CCN

CHAPTER 1

BY SAMARTH URANKAR
 Computer Network

• A computer network is a system in which multiple computers are connected to each other to share information and
resources.
• The connection between networked computing devices is established using either cable media or wireless media.

• The best-known computer network is the Internet.

 Advantages of Computer Networks  Disadvantages of Computer Networks

 File sharing  Lack of data security and privacy

 Resource sharing  Presence of computer viruses and malware
 Better connectivity and communications
 Internet access
 Entertainment

 Use (Applications) of Computer Networks

 Financial services
 Business
 Email services
 Mobile applications
 Types of Computer Networks

 LAN (Local Area Network)

 WAN (Wide Area Network)
 MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

 Internet

• The internet is a type of world-wide computer network.

• The Internet is a computer network that interconnects hundreds of millions of computing devices throughout the
world.
 Protocol

• A protocol is a set of rules that govern (manages) data communications.

• Protocols are also language that is used to communicate between the hosts or the different devices in the internet.
• Protocols define methods of communication, how to communicate when to communicate etc.

• Important elements of protocols are :

1. Syntax 2. Semantics 3. Timing

• Example: HTTP, IP, FTP etc…

 The Network Edge

• It defines those computers of the network used at the edge (end) of the network. These computers are known as
hosts or end system.
• A host can be classified into the following two types:
 Clients: Refer to the computer systems that request servers for the completion of a task.
The clients are generally called desktop PCs or workstations.

 Servers: Refer to the computer systems that receive requests from the clients and process them. After the processing
is complete, the servers send a reply to the clients who sent the request.
• The concept of clients and servers is essential in the network design. The various networks design models are as follows:

1. Peer to Peer network 2. Client-Server

network

 Peer to Peer network

• In this network group of computers is connected together so that users can share resources and information.

• There is no central location (server) for authenticating users, storing files, or accessing resources and each of them work
as both client and server.
• This means that users must remember which computers in the workgroup have the shared resource or information that
they want to access.

Advantage: Disadvantage:
 It is easy to set up.  There is no central backup of files and folders.

 The network implementation is quite cheap.  The speed of the network decreases due to heavy usage
 Network and data security are weak.
 Client/Server network

• A client/server network is a system where one or more computers called clients to connect to a central computer named as
a server to share or use resources.
• The client requests a service from a server, which may include running an application, querying a database, printing a
document, performing a backup or recovery procedure. The request made by the client is handled by a server.

Advantage: Disadvantage:

 The server system holds the shared files.  The implementation of the network is quite expensive.
 The software applications shared by the  If a server fails, the entire network crashes.
server are accessible to the clients.
 Techniques used in data communications to transfer data

1. Connection-oriented method 2. Connectionless method

 Connection-oriented method

• Connection-oriented communication includes the steps of setting up a call from one computer to another,
transmitting/receiving data, and then releasing the call, just like a voice phone call.

• Connection-oriented communication is done in one of two ways over a packet switched network:

1. Without virtual circuits 2. With virtual circuits.

 Connectionless method

• Connectionless communication is just packet switching where no call establishment and release occur.

• A message is broken into packets, and each packet is transferred separately. Moreover, the packets can travel a different
route to the destination since there is no connection.
 Transmission Media

• A transmission media can be defined as anything that can carry information from a source to a destination.

• On the basis of transmission of data, the transmission media can be classified into two categories:
1. Guided (Physical OR wired) transmission media
2. Unguided (Wireless) transmission media
 Guided Transmission Media

• Guided media are those that provide a channel from one device to another.

• The three Guided (Physical) media commonly used for data transmission are:

1. Twisted-Pair 2. Coaxial 3. Fiber Optics

1. Twisted Pair

• A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires, typically about 1 mm thick.
• The wires are twisted together in a helical form, just like a DNA molecule.
• Twisting is done because two parallel wires constitute a fine antenna.
• When the wires are twisted, the waves from different twists cancel out, so the wire radiates less effectively.
• Types of Twisted-Pair Cable

1) Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)

o Twisted pair cabling comes in several varieties, two of which are important for computer networks.

Category 3 : twisted pairs consist of two insulated wires gently twisted together.

Category 5 : is the more advanced twisted pairs were introduced.

2) Shielded twisted-pair (STP).

o STP cable has a metal foil covering that encases each pair of insulated conductors
o It is bulkier and more expensive.
2. Coaxial Cable

• It has better shielding than twisted pairs, so it can span longer distances at higher speeds.
• Two kinds of the coaxial cable are widely used. One kind is a 50-ohm cable which is commonly used for digital
transmission & The other kind is a 75-ohm cable which is commonly used for analog transmission.
• Coaxial cables used is widely used within the telephone system for long-distance lines but have now largely been
replaced by fiber optics on long-haul routes

• The bandwidth possible depends on the cable quality, length, and signal-to-noise ratio of the data signal. Modern cables
have a bandwidth of close to 1 GHz.
3. Fiber Optics

• A fiber-optic cable is made of glass or plastic and transmits signals in the form of light.
• Optical fibers use reflection to guide light through a channel.
• Fiber optic cables are similar to coax, except without the braid
 Unguided (Wireless) transmission media

• Unguided media transport electromagnetic waves without using a physical conductor. This type of communication is often
referred to as wireless communication.
1. Radio Transmission 3. Infrared
2. Microwave Transmission 4. Lightwave Transmission
 The Network Core

• Network core defines the connection of different network segments together and the process to transmit the data packets
across the network.
• The network core is implemented through the use of switching techniques.
• The classification of a switching network is shown below:
 Circuit Switching

• Circuit switching is used in public telephone networks

• Communication via circuit switching involves three phases:

1. Circuit Establishment
2. Data Transfer
3. Circuit Disconnect
• Developed for Interconnection of telephones within a
building or office.
• In circuit switching, a direct physical connection between two devices is created by
 space-division switches
 time-division switches

 Packet Switching

• Packet switching was designed to provide a more efficient facility than circuit-switching for burst
data traffic.
• With packet switching, a station transmits data in small blocks, called packets
• Each packet contains some portion of the user data plus control info needed for proper functioning of the
network.
• Examples of packet switching networks are X.25, Frame Relay, ATM and IP.
• Packets handled in two ways:
1. Datagram
o Each packet treated independently
o Packets may arrive out of order
o Packets may go missing

2. Virtual Circuit
o Pre-planned route established before any packets sent.
o Each packet contains a Virtual Circuit Identifier (VCI) instead of a destination address
o No routing decisions required for each packet

 Message Switching

• This technique was somewhere in the middle of circuit switching and packet switching.
• In message switching, the whole message is treated as a data unit and is transferred in its
entirety.
 Understanding of Delay, Loss, and Throughput in the Packet Switching Network

• As a packet travels from one node (host or router) to the subsequent node (host or router) along this path, the packet
suffers from several types of delays at each node along the path.

• The most important of these delays are the

1. Nodal processing delay
2. Queuing delay
3. Transmission delay
4. Propagation delay

 Processing Delay
• The time required to examine the packet’s header and determine where to direct the packet is part of the processing
delay.
• It is typically on the order of microseconds or less.

 Queuing Delay
• At the queue, the packet experiences a queuing delay as it waits to be transmitted onto the link.
• On the other hand, if the traffic is heavy and many other packets are also waiting to be transmitted, the queuing delay
will be long.
• Queuing delays can be on the order of microseconds to milliseconds.
 Transmission Delay

• Assuming that packets are transmitted in a first-come-first-served manner like packet-switched networks.
• The transmission delay is L/R.
L = length of the packet
R = transmission rate of the link from a router to a router

• Transmission delays are typically on the order of microseconds to milliseconds

 Propagation Delay

• Once a bit is pushed into the link, it needs to propagate to router B. The time required to propagate from the beginning of
the link to router B is the propagation delay.
• Propagations delay=d (Length of Physical Link) /s (Propagation speed in medium).
• Propagation delays are on the order of milliseconds.

 Packet Loss

• Packet loss is the failure of one or more transmitted packets to arrive at their destination.
• It affects the performance of the network.
 Throughput

• Throughput or Network Throughput is the rate of successful message delivery over a communication channel.

• Throughput is usually measured in bits per second (bit/s or bps)

 Protocols layers and their service model

 OSI Layer Architecture

• The model is called the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Reference Model because it deals with connecting open
systems—that is, systems that are open for communication with other systems.

• The OSI model has seven layers.

1. Physical Layer
2. Data Link Layer
3. Network Layer
4. Transport Layer
5. Session Layer
6. Presentation Layer
7. Application Layer
 Networks under attack

Many people rely on the Internet for many of their professional, social and personal activities. But there are also people who
attempt to damage our Internet-connected computers, violate our privacy and render inoperable the Internet services. 

Malware – short for malicious software which is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain authorized access to a
computer system. Much of the malware out there today is self-replicating: once it infects one host, from that host it seeks
entry into other hosts over the Internet, and from the newly infected hosts, it seeks entry into yet more hosts. In this manner,
self-replicating malware can spread exponentially fast. 
Virus – A malware which requires some form of user’s interaction to infect the user’s device. The classic example is an e-mail
attachment containing malicious executable code. If a user receives and opens such an attachment, the user inadvertently runs
the malware on the device. 

Worm – A malware which can enter a device without any explicit user interaction. For example, a user may be running a
vulnerable network application to which an attacker can send malware. In some cases, without any user intervention, the
application may accept the malware from the Internet and run it, creating a worm. 

Botnet – A network of private computers infected with malicious software and controlled as a group without the owners’
knowledge, e.g. to send spam. 
DoS (Denial of Service) – A DoS attack renders a network, host, or other pieces of infrastructure unusable by legitimate users.
Most Internet DoS attacks fall into one of three categories : 

• Vulnerability attack: This involves sending a few well-crafted messages to a vulnerable application or operating system
running on a targeted host. If the right sequence of packets is sent to a vulnerable application or operating system, the service
can stop or, worse, the host can crash.
 
• Bandwidth flooding: The attacker sends a deluge of packets to the targeted host—so many packets that the target’s access link
becomes clogged, preventing legitimate packets from reaching the server. 

• Connection flooding: The attacker establishes a large number of half-open or fully open TCP connections at the target host.
The host can become so bogged down with these bogus connections that it stops accepting legitimate connections. 

DDoS (Distributed DoS) – DDoS is a type of DOS attack where multiple compromised systems, are used to target a single
system causing a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. DDoS attacks leveraging botnets with thousands of comprised hosts are a
common occurrence today. DDoS attacks are much harder to detect and defend against than a DoS attack from a single host.
 
Packet sniffer – A passive receiver that records a copy of every packet that flies by is called a packet sniffer. By placing a
passive receiver in the vicinity of the wireless transmitter, that receiver can obtain a copy of every packet that is transmitted!
These packets can contain all kinds of sensitive information, including passwords, social security numbers, trade secrets, and
private personal messages. some of the best defenses against packet sniffing involve cryptography. 
IP Spoofing – The ability to inject packets into the Internet with a false source address is known as IP spoofing, and is but one
of many ways in which one user can masquerade as another user. To solve this problem, we will need end-point authentication,
that is, a mechanism that will allow us to determine with certainty if a message originates from where we think it does.
Topics which are not included in this PPT

 Explanation of OSI layers

 Difference b/w circuit switching and packet switching