To understand networking protocols, it is useful to know a little about networks. A quick look at the most common network architectures will help later in this book when you read about network operations and routing. The term network usually means a set of computers and peripherals (printers, modems, plotters, scanners, and so on) that are connected together by some medium. The connection can be direct (through a cable) or indirect (through a modem). The different devices on the network communicate with each other through a predefined set of rules (the protocol).
The devices on a network can be in the same room or scattered through a building. They can be separated by many miles through the use of dedicated telephone lines, microwave, or a similar system. They can even be scattered around the world, again connected by a long-distance communications medium. The layout of the network (the actual devices and the manner in which they are connected to each other) is called the network topology.
Usually, if the devices on a network are in a single location such as a building or a group of rooms, they are called a local area network, or LAN. LANs usually have all the devices on the network connected by a single type of network cable. If the devices are scattered widely, such as in different buildings or different cities, they are usually set up into several LANs that are joined together into a larger structure called a wide area network, or WAN. A WAN is composed of two or more LANs. Each LAN has its own network cable connecting all the devices in that LAN. The LANs are joined together by another connection method, often high-speed telephone lines or very fast dedicated network cables called backbones, which I discuss in a moment.
One last point about WANs: they are often treated as a single entity for organizational purposes. For example, the ABC Software company might have branches in four different cities, with a LAN in each city. All four LANs are joined together by high-speed telephone lines. However, as far as the Internet and anyone outside the ABC Software company are concerned, the ABC Software WAN is a single entity. (It has a single domain name for the Internet. Don’t worry if you don’t known what a domain is at this point in time; it refers to a single entity for organizational purposes on the Internet, as you will see later.)
Local Area Networks:-
TCP/IP works across LANs and WANs, and there are several important aspects of LAN and WAN topologies you should know about. You can start with LANs and look at their topologies. Although there are many topologies for LANs, three topologies are dominant: bus, ring, and hub.
The Bus Network:-
The bus network is the simplest, comprising a single main communications pathway with each device attached to the main cable (bus) through a device called a transceiver or junction box. The bus is also called a backbone because it resembles a human spine with ribs emanating from it. From each transceiver on the bus, another cable (often very short) runs to the device's network adapter.
The primary advantage of a bus network is that it allows for a high-speed bus. Another advantage of the bus network is that it is usually immune to problems with any single network card within a device on the network. This is because the transceiver allows traffic through the backbone whether a device is attached to the junction box or not. Each end of the bus is terminated with a block of resistors or a similar electrical device to mark the end of the cable electrically. Each device on the pathway has a special identifying number, or address, that lets the device know that incoming information is for that device.
A bus network is seldom a straight cable. Instead, it is usually twisted around walls and buildings as needed. It does have a single pathway from one end to the other, with each end terminated in some way (usually with a resistor). a logical representation of the network, meaning it has simplified the actual physical appearance of the network into a schematic with straight lines and no real scale to the connections. A physical representation of the network would show how it goes through walls, around desks, and so on. Most devices on the bus network can send or receive data along the bus by packaging a message with the intended recipient's address.
A variation of the bus network topology is found in many small LANs that use Thin Ethernet cable (which looks like television coaxial cable) or twisted-pair cable (which resembles telephone cables). This type of network consists of a length of coaxial cable that snakes from machine to machine. Unlike the bus network , there are no transceivers on the bus. Instead, each device is connected into the bus directly using a T-shaped connector on the network interface card, often using a connector called a BNC. The connector connects the machine to the two neighbors through two cables, one to each neighbor. At the ends of the network, a simple resistor is added to one side of the T-connector to terminate the network electrically.
Each network device has a T-connector attached to the network interface card, leading to its two neighbors. The two ends of the bus are terminated with resistors.
This machine-to-machine (also called peer-to-peer) network is not capable of sustaining the higher speeds of the backbone-based bus network, primarily because of the medium of the network cable. A backbone network can use very high-speed cables such as fiber optics, with smaller (and slower) cables from each transceiver to the device. A machine-to-machine network is usually built using twisted-pair or coaxial cable because these cables are much cheaper and easier to work with. Until recently, machine-to-machine networks were limited to a throughput of about 10 Mbps (megabits per second), although recent developments called 100VG AnyLAN and Fast Ethernet allow 100 Mbps on this type of network.
The advantage of this machine-to-machine bus network is its simplicity. Adding new machines to the network means installing a network card and connecting the new machine into a logical place on the backbone. One major advantage of the machine-to-machine bus network is also its cost: it is probably the lowest cost LAN topology available. The problem with this type of bus network is that if one machine is taken off the network cable, or the network interface card malfunctions, the backbone is broken and must be tied together again with a jumper of some sort or the network might cease to function properly.
The Ring Network:-
A ring network topology is often drawn as its name suggests, shaped like a ring. You might have heard of a token ring network before, which is a ring topology network. You might be disappointed to find no physical ring architecture in a ring network, though.
