It is hard to imagine today’s world without computer networks. Computer networking has become near-ubiquitous across all sociol-economic divisions of modern human civilization. A core component of modern communications and information technology, computer networking is a fascinating subject with immense job prospects.
Are you interested in learning more about modern computer networks? Are you working on a networking assignment? Then, give this write-up a thorough read. It offers some amazing insights on the underlying concepts, principles, and techniques in computer networking straight from the professional computer network assignment help experts of MyAssignmentHelp.co.uk, the UK’s largest online academic service provider.
Let’s get started.
How Computer Networks Work? Key Features & Components
The Internet is the largest computer network ever created. From mainframes, databases, & desktops to smartphones and laptops, it connects billions of electronic devices from around the world. And the number is increasing at a rapid pace with the rise of different kinds of Internet-enabled peripherals such as smartwatches, smart glasses, gaming consoles, music systems, home appliances & the like.
As may be intuitive, the Internet is not at all contiguous but a huge number of smaller sub-networks interconnected to one another. According to Statista, more than 29 billion electronic devices will connect with the Internet by 2030. And then there are all the many semi-public and private computer networks operated by governments, organizations, businesses, and the like.
No matter the kind or the number of connected devices connected, the primary task of every computer network is secure, reliable, and accurate data communication. To ensure that A working computer network should:
- Be able to deliver data to the correct destination without any disruption.
- Ensure that no information is lost or distorted.
- Ensure that there’s no unauthorized access of any kind.
- Achieve timely delivery all the time.
The sender, receiver, transmission medium, transmission protocols, and message – are the five key aspects of any networking system. And, all of these need to work together to ensure flawless and secure delivery of information under any circumstances.
The primary responsibility for security and reliability falls on the protocols and transmission medium. However, with the rise of end-to-end encryption and advancements in information processing systems, both sending and receiving devices now have a major role in ensuring impeccable information exchange.
Let’s now take a deeper and more technical look.
The Nuts & Bolts of Computer Networks
Conceptually, networks can be considered as graphs. The vertices of the graph represent nodes, that is, the devices connected to a network. The edges of the graph represent the connections or links between the nodes.
- Distributed processing is a primary aspect of computer networks. The idea involves distributing a task among different nodes in a network. So, instead of a single centralized processing location, you have multiple processing centres working in tandem.
- Links or connections can be point-to-point or multi point and wired or wireless. In the case of multi point connections, connection capacity becomes a factor – if several devices connect simultaneously, then it is a spatially shared connection; if users need to take turns to access a connection, then it’s a time-shared connection.
- There are different categories or scales of computer networks. Two primary categories are LAN (Local Area Networks) and WAN (Wide Area Networks). The Internet is the largest WAB in human existence, and it is extremely rare to find any WAN or LAN in complete isolation.
- Local Area Networks: LANs are generally privately owned privately owned and operate within certain premises. A LAN can be as simple as two computers connecting to a printer or can comprise hundreds of computers interconnected or connected to a central Internet router.
LANs aid in sharing resources among nodes. For example, a central workstation with powerful capabilities and privileged access can act as a central node for other computers or minor nodes to connect with for a specific purpose.
LANs generally have limited speed and throughput and tend to use only a singular type of transmission medium.
- Wide Area Networks: WANs enable