Stay Connected

Thursday 13 June 2013

1 - Introduction to Networking

Network is plainly specified as something that connects things conjointly for a particular aim. The condition network is applied in a mixture of contexts of use, admitting telephony, TV, computing device, or even domicile networks.

A computer network connects 2 or many devices together to share a about infinite range of information and services, letting in:

•       Documents
•       Email and messaging

•       Websites
•       Databases

•       Music
•       Printers and faxes

•       Telephony and videoconferencing

Communications protocols are rules that regulate how devices transmit and portion out selective information over a network. Examples of protocols include:

•       IP – Internet Protocol
•       HTTP  - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
•       SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol


Multiple protocols much act jointly to ease end-to-end network communicating, molding protocol suites or stacks. Protocols are covered up in major detail in different guidebooks.

Network reference models were evolved to permit productions by a different manufacturers to inter-operate along a network. A network reference model functions as a pattern, particularisation standards for how protocol communication should go on.

The Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) and Department of Defense (DoD) models are the most wide accepted reference models. Both are addressed in large detail in other guidebook.

Basic Network Types:


Network types are frequently settled by function or size of it. The 2 more common classes of network are:

•     LAN (Local Area Network)

•     WAN (Wide Area Network)


A local area network is commonly a high-velocity network that covers up a limited geographic arena, generally controlled inside a separate building or campus. A LAN is ordinarily under the administrative control of a single organization. Ethernet is the basic LAN technology.

A wide area network can be defined one or two ways. The book definition of a WAN is a network that spans bombastic geographical positions, typically to connect multiple LANs. This is a common definition, and not ever precise.

A more functional definition of a WAN is a network that spans a public or commercialized carrier wave, utilizing one of various WAN technologies. A WAN is oftentimes under the administrative control of various organizations (or suppliers), and doesn't needs to span heavy geographical lengths.

A MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) is another sort of network, though the condition is not prevalently exploited. A MAN is defined as a network that joins LAN’s over a city-wide geographic area.

An internetwork is a general term describing multiple networks linked together. The internet is the heaviest and most well-known internetwork.

A few networks are classified by their function, as different than their size. A SAN (Storage Area Network) provides systems with high-speed, lossless memory access to high-capacity storage devices.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) provides for data to be securely sent across a public or unsecure network, such as the Internet. Basic uses of a VPN are to connect branch agencies or remote users to a central office.


Network Architectures:

A host adds up to any device that's connected to a network. A host can as well be specified as any device allotted a network destination.

A host can function one or more operates:
•    A host can request data, frequently referred to as a client.
•    A host can provide data, much referred to as a server.
•    A host can both request and provide data, much referred to as a peer.

Because of these altering roles, multiple network architectures have been built up, including:

•    Peer-to-Peer(P2P)
•    Client/Server
•    Mainframe/Terminal
In a essential P2P architecture, each hosts on the network can both request and provide information and services. E.g., two Windows XP workstations configured to share files would be considered a peer-to-peer network.

Peer-to-peer networks are very easy to configure, even this architecture presents various challenges. Data is hard to manage and back-up, as it is spread over multiple devices. Security is evenly problematical, as user accounts and permissions often be organised individually on each host.

In a client/server architecture, hosts are appointed particular roles. Clients asking for data and services stored on servers. An example of a client/server network would be Windows XP workstations accessing files off of a Windows 2003 server.

There are lot of advantages to the client/server architecture. Data and services are now centrally settled on one or more servers, consolidating the management and security of that information. As a effect, client/server networks can scale far greater than peer-to-peer networks.

One key disadvantage of the client/server architecture is that the server can deliver a single point of failure. This can be satisfied by adding redundancy at the server layer.

In a mainframe/terminal architecture, a particular device (the mainframe) stores whole data and services for the network. This allows the equal advantages as a client/server architecture - centralized management and security of data.

In addition, the mainframe executes complete processing functions for the dumb terminals that link up to the mainframe. The dumb terminals do no processing whatsoever, but assist only as input and output devices into the mainframe.

In easier terms, the mainframe manages entirely supposing for the dumb terminals. A dumb terminal generally consists of only a keyboard/mouse, a display, and an interface card into the network.

The traditional mainframe architecture is less prevalent now than in the early history of networking. However, the similar thin-client architecture has gained rapid popularity. A thin-client can be implemented as either a hardware device, or software executing on top of other operating system (such as Windows or Linux).

Like dumb terminals, thin-clients need a centralised system to execute entirely (or most) processing functions. User sessions are spawned and carried off totally inside the server system.

Hardware thin-clients are usually cheap, with a minor footprint and low power consumption. For environments with a large list of node devices, the thin-client architecture provides advanced scalability, with a less gross cost of ownership.

The two most common thin-client protocols are:
•    RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) - developed by Microsoft
•    ICA (Independent Computer Architecture) - developed by Citrix