The term ring is a misnomer because ring networks don't have an unending cable like a bus network with the two terminators joined together. Instead, the ring refers to the design of the central unit that handles the network's message passing. In a token ring network, the central control unit is called a Media Access Unit, or MAU. The MAU has a ring circuit inside it (for which the network topology is named). The ring inside the MAU serves as the bus for devices to obtain messages.
The devices on a network can be in the same room or scattered through a building. They can be separated by many miles through the use of dedicated telephone lines, microwave, or a similar system. They can even be scattered around the world, again connected by a long-distance communications medium. The layout of the network (the actual devices and the manner in which they are connected to each other) is called the network topology.
Usually, if the devices on a network are in a single location such as a building or a group of rooms, they are called a local area network, or LAN. LANs usually have all the devices on the network connected by a single type of network cable. If the devices are scattered widely, such as in different buildings or different cities, they are usually set up into several LANs that are joined together into a larger structure called a wide area network, or WAN. A WAN is composed of two or more LANs. Each LAN has its own network cable connecting all the devices in that LAN. The LANs are joined together by another connection method, often high-speed telephone lines or very fast dedicated network cables called backbones, which I discuss in a moment.
One last point about WANs: they are often treated as a single entity for organizational purposes. For example, the ABC Software company might have branches in four different cities, with a LAN in each city. All four LANs are joined together by high-speed telephone lines. However, as far as the Internet and anyone outside the ABC Software company are concerned, the ABC Software WAN is a single entity. (It has a single domain name for the Internet. Don’t worry if you don’t known what a domain is at this point in time; it refers to a single entity for organizational purposes on the Internet, as you will see later.)
Local Area Networks:-
TCP/IP works across LANs and WANs, and there are several important aspects of LAN and WAN topologies you should know about. You can start with LANs and look at their topologies. Although there are many topologies for LANs, three topologies are dominant: bus, ring, and hub.
The Bus Network:-
The bus network is the simplest, comprising a single main communications pathway with each device attached to the main cable (bus) through a device called a transceiver or junction box. The bus is also called a backbone because it resembles a human spine with ribs emanating from it. From each transceiver on the bus, another cable (often very short) runs to the device's network adapter.
The primary advantage of a bus network is that it allows for a high-speed bus. Another advantage of the bus network is that it is usually immune to problems with any single network card within a device on the network. This is because the transceiver allows traffic through the backbone whether a device is attached to the junction box or not. Each end of the bus is terminated with a block of resistors or a similar electrical device to mark the end of the cable electrically. Each device on the pathway has a special identifying number, or address, that lets the device know that incoming information is for that device.
A bus network is seldom a straight cable. Instead, it is usually twisted around walls and buildings as needed. It does have a single pathway from one end to the other, with each end terminated in some way (usually with a resistor). a logical representation of the network, meaning it has simplified the actual physical appearance of the network into a schematic with straight lines and no real scale to the connections. A physical representation of the network would show how it goes through walls, around desks, and so on. Most devices on the bus network can send or receive data along the bus by packaging a message with the intended recipient's address.
A variation of the bus network topology is found in many small LANs that use Thin Ethernet cable (which looks like television coaxial cable) or twisted-pair cable (which resembles telephone cables). This type of network consists of a length of coaxial cable that snakes from machine to machine. Unlike the bus network , there are no transceivers on the bus. Instead, each device is connected into the bus directly using a T-shaped connector on the network interface card, often using a connector called a BNC. The connector connects the machine to the two neighbors through two cables, one to each neighbor. At the ends of the network, a simple resistor is added to one side of the T-connector to terminate the network electrically.
Each network device has a T-connector attached to the network interface card, leading to its two neighbors. The two ends of the bus are terminated with resistors.
This machine-to-machine (also called peer-to-peer) network is not capable of sustaining the higher speeds of the backbone-based bus network, primarily because of the medium of the network cable. A backbone network can use very high-speed cables such as fiber optics, with smaller (and slower) cables from each transceiver to the device. A machine-to-machine network is usually built using twisted-pair or coaxial cable because these cables are much cheaper and easier to work with. Until recently, machine-to-machine networks were limited to a throughput of about 10 Mbps (megabits per second), although recent developments called 100VG AnyLAN and Fast Ethernet allow 100 Mbps on this type of network.
The advantage of this machine-to-machine bus network is its simplicity. Adding new machines to the network means installing a network card and connecting the new machine into a logical place on the backbone. One major advantage of the machine-to-machine bus network is also its cost: it is probably the lowest cost LAN topology available. The problem with this type of bus network is that if one machine is taken off the network cable, or the network interface card malfunctions, the backbone is broken and must be tied together again with a jumper of some sort or the network might cease to function properly.
The Ring Network:-
A ring network topology is often drawn as its name suggests, shaped like a ring. You might have heard of a token ring network before, which is a ring topology network. You might be disappointed to find no physical ring architecture in a ring network, though.
The term ring is a misnomer because ring networks don't have an unending cable like a bus network with the two terminators joined together. Instead, the ring refers to the design of the central unit that handles the network's message passing. In a token ring network, the central control unit is called a Media Access Unit, or MAU. The MAU has a ring circuit inside it (for which the network topology is named). The ring inside the MAU serves as the bus for devices to obtain messages.
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