks the same based on the firewall security policies. It acts as
a wall between the internet (public network) and the networking devices (a private
network). It is either a hardware device, software program, or a combination of both. It
adds a layer of security to the network.
 Important Key Points

1. What happens when you enter google.com in the web browser? (Most Imp)
Steps :
● Check the browser cache first if the content is fresh and present in the cache display the
same.
● If not, the browser checks if the IP of the URL is present in the cache (browser and OS)
if not then requests the OS to do a DNS lookup using UDP to get the corresponding IP
address of the URL from the DNS server to establish a new TCP connection.
● A new TCP connection is set between the browser and the server using three-way
handshaking.
● An HTTP request is sent to the server using the TCP connection.
● The web servers running on the Servers handle the incoming HTTP request and send
the HTTP response.
● The browser processes the HTTP response sent by the server and may close the TCP
connection or reuse the same for future requests.
● If the response data is cacheable then browsers cache the same.
● Browser decodes the response and renders the content.

2. Hub: Hub is a networking device which is used to transmit the signal to each port
(except one port) to respond from which the signal was received. Hub is operated on a
Physical layer. In this packet filtering is not available. It is of two types: Active Hub,
Passive Hub.

Switch: Switch is a network device which is used to enable the connection

establishment and connection termination on the basis of need. Switch is operated on
the Data link layer. In this packet filtering is available. It is a type of full duplex
transmission mode and it is also called an efficient bridge.

3. A subnet is a network inside a network achieved by the process called subnetting which
helps divide a network into subnets. It is used for getting a higher routing efficiency and
enhances the security of the network. It reduces the time to extract the host address
from the routing table.
4. The reliability of a network can be measured by the following factors:
● Downtime: The downtime is defined as the required time to recover.

● Failure Frequency: It is the frequency when it fails to work the way it is intended.

● Catastrophe: It indicates that the network has been attacked by some unexpected event
such as fire, earthquake.

5. There are mainly two criteria which make a network effective and efficient:
● Performance : performance can be measured in many ways like transmit time and
response time.

● Reliability: reliability is measured by frequency of failure.

● Robustness: robustness specifies the quality or condition of being strong and in good
condition.

● Security: It specifies how to protect data from unauthorized access and viruses.

6. Node and Link : A network is a connection setup of two or more computers directly
connected by some physical mediums like optical fiber or coaxial cable. This physical
medium of connection is known as a link, and the computers that it is connected to are
known as nodes.

7. Gateway and router : A node that is connected to two or more networks is commonly
known as a gateway. It is also known as a router. It is used to forward messages from
one network to another. Both the gateway and router regulate the traffic in the
network. Differences between gateway and router: A router sends the data between
two similar networks while gateway sends the data between two dissimilar networks.
8. NIC (Imp) : NIC stands for Network Interface Card. It is a peripheral card attached to
the PC to connect to a network. Every NIC has its own MAC address that identifies the
PC on the network. It provides a wireless connection to a local area network. NICs were
mainly used in desktop computers.

9. POP3 stands for Post Office Protocol version3. POP is responsible for accessing the
mail service on a client machine. POP3 works on two models such as Delete mode and
Keep mode.

10. Private IP Address - There are three ranges of IP addresses that have been reserved
for IP addresses. They are not valid for use on the internet. If you want to access the
internet on these private IPs, you must use a proxy server or NAT server.

Public IP Address - A public IP address is an address taken by the Internet Service

Provider which facilitates communication on the internet.

11. RAID ( Redundant Array of Inexpensive/Independent Disks): It is a method to provide

Fault Tolerance by using multiple Hard Disc Drives.

12. Netstat : It is a command line utility program. It gives useful information about the
current TCP/IP setting of a connection.
13. Ping : The "ping" is a utility program that allows you to check the connectivity between
the network devices. You can ping devices using its IP address or name.

14. The processes on each machine that communicate at a given layer are called
peer-peer processes. (P2P).

15. Unicasting: If the message is sent to a single node from the source then it is known as
unicasting. This is commonly used in networks to establish a new connection.

Anycasting: If the message is sent to any of the nodes from the source then it is known
as anycasting. It is mainly used to get the content from any of the servers in the Content
Delivery System.

Multicasting: If the message is sent to a subset of nodes from the source then it is
known as multicasting. Used to send the same data to multiple receivers.

Broadcasting: If the message is sent to all the nodes in a network from a source then it
is known as broadcasting. DHCP and ARP in the local network use broadcasting.