Computer Communication

Humans have always communicated. In the beginning of mankind, man and woman used speech and body languages. Nowadays, we also use telecommunication technology for communication. During the relative short era of computers we have developed languages and rules for communication between them. These languages and rules are called protocols. The most well known protocols are TCP/IP, used in the Internet. In our research, we focus on radio based computer communication. Our vision is to provide the same mobility to the user as the cellular phone, with the same communication performance, cost and quality as the fixed wired networks.

The success of the Internet has been tremendous. The original design of the Internet protocols has scaled to a worldwide network with millions of computers interconnected by wires and optical fibers. However, the Internet protocols and technology do not scale that well for mobile and wireless computers since the original protocols assumed that the computers were relatively stationary. They also have problems to meet the requirements from new applications, such as peer-to-peer networking. In our research we study new protocols that can handle the mobility better and that give better support and higher performance for new applications. In the future, computers will be so common in our everyday appliances and mobile units that we will not react on them. Wireless embedded sensor networks with powerful CPUs will be common. All these computers will be able to communicate with each other, often over wireless networks. But, in the future we will not have the time, or the desire to configure this massive amount of computers and networks that we constantly will have around us. Instead, the computers must configure and set-up networks themselves for their task at hand. A significant part of our research studies such spontaneous autonomic networks, created for the situation and moment. It could be an ad-hoc network of mobile phones for a disaster area where the stationary infra-structure is broken. A major part of our research is in the area wireless sensor networks within the Uppsala WISENET center of Excellence. These self-configuring protocols must be trustworthy, i.e. reliable and secure, to be accepted. We study how authentication of correct users can be done automatically and how protocols could ensure transmission integrity when computers join and leave different networks. Another important property for trustworthiness is the resilience against computer viruses and other malicious attacks.

COMPUTER NETWORK
A computer network is an interconnection of various computer systems located at different places.

In computer network two or more computers are linked together with a medium and data communication devices for the purpose of communicating data and sharing resources. The computer that provides resources to other computers on a network is known as server. In the network the individual computers, which access shared network resources, are known as workstations or nodes. Computer Networks may be classified on the basis of geographical area in two broad categories. 1. Local Area Network (LAN) 2. Wide Area Network (WAN)

Local Area Network

Networks used to interconnect computers in a single room, rooms within a building or buildings on one site are called Local Area Network (LAN). LAN transmits data with a speed of several megabits per second (106 bits per second). The transmission medium is normally coaxial cables.

LAN links computers, i.e., software and hardware, in the same area for the purpose of sharing information. Usually LAN links computers within a limited geographical area because they must be connected by a cable, which is quite expensive. People working in LAN get more capabilities in data processing, work processing and other information exchange compared to stand-alone computers. Because of this information exchange most of the business and government organisations are using LAN.

Major Characteristics of LAN

y y y y y

every computer has the potential to communicate with any other computers of the network high degree of interconnection between computers easy physical connection of computers in a network inexpensive medium of data transmission high data transmission rate

Advantages
y y y y

The reliability of network is high because the failure of one computer in the network does not effect the functioning for other computers. Addition of new computer to network is easy. High rate of data transmission is possible. Peripheral devices like magnetic disk and printer can be shared by other computers.

Disadvantages
If the communication line fails, the entire network system breaks down.

Use of LAN
Followings are the major areas where LAN is normally used
y y y y y y

File transfers and Access Word and text processing Electronic message handling Remote database access Personal computing Digital voice transmission and storage

Wide Area Network

The term Wide Area Network (WAN) is used to describe a computer network spanning a regional, national or global area. For example, for a large company the head quarters might be at Delhi and regional branches at Bombay, Madras, Bangalore and Calcutta. Here regional centers are connected to head quarters through WAN. The distance between computers connected to WAN is larger. Therefore the transmission medium used are normally telephone lines, microwaves and satellite links.

Characteristics of WAN
Followings are the major characteristics of WAN.

1. Communication Facility: For a big company spanning over different parts of the country the employees can save long distance phone calls and it overcomes the time lag in overseas communications. Computer conferencing is another use of WAN where users communicate with each other through their computer system. 2. Remote Data Entry: Remote data entry is possible in WAN. It means sitting at any location you can enter data, update data and query other information of any computer attached to the WAN but located in other cities. For example, suppose you are sitting at Madras and want to see some data of a computer located at Delhi, you can do it through WAN. 3. Centralised Information: In modern computerised environment you will find that big organisations go for centralised data storage. This means if the organisation is spread over many cities, they keep their important business data in a single place. As the data are generated at different sites, WAN permits collection of this data from different sites and save at a single site.

