Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

Introduction,OSI, TCP/IP and Other Networks Models, Network Topologies WAN, LAN, MAN. Examples of Networks: Novell Networks, Arpanet, Internet --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer Network interconnected collection of autonomous computers Interconnected computers that are able to exchange information Autonomous if no computer can forcibly start, stop or control another one Distributed System it is a virtual uniprocessor Allocation of jobs to processors and files to disks, movement of files between where they are needed, and all other system functions are automatic in distributed systems. (Transparent not visible to the user) Where as in CNs the transmission between systems is controlled explicitly by the user

Goals of Computer networks 1. Resource Sharing To make all programs, equipment and data available to anyone in the network 2. High reliability By having alternative sources of supply 3. Saving Money Network of small computers can replace larger ones (like Mainframes) and there by the expenditure can be reduced 4. Communication Like e-mails, video conference...etc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is the big deal about computer networks?

- Allows two or more computers to communicate - Benefits o Programs can be shared - software packages can be installed onto the file server and accessed by all individual workstations at the same time. This reduces cost, maintenance and makes upgrades easier. o You can access your work from any workstation on the network. Very handy if you have to change computer every time you go to a different classroom. o Data can be shared by all users at the same time. Many people can access or update the information held on a database at the same time. Thus information is up to date and accurate. o Users can communicate with others on the network by sending messages and sharing files. o Individual workstations do not need a printer; one high quality printer can now be shared by everyone, thus cutting costs. o Networks provide security. A user must have the correct Password and User ID in order to be able to access the information on the network. o Private areas on the network can be set up that allows each user to store their personal files. The only other person who can access these files is the 'system administrator' who looks after the network. - Disadvantages o Networks can be expensive to set up. They often involve taking up floors and ceilings to lay hundreds of feet of cables o The File Server needs to be a powerful computer, which often means that it is expensive. o Networks are vulnerable to security problems. Hackers, disgruntled employees or even competitors might try to break into the system to read or damage crucial information. Much effort is spent preventing unauthorized access to data and software. o If the main File Server breaks down, then the whole system becomes useless and no one can carry on working. o Because networks are often complicated, they need expensive expert staff to look after them. o As the number of users increase on the network, the performance of the system can be affected and things start to slow down. o Malware, such as worms, easily spread on computer networks and not on stand alone computers.

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Computer Networks Client Server Model Client machine machine Client process Server process

Unit-I

Introduction Server

Request Reply Packet a short form of message that travels in a network Data address

Network Hardware
Computer Networks
Based on type of transmission technology

Broadcast N/Ws Broadcasting

Point-to-Point N/Ws

Sending a message to all the nodes (computers) in a network To broadcast a message the address field in the packet must contain some special code. Data Address Special code xxx.xxx.xxx.255 (for Directed broadcasting) 255.255.255.255(for Limited broadcasting) Directed broadcasting the message is broadcasted to all the nodes in some other network Limited broadcasting the message is broadcasted to all the nodes in the same network Multicasting Sending a message to some group of nodes in a network Point-to-Point Networks In this type of networks there is a need for many connections between every pair of computers. And the message is subjected to only one destination.

Intermediate nodes

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Computer Networks

Unit-I Intermediate nodes must be able to select the best route among the available using some Routing Algorithms

Introduction

Computer Networks
Based on scale of the network

LAN 10m 100m 1Km 10Km 100Km 1000Km 10000Km

MAN Room Building Campus LAN City MAN Country Continent WAN Whole world

WAN

Internet

Topology the arrangement of nodes in a network Some possible topologies are

Bus

Mesh

Ring

Star

Tree LAN (Local Area Network)

Irregular

LANs cover small geographical areas like a room/campus Generally LANs runs at 10-100 Mbps Possible topologies for LAN are Bus and Ring Bus only one master is allowed to transmit data at a time To resolve conflicts in a network we need some control that can be either centralized or distributed. Eg: - Ethernet (IEEE 802.6) It is a Bus based broadcast network that uses a decentralized control and runs at 10-100 Mbps. In Ethernet any node can transmit data at anytime. So there is every chance for collisions. If a collision occurs the nodes involved in transmission waits for sometime and retransmit the same data. Ring some arbitration mechanism is required in ring type networks
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Computer Networks Unit-I Eg: - IBM Token Ring (IEEE 802.3) Runs at 4 and 16 Mbps

Introduction

Allocating communication channel to a system can be done in two ways: 1. Static Allocation 2. Dynamic Allocation Static allocation divides time into slots & runs a round robin algorithm But if a system has nothing to transfer time network will be in idle state throughout that time slot. Channel capacity will get wasted by this. Dynamic allocation it can be either centralized or decentralized MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) Almost similar to LAN but a special standard is defined for MANs IEEE 802.6 DQDB (Distributed Queue Dual Bus) Bus A 1 Bus B DQDB consists of two unidirectional buses to which all the nodes are connected. Each bus has a head-end system that initiates transmission activity. Traffic to the right uses the upper bus. Traffic to the left uses the lower bus. WAN (Wide Area Network) WAN contains a collection of hosts/end systems connected by communication subnet/subnet. Subnet is a collection of switching elements (routers) that connects two or more transmission lines (channels/circuits/trunks). 2 3 4

Channel

Subnet the collection of routers and communication lines that moved packets from the source host to destination host Some routers copy the message they received and pass it to the next node only when the output line is free. Subnets that use this type of routers are called as Point-toPoint/Store and Forward/Packet Switched subnets. Internetwork (internet) A collection of interconnected networks Common form of internet is a collection of LANs connected by a WAN We use Gateways/Routers/Brouters/Bridges to connect 2 or more networks

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Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

Network Software
To reduce design complexity network software is organized as layers. Each layer offers some services to the higher layers. For this we need some rules and conventions called as protocol. Protocol an agreement between the communicating parties on how communication is to proceed

Interface defines which services the lower layer offering to its upper one Protocol stack collection protocols used in all the layers Network Architecture set of layers + protocols

At source system when data is passing down each layer adds some header information which used by the same layer in the destination side. Some layers fragment the data for sophisticated transmission. At destination system when data is passing up to the higher layers headers are removed and data is reassembled. Design issues for the layers: 1. Mechanism to identify senders and receivers 2. Type of communication 3. Mechanism to determine logical channels and their priorities 4. Error control 5. Sequencing 6. Flow control (to synchronize between fast sender and a slow receiver) 7. Disassembling & reassembling 8. Choosing a route Types of communication Simplex data can be transmitted in only one way Half Duplex data can be transmitted in both the ways but only one way at a time Full Duplex both the ways at a time Entity active elements present in each layer. Entities can be either hardware (an intelligent I/O chip) or software (a process) entities.
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Computer Networks Unit-I Peer entity entities present in same layer but on different machines

Introduction

SAP point where services are available. identification.

Each SAP has a unique address for

To exchange information two layers must have an agreement between them. That agreement is done by passing an IDU through SAP. IDU ICI + SDU SDU passed to the peer entity & then to layer n+1 ICI it is not part of data but passed to the lower layers to do some job SDU is fragmented and header is added to it PDU PDU header is used by peer entities to carryout peer protocol A service is said to be reliable if there is no data lose. Reliability can be achieved by using acknowledgements to the data sent. But acknowledgements may result in extra overhead and delay in transmission. Connection Oriented Service Eg: - telephone system Connection is established, used and then released Order of packets at both the sender and receiver sides is same Highly reliable The variations in connection oriented service are Message sequence Message boundaries are defined (eg:- transmitting a book (sequence of pages)) Byte stream Message boundaries are not necessary and data is sent as a sequence of bytes (eg:- remote login) Unreliable connection oriented service Acknowledgement is not necessary (eg:- digitized voice no problem even though some data (voice) is lost but delays(because of acknowledgements) should be avoided) Connectionless Service Eg:- postal system Less reliable Datagram service unreliable (no ack.) connectionless service (eg:- e-mail) Acknowledged datagram service connectionless service with acknowledgements (eg:- registered letter) Request Reply service request is sent as one datagram and the answer is a reply for the request (eg:- database request)

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Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

Service Primitives Service is defined as set of operations called primitives. Some basic primitives are: Primitive Request Meaning Parameters Entity wants the service to do some Machine to request, type of work service desired and maximum message size to be used on the connection Entity is to be informed about an Callers identity, type of service event desired and proposed packet size Entity wants to respond to an event The response to an earlier request has came back

Indication Response Confirm

Example of a connection oriented service with eight primitives CONNECT.Request CONNECT.Indicatio n CONNECT.Respons e CONNECT.Confirm DATA.Request DATA.Indication DISCONNECT.Requ est DISCONNECT.Indica tion Request a connection to be established Signal the called party service Used by the callee to accept/reject calls Tell the caller whether the call was accepted Request that data be sent Signal the arrival of Unconfirmed services Request that a connection be released Signal the peer about the request Confirmed

data

Service a set of primitives that a layer provides to the layer above it Protocol set of rules governing the format and meaning of the frames, packets or messages that are exchanged by the peer entities with in a layer A Reference model is the set of rules to be followed before constructing a new network

ISO OSI Reference Model

ISO International Standard Organization OSI Open Systems Interconnection Open systems systems those are open for communication

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Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

Physical Layer It mainly deals with transmitting raw bits over communication channel Design issues are: Data How a bit should be represented? What is the transmission type? How to establish a connection? How many pins the network connector has & their purpose? Link Layer

Error control Flow control Framing Access control Network Layer Routing Congestion control Addressing

Transport Layer Segmentation & Reassembling Flow control This is a pure end-to-end layer If there are many connections to a single host transport header helps us to distinguish among them Session Layer Establish sessions Token management Synchronization (like adding checkpoints to downloading files) Presentation Layer Concerns with syntax and semantics of the information Encoding Compression Encryption Application Layer Transferring data between incompatible systems
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Computer Networks UID User Interface Design Contains majority of protocols

Unit-I

Introduction

Work stations, Gateways Hub Switch, Bridge Router

Servers, All the 7 layers are present Only Physical layer Physical layer + Data link layer Physical layer + Data link layer + Network layer

Physical Layer
This layer is the lowest layer in the OSI model. It helps in the transmission of data between two machines that are communicating through a physical medium, which can be optical fibres, copper wire or wireless etc. The following are the main functions of the physical layer: 1. Hardware Specification: The details of the physical cables, network interface cards, wireless radios, etc are a part of this layer. Coaxial Cable Hybrid Cable Wireless Card Network Card

2. Encoding and Signaling: How are the bits encoded in the medium is also decided by this layer. For example, on the copper wire medium, we can use different voltage levels for a certain time interval to represent '0' and '1'. We may use +5mV for 1nsec to represent '1' and -5mV for 1nsec to represent '0'. All the issues of modulation is dealt with in this layer. eg, we may use Binary phase shift keying for the representation of '1' and '0' rather than using different voltage levels if we have to transfer in RF waves.

Binary Phase Shift Keying 3. Data Transmission and Reception: The transfer of each bit of data is the responsibility of this layer. This layer assures the transmission of each bit with a high probability. The transmission of the bits is not completely reliable as there is no error correction in this layer. 4. Topology and Network Design: The network design is the integral part of the physical layer. Which part of the network is the router going to be placed, where the switches will be used, where we will put the hubs, how many machines is each switch going to handle, what server is going to be placed where, and many such concerns are to be taken care of by the physical layer. The various kinds of net topologies that we decide to use may be ring, bus, star or a hybrid of these topologies depending on our requirements.

Network Topologies

A network topology is the basic design of a computer network. It is very much like a map of a road. It details how key network components such as nodes and links are interconnected. A network's topology is comparable to the blueprints of a new home in which components such as the electrical system, heating and air conditioning system, and plumbing are integrated into the Page | 9

Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

overall design. Taken from the Greek work "Topos" meaning "Place," Topology, in relation to networking, describes the configuration of the network; including the location of the workstations and wiring connections. Basically it provides a definition of the components of a Local Area Network (LAN). A topology, which is a pattern of interconnections among nodes, influences a network's cost and performance. There are three primary types of network topologies which refer to the physical and logical layout of the Network cabling. They are: 1. Star Topology: All devices connected with a Star setup communicate through a central Hub by cable segments. Signals are transmitted and received through the Hub. It is the simplest and the oldest and all the telephone switches are based on this. In a star topology, each network device has a home run of cabling back to a network hub, giving each device a separate connection to the network. So, there can be multiple connections in parallel.

Advantages
Network administration and error detection is easier because problem is isolated to central node Networks runs even if one host fails Expansion becomes easier and scalability of the network increases More suited for larger networks Broadcasting and multicasting is not easy because some extra functionality needs to be provided to the central hub If the central node fails, the whole network goes down; thus making the switch some kind of a bottleneck Installation costs are high because each node needs to be connected to the central switch

Disadvantages

2. Bus Topology: The simplest and one of the most common of all topologies, Bus consists of a single cable, called a Backbone, that connects all workstations on the network using a single line. All transmissions must pass through each of the connected devices to complete the desired request. Each workstation has its own individual signal that identifies it and allows for the requested data to be returned to the correct originator. In the Bus Network, messages are sent in both directions from a single point and are read by the node (computer or peripheral on the network) identified by the code with the message. Most Local Area Networks (LANs) are Bus Networks because the network will continue to function even if one computer is down. This topology works equally well for either peer to peer or client server.

The purpose of the terminators at either end of the network is to stop the signal being reflected back.

Advantages
Broadcasting and multicasting is much simpler Network is redundant in the sense that failure of one node doesn't effect the network. The other part may still function properly Least expensive since less amount of cabling is required and no network switches are required Good for smaller networks not requiring higher speeds Trouble shooting and error detection becomes a problem because, logically, all nodes are equal Less secure because sniffing is easier Limited in size and speed

Disadvantages

3. Ring Topology: All the nodes in a Ring Network are connected in a closed circle of cable. Messages that are transmitted travel around the ring until they reach the computer that they are addressed to, the signal being refreshed by each node. In a ring topology, the network signal is passed through each network card of each device and passed on to the next device. Each device processes and retransmits the signal, so it is capable of supporting many devices in a somewhat slow but very orderly fashion. There is a very nice feature that everybody gets a chance to send a packet and it is guaranteed that every node gets to send a packet in a finite amount of time. Page | 10

Computer Networks Advantages

Unit-I

Introduction

Broadcasting and multicasting is simple since you just need to send out one message Less expensive since less cable footage is required It is guaranteed that each host will be able to transmit within a finite time interval Very orderly network where every device has access to the token and the opportunity to transmit Performs better than a star network under heavy network load Failure of one node brings the whole network down Error detection and network administration becomes difficult Moves, adds and changes of devices can effect the network It is slower than star topology under normal load

Disadvantages

Generally, a BUS architecture is preferred over the other topologies - ofcourse, this is a very subjective opinion and the final design depends on the requirements of the network more than anything else. Lately, most networks are shifting towards the STAR topology. Ideally we would like to design networks, which physically resemble the STAR topology, but behave like BUS or RING topology.

Data Link Layer

This layer provides reliable transmission of a packet by using the services of the physical layer which transmits bits over the medium in an unreliable fashion. This layer is concerned with : 1. Framing : Breaking input data into frames (typically a few hundred bytes) and caring about the frame boundaries and the size of each frame. 2. Acknowledgment: Sent by the receiving end to inform the source that the frame was received without any error. 3. Sequence Numbering: To acknowledge which frame was received. 4. Error Detection : The frames may be damaged, lost or duplicated leading to errors. The error control is on link to link basis. 5. Retransmission: The packet is retransmitted if the source fails to receive acknowledgment. 6. Flow Control: Necessary for a fast transmitter to keep pace with a slow receiver.

Data Link Layer

Network Layer
Its basic functions are routing and congestion control. Routing: This deals with determining how packets will be routed (transferred) from source to destination. It can be of three types : Static : Routes are based on static tables that are "wired into" the network and are rarely changed. Dynamic : All packets of one application can follow different routes depending upon the topology of the network, the shortest path and the current network load. Semi-Dynamic : A route is chosen at the start of each conversation and then all the packets of the application follow the same route.

Routing The services provided by the network can be of two types : Connection less service: Each packet of an application is treated as an independent entity. On each packet of the application the destination address is provided and the packet is routed. Connection oriented service: Here, first a connection is established and then all packets of the application follow the same route. To understand the above concept, we can also draw an analogy from the real life. Connection oriented service is modeled after the telephone system. All voice packets go on the same path after the connection is established till the connection is hung up. It acts like a tube ; the sender pushes the Page | 11

Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

objects in at one end and the receiver takes them out in the same order at the other end. Connection less service is modeled after the postal system. Each letter carries the destination address and is routed independent of all the others. Here, it is possible that the letter sent first is delayed so that the second letter reaches the destination before the first letter. Congestion Control: A router can be connected to 4-5 networks. If all the networks send packet at the same time with maximum rate possible then the router may not be able to handle all the packets and may drop some/all packets. In this context the dropping of the packets should be minimized and the source whose packet was dropped should be informed. The control of such congestion is also a function of the network layer. Other issues related with this layer are transmitting time, delays, jittering. Internetworking: Internetworks are multiple networks that are connected in such a way that they act as one large network, connecting multiple office or department networks. Internetworks are connected by networking hardware such as routers, switches, and bridges. Internetworking is a solution born of three networking problems: isolated LANs, duplication of resources, and the lack of a centralized network management system. With connected LANs, companies no longer have to duplicate programs or resources on each network. This in turn gives way to managing the network from one central location instead of trying to manage each separate LAN. We should be able to transmit any packet from one network to any other network even if they follow different protocols or use different addressing modes. Inter-Networking Network Layer does not guarantee that the packet will reach its intended destination. There are no reliability guarantees.