Examples of WAN
1. Ethernet: Ethernet developed by Xerox Corporation is a famous example of WAN. This network uses coaxial cables for data transmission. Special integrated circuit chips called controllers are used to connect equipment to the cable.

2. Aparnet: The Aparnet is another example of WAN. It was developed at Advanced Research Projects Agency of U. S. Department. This Network connects more than 40 universities and institutions throughout USA and Europe.

Difference between LAN and WAN

LAN is restricted to limited geographical area of few kilometers. But WAN covers great distance and operate nationwide or even worldwide. In LAN, the computer terminals and peripheral devices are connected with wires and coaxial cables. In WAN there is no physical connection. Communication is done through telephone lines and satellite links. Cost of data transmission in LAN is less because the transmission medium is owned by a single organisation. In case of WAN the cost of data transmission is very high because the transmission medium used are hired, either telephone lines or satellite links. The speed of data transmission is much higher in LAN than in WAN. The transmission speed in LAN varies from 0.1 to 100 megabits per second. In case of WAN the speed ranges from 1800 to 9600 bits per second (bps).

Few data transmission errors occur in LAN compared to WAN. It is because in LAN the distance covered is negligible.

INTERNET
The Internet is a network of networks. Millions of computers all over the world are connected through the Internet. Computer users on the Internet can contact one another anywhere in the world. If your computer is connected to the Internet, you can connect to millions of computers. You can gather information and distribute your data. It is very much similar to the telephone connection where you can talk with any person anywhere in the world. In Internet a huge resource of information is accessible to people across the world. Information in every field starting from education, science, health, medicine, history, and geography to business, news, etc. can be retrieved through Internet. You can also download programs and software packages from anywhere in the world. Due to the tremendous information resources the Internet can provide, it is now indispensable to every organisation.

Origin of Internet
In 1969 Department of Defence (DOD) of USA started a network called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Administration Network) with one computer at California and three at Utah. Later on other universities and R & D institutions were allowed to connect to the Network. APARNET quickly grew to encompass the entire American continent and became a huge success. Every university in the country wanted to become a part of ARPANET. So the network was broken into two smaller parts MILNET for managing military sites and ARPANET (smaller) for managing non-military sites. Around 1980, NSFNET (National Science Foundation Network) was created. With the advancement of modern communication facilities, other computers were also allowed to be linked up with any computer of NSFNET. By 1990 many computers were looking up to NSFNET giving birth to Internet.

How Internet functions

Internet is not a governmental organisation. The ultimate authority of the Internet is the Internet Society. This is a voluntary membership organisation whose purpose is to promote global information exchange. Internet has more than one million computers attached to it.

E-mail
E-mail stands for electronic mail. This is one of the most widely used features of Internet. Mails are regularly used today where with the help of postage stamp we can transfer mails anywhere in the world. With electronic mail the service is similar. But here data are transmitted through Internet and therefore within minutes the message reaches the destination may it be anywhere in the world. Therefore the mailing system is excessively fast and is being used widely for mail transfer.

Peer-to-Peer Network
In its simplest form, a peer-to-peer (P2P) network is created when two or more PCs are connected and share resources without going through a separate server computer. A P2P network can be an ad hoc connectiona couple of computers connected via a Universal Serial Bus to transfer files. A P2P network also can be a permanent infrastructure that links a half-dozen computers in a small office over copper wires. Or a P2P network can be a network on a much grander scale in which special protocols and applications set up direct relationships among users over the Internet. The initial use of P2P networks in business followed the deployment in the early 1980s of free-standing PCs. In contrast to the minimainframes of the day, such as the VS system from Wang Laboratories Inc., which served up word processing and other applications to dumb terminals from a central computer and stored files on a central hard drive, the then-new PCs had self-contained hard drives and built-in CPUs. The smart boxes also had onboard applications, which meant they could be deployed to desktops and be useful without an umbilical cord linking them to a mainframe.

Many workers felt liberated by having dedicated PCs on their desktops. But soon they needed a way to share files and printers. The obvious solution was to save files to a floppy disk and carry the disk to the intended recipient or send it by interoffice mail.

Sneaker Nets
That practice resulted in the term "sneaker net." The most frequent endpoint of a typical sneaker net was the worker who had a printer connected to his machine. While sneaker nets seemed an odd mix of the newest technology and the oldest form of transportation, the model is really the basis for today's small P2P workgroups. Whereas earlier centralized computing models and today's client/server systems are generally considered controlled environments in which individuals use their PCs in ways determined by a higher authority, a classic P2P workgroup network is all about openly sharing files and devices. In general, office and home P2P networks operate over Ethernet (10M bit/sec.) or Fast Ethernet (100M bit/sec.) and employ a hub-and-spoke topology. Category 5 (twisted-pair) copper wire runs among the PCs and an Ethernet hub or switch, enabling users of those networked PCs access to one another's hard drives, printers or perhaps a shared Internet connection.

Navigating a P2P Network

This diagram shows how a P2P network operates. The solid lines indicate physical, hard-wired network cables. The dotted lines indicate that each PC can communicate and share files with every other PC on such a network. A printer attached to one PC can be used by other PCs on the networkif that printers PC allows such use.

Client and Server Network

The term client-server refers to a popular model for computer networking that utilizes client and server devices each designed for specific purposes. The clientserver model can be used on the Internet as well as local area networks (LANs). Examples of client-server systems on the Internet include Web browsers and Web servers, FTP clients and servers, and DNS.

Client and Server Devices

Client/server networking grew in popularity many years ago as personal computers (PCs) became the common alternative to older mainframe computers. Client devices are typically PCs with network software applications installed that request and receive information over the network. Mobile devices as well as desktop computers can both function as clients. A server device typically stores files and databases including more complex applications like Web sites. Server devices often feature higher-powered central processors, more memory, and larger disk drives than clients.

Client-Server Applications
The client-server model distinguishes between applications as well as devices. Network clients make requests to a server by sending messages, and servers respond to their clients by acting on each request and returning results. One server generally supports numerous clients, and multiple servers can be networked together in a pool to handle the increased processing load as the number of clients grows. A client computer and a server computer are usually two separate devices, each customized for their designed purpose. For example, a Web client works best with a large screen display, while a Web server does not need any display at all and can be located anywhere in the world. However, in some cases a given device can function both as a client and a server for the same application. Likewise, a device that is a server for one application can simultaneously act as a client to other servers, for different applications. [Some of the most popular applications on the Internet follow the client-server model including email, FTP and Web services. Each of these clients features a user interface (either graphic- or text-based) and a client application that allows the user to connect to servers. In the case of email and FTP, users enter a computer name (or sometimes an IP address) into the interface to set up connections to the server.

Local Client-Server Networks

Many home networks utilize client-server systems without even realizing it. Broadband routers, for example, contain DHCP servers that provide IP addresses to the home computers (DHCP clients). Other types of network servers found in home include print servers and backup servers.

Client-Server vs Peer-to-Peer and Other Models

The client-server model was originally developed to allow more users to share access to database applications. Compared to the mainframe approach, clientserver offers improved scalability because connections can be made as needed rather than being fixed. The client-server model also supports modular applications that can make the job of creating software easier. In so-called "two-tier" and "three-tier" types of client-server systems, software applications are separated into modular pieces, and each piece is installed on clients or servers specialized for that subsystem. Client-server is just one approach to managing network applications The primary alternative, peer-to-peer networking, models all devices as having equivalent capability rather than specialized client or server roles. Compared to client-server, peer to peer networks offer some advantages such as more flexibility in growing the system to handle large number of clients. Client-server networks generally offer advantages in keeping data secure.

Acknowledgement
It is a great pleasure for me to acknowledge the assistance and contributions of many individuals in making this dissertation a success. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Ms. Monika gupta for his assistance, ideas, and feedbacks during the process in doing this project. Without his guidance and support, this project cannot be completed on time. Secondly, it is a pleasure to express my thanks to all my friends for contributing with valuable suggestions. Lastly, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my family for their encouragement and moral support.

Harshvardhan

A PROJECT
COMPUTER COMMUNICATION

Submitted by: Harshvardhan sheoran gupta Roll no: 17

Submitted to: Ms. Monika