Transport Layer
Its functions are : Multiplexing / Demultiplexing: Normally the transport layer will create distinct network connection for each transport connection required by the session layer. The transport layer may either create multiple network connections (to improve throughput) or it may multiplex several transport connections onto the same network connection (because creating and maintaining networks may be expensive). In the latter case, demultiplexing will be required at the receiving end. A point to note here is that communication is always carried out between two processes and not between two machines. This is also known as process-to-process communication. Fragmentation and Re-assembly : The data accepted by the transport layer from the session layer is split up into smaller units (fragmentation) if needed and then passed to the network layer. Correspondingly, the data provided by the network layer to the transport layer on the receiving side is re-assembled.

Fragmentation

Reassem bly Types of service : The transport layer also decides the type of service that should be provided to the session layer. The service may be perfectly reliable, or may be reliable within certain tolerances or may not be reliable at all. The message may or may not be received in the order in which it was sent. The decision regarding the type of service to be provided is taken at the time when the connection is established. Error Control : If reliable service is provided then error detection and error recovery operations are also performed. It provides error control mechanism on end to end basis. Page | 12

Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

Flow Control : A fast host cannot keep pace with a slow one. Hence, this is a mechanism to regulate the flow of information. Connection Establishment / Release : The transport layer also establishes and releases the connection across the network. This requires some sort of naming mechanism so that a process on one machine can indicate with whom it wants to communicate.

Session Layer
It deals with the concept of Sessions i.e. when a user logins to a remote server he should be authenticated before getting access to the files and application programs. Another job of session layer is to establish and maintain sessions. If during the transfer of data between two machines the session breaks down, it is the session layer which re-establishes the connection. It also ensures that the data transfer starts from where it breaks keeping it transparent to the end user. e.g. In case of a session with a database server, this layer introduces check points at various places so that in case the connection is broken and reestablished, the transition running on the database is not lost even if the user has not committed. This activity is called Synchronization. Another function of this layer is Dialogue Control which determines whose turn is it to speak in a session. It is useful in video conferencing.

Presentation Layer
This layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information transmitted. In order to make it possible for computers with different data representations to communicate data structures to be exchanged can be defined in abstract way along with standard encoding. It also manages these abstract data structures and allows higher level of data structures to be defined an exchange. It encodes the data in standard agreed way(network format). Suppose there are two machines A and B one follows 'Big Endian' and other 'Little Endian' for data representation. This layer ensures that the data transmitted by one gets converted in the form compatible to other machine. This layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information transmitted. In order to make it possible for computers with different data representations to communicate data structures to be exchanged can be defined in abstract way along with standard encoding. It also manages these abstract data structures and allows higher level of data structures to be defined an exchange. Other functions include compression, encryption etc.

Application Layer
The seventh layer contains the application protocols with which the user gains access to the network. The choice of which specific protocols and their associated functions are to be used at the application level is up to the individual user. Thus the boundary between the presentation layer and the application layer represents a separation of the protocols imposed by the network designers from those being selected and implemented by the network users. For example commonly used protocols are HTTP(for web browsing), FTP(for file transfer) etc.

TCP/IP Reference Model

Internet Layer
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Computer Networks Unit-I Introduction Injects packets into any network and have them travel independently (order is not taken care off) and rearranging them is the responsibility of the higher layers. Defines an official packet format (IP) IP Internet Protocol Transport Layer It also defines two official packet formats: TCP and UDP TCP Transmission Control Protocol Reliable connection oriented protocol Based on byte streams. Fragments incoming byte streams and reassembles at destination. Also handles Flow control UDP User Datagram Protocol Unreliable connectionless protocol Uses client-server/request-reply model Application Layer Contains high level protocols Telnet ftp (file transfer protocol) SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) DNS (Domain Name Server) http (hyper text transfer protocol) Virtual terminals (logon to a remote system and work there) File transfer e-mails Mapping hostnames to network address Fetching in WWW

Host-to-Network Layer Host is connected to the network here, using some protocol and send IP packets through the connection

OSI 7 layers No definition for multicasting Not flexible Idle standards

TCP/IP 5 layers Multicasting defined Flexible Practical Public Research

Networks Cooperative Corporate

Novell Netware
It is a popular LAN networking package Netware is more useful when a mainframe is downsized to a network of PCs Netware reference model Application layer SAP Fileserver
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Computer Networks Transport layer Network layer Data link layer Physical layer

Unit-I NCP IPX Ethernet Ethernet Token ring Token ring ARC net ARC net SPX

Introduction

Physical layer & Data link layer chosen from various industry standards Network layer uses IPX (Internet Packet eXchange) protocol An unreliable connectionless internetwork protocol It is similar to IP but uses a 12-byte address Transport layer uses NCP/SPX/TCP NCP Network Core Protocol It is a connection oriented protocol Along with data transport it offers some other services. Thats why NCP is called as heart of Netware SPX Sequenced Packet eXchange It offers only data transport service IPX Packet Format 2 12 Checksum Packet length Transport control Packet type Source address Data Destination address 2 1 1 12

Transport control contains the number of networks the packet has traversed Packet length length of header field + length of data field Packet type specifies whether it is a control packet or a data packet Address (12 byte) 32 bits (to identify network) + 48 bits (to identify machine) + 16 bits (to identify socket) SAP Service Advertising Protocol
Using SAP each server in the network broadcasts a message for every 1 minute about the services offered by it. Special agents present in routers collect these messages and forms a database. When ever a client is booted it broadcasts a message asking for its nearest server. Agent in a local router verifies the database and sends back the client its nearest server details.

ARPANET
ARPA Advanced Research Projects Agency (research arm of the U.S. Department of Defense) ARPANET is packet switched network consisting of a subnet and host computers Subnet consists of IMP(Interface Message Processors)s connected by transmission lines For high reliability, each IMP would be connected to at least two other IMPs A host could send messages up to 8063bits to its IMP, which would then break these up into packets of at most 1008 bits and forward them independently toward the deastination. Subnet was the first electronic store and forward packet switching network

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Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

In 1980s DNS (Domain Naming System) was created to organize machines into domains and map hostnames onto IP addresses. NSF the U.S. National Science Foundation

Internet
ARPANET + NSFNET Internet Traditionally, the Internet had 4 main applications: 1. 2. 3. 4. Email News Remote login File transfer

Problems
1. An alternative to a LAN is simply a big timesharing system with terminals for all users. Give two
advantages of a client-server system using a LAN. Ans. The LAN model can be grown incrementally. If the LAN is just a long cable. it

cannot be brought down by a single failure (if the servers are replicated) It is probably cheaper. It provides more computing power and better interactive interfaces.
2. The performance of a client-server system is influenced by two network factors: the bandwidth of the network (how many bits/sec it can transport) and the latency (how many seconds it takes for the first bit to get from the client to the server). Give an example of a network that exhibits high bandwidth and high latency. Then give an example of one with low bandwidth and low latency. Ans. A transcontinental fiber link might have many gigabits/sec of bandwidth,

but the latency will also be high due to the speed of light propagation over thousands of kilometers. In contrast, a 56-kbps modem calling a computer in the same building has low bandwidth and low latency.
3. Besides bandwidth and latency, what other parameter is needed to give a good characterization of the quality of service offered by a network used for digitized voice traffic? Ans: A uniform delivery time is needed for voice, so the amount of jitter in the

network is important. This could be expressed as the standard deviation of the delivery time. Having short delay but large variability is actually worse than a somewhat longer delay and low variability.
4. A collection of five routers is to be connected in a point-to-point subnet. Between each pair of routers, the designers may put a high-speed line, a medium-speed line, a lowspeed line, or no line. If it takes 100 ms of computer time to generate and inspect each topology, how long will it take to inspect all of them? Ans: Call the routers A, B, C, D, and E. There are ten potential lines: AB, AC, AD,

AE, BC, BD, BE, CD, CE, and DE. Each of these has four possibilities (three speeds or no line), so the total number of topologies is 4 10 = 1,048,576. At 100 ms each, it takes 104,857.6 sec, or slightly more than 29 hours to inspect them all.

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Computer Networks
n

Unit-I

Introduction

5. A group of 2 - 1 routers are interconnected in a centralized binary tree, with a router at each tree
node. Router i communicates with router j by sending a message to the root of the tree. The root then sends the message back down to j. Derive an approximate expression for the mean number of hops per message for large n, assuming that all router pairs are equally likely. Ans:

6. A disadvantage of a broadcast subnet is the capacity wasted when multiple hosts attempt to access
the channel at the same time. As a simplistic example, suppose that time is divided into discrete slots, with each of the n hosts attempting to use the channel with probability p during each slot. What fractions of the slots are wasted due to collisions?

7. What are two reasons for using layered protocols? Ans : Among other reasons for using layered protocols, using them leads to

breaking up the design problem into smaller, more manageable pieces, and layering means that protocols can be changed without affecting higher or lower ones.
8. What is the principal difference between connectionless communication and connection oriented communication? Ans: Connection-oriented communication has three phases. In the establishment

phase a request is made to set up a connection. Only after this phase has been successfully completed can the data transfer phase be started and data transported. Then comes the release phase. Connectionless communication does not have these phases. It just sends the data.
9. Two networks each provide reliable connection-oriented service. One of them offers a reliable byte stream and the other offers a reliable message stream. Are these identical? If so, why is the distinction made? If not, give an example of how they differ. Ans: Message and byte streams are different. In a message stream, the network

keeps track of message boundaries. In a byte stream, it does not. For example, suppose a process writes 1024 bytes to a connection and then a little later writes another 1024 bytes. The receiver then does a read for 2048 bytes. With a message stream, the receiver will get two messages, of 1024 bytes each. With a byte stream, the message boundaries do not count and the receiver will get the full 2048 bytes as a single unit. The fact that there were originally two distinct messages is lost.
10. What does ''negotiation'' mean when discussing network protocols? Give an example. Ans: Negotiation has to do with getting both sides to agree on some parameters

or values to be used during the communication. Maximum packet size is one example, but there are many others. 11. In some networks, the data link layer handles transmission errors by requesting damaged frames
to be retransmitted. If the probability of a frame's being damaged is p, what is the mean number of transmissions required to send a frame? Assume that acknowledgements are never lost.

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Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

12. If the unit exchanged at the data link level is called a frame and the unit exchanged at the network level is called a packet, do frames encapsulate packets or do packets encapsulate frames? Explain your answer. Ans: Frames encapsulate packets. When a packet arrives at the data link layer,

the entire thing, header, data, and all, is used as the data field of a frame. The entire packet is put in an envelope (the frame), so to speak (assuming it fits). 13. A system has an n-layer protocol hierarchy. Applications generate messages of length M bytes. At
each of the layers, an h-byte header is added. What fraction of the network bandwidth is filled with headers?

14. List two ways in which the OSI reference model and the TCP/IP reference model are the same. Now list two ways in which they differ. Ans: Both models are based on layered protocols. Both have a network,

transport, and application layer. In both models, the transport service can provide a reliable end-to-end byte stream. On the other hand, they differ in several ways. The number of layers is different, the TCP/IP does not have session or presentation layers, OSI does not support internetworking, and OSI has both connection-oriented and connectionless service in the network layer.
15. The Internet is roughly doubling in size every 18 months. Although no one really knows for sure, one estimate put the number of hosts on it at 100 million in 2001. Use these data to compute the expected number of Internet hosts in the year 2010. Do you believe this? Explain why or why not.

Ans: Doubling every 18 months means a factor of four gain in 3 years. In 9 years, the gain is then 43 or 64, leading to 6.4 billion hosts. My intuition says that is much too conservative, since by then probably every television in the world and possibly billions of other appliances will be on home LANs connected to the Internet. The average person in the developed world may have dozens of Internet hosts by then.
16. When a file is transferred between two computers, two acknowledgement strategies are possible. In the first one, the file is chopped up into packets, which are individually acknowledged by the receiver, but the file transfer as a whole is not acknowledged. In the second one, the packets are not acknowledged individually, but the entire file is acknowledged when it arrives. Discuss these two approaches. Ans: If the network tends to lose packets, it is better to acknowledge each one

17. List two advantages and two disadvantages of having international standards for network protocols. Ans: One advantage is that if everyone uses the standard, everyone can talk to

separately, so the lost packets can be retransmitted. On the other hand, if the network is highly reliable, sending one acknowledgement at the end of the entire transfer saves bandwidth in the normal case (but requires the entire file to be retransmitted if even a single packet is lost).

everyone. Another advantage is that widespread use of any standard will give it economies of scale, as with VLSI chips. A disadvantage is that the political compromises necessary to achieve standardization frequently lead to poor standards. Another disadvantage is that once a standard has been widely adopted, it is difficult to change,, even if new and better techniques or methods are discovered. Also, by the time it has been accepted, it may be obsolete.
18. How long was a bit on the original 802.3 standard in meters? Use a transmission speed of 10 Mbps and assume the propagation speed in coax is 2/3 the speed of light in vacuum. Ans: The speed of light in coax is about 200,000 km/sec, which is 200

meters/ sec. At 10 Mbps, it takes 0.1 sec to transmit a bit. Thus, the bit lasts 0.1 sec in time, during which it propagates 20 meters. Thus, a bit is 20 meters long here.

19. An image is 1024 x 768 pixels with 3 bytes/pixel. Assume the image is uncompressed. How long does it take to transmit it over a 56-kbps modem channel? Over a 1-Mbps cable modem? Over a 10-Mbps Ethernet? Over 100-Mbps Ethernet?

Ans: The image is 1024 768 3 bytes or 2,359,296 bytes. This is 18,874,368 bits. At 56,000 bits/sec, it takes about 337.042 sec. At 1,000,000 bits/sec, it takes about 18.874 sec. At 10,000,000 bits/sec, it takes about 1.887 sec. At 100,000,000 bits/sec, it takes about 0.189 sec.

*1. (a) Write any four reasons for using layered protocols. (b) List two ways in which the OSI reference model and the TCP/IP reference model are the same and list in which they differ.
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(Frequently asked Questions from previous exam papers)

Computer Networks Unit-I Introduction (c) Which is the principle difference between CO communication and CL communication.
* 2. (a) Explain in detail ISO-OSI reference model.

(b) Write short notes on interface, service and protocol. 3. (a) With a neat diagram, explain the functionality of layers, protocols and interfaces. 4. List two advantages and two disadvantages of having international standards for network, Protocols?. 5. (a) Briefly explain about the TCP/IP reference model. (b) Compare and contrast OSI and TCP/IP models. 6. (a) Compare point -to-point channels with broadcast channels along with suitable examples? (b) A collection of five routers is to be collected in a point-to-point subnet. Between each pair of routers, the designers may put a high speed line, a medium-speed line, a lowspeed line, or no line. If it takes 100ms of computer time to generate and inspect each topology, how long will it take to inspect all of them to find the one that best matches the expected load? 7. (a) What are the advantages of having layered architecture? Mention the layers of ISO-OSI reference model? (b) What is Internet? Mention some of the applications of Internet? 8. (a) Define the following terms: i. Computer Network ii. Peer process iii. Protocol iv. Interface. (b) Discuss various network applications and goals in detail. 9. (a) Explain problems of the TCP/IP model and protocols? (b) With a neat diagram explain ARPANET design? 10.

11. (a) What does negotiation mean when discussing network protocol. Give an example. (b) Which of the OSI layers handles each of the following i. Breaking the transmitted bit stream into frames. ii. Determine which route through subnet to use. iii. Dialog control and synchronization. (c) What is the main difference between TCP and UDP. 12. (a) Discuss the classification of Networks according to their size? (b) Discuss the various design issues related to the layers in ISO-OSI model? 13. With the help of appropriate examples explain various types of connection oriented and connection less services. 14. Novell Netware looks more like TCP/IP than like OSI. Justify. 15. (a) Distinguish among LAN,MAN,WAN and Internet. (b) What are the two protocols that are defined at the transport layer of the TCP/IP reference model? Mention their applications?
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Computer Networks

Unit-I

Introduction

16.Two networks each provide a reliable connection oriented service. One of them offers a reliable byte stream and other offers a reliable message stream. Are they identical? If so, why is distinction made? If not give an example of how they differ? 17. Give a detailed description of the Novell Netware IPX packet? 18. (a) How would you utilize an existing telephone network for Computer-to-Computer data communications? (b) Bad Timing is also a problem for OSI reference model. Discuss. 19. (a) Give a detailed description of the Novell Netware reference model. (b) With suitable examples explain simplex, half-duplex & full-duplex communication. 20. Although wireless networking and mobile computing are often related, they are not identical. Justify the statement. 21. (a) Differentiate between computer network and distributed system? (b) What are the important goals achieved through networking? (c) Explain about the four main applications of the Internet? ALL THE BEST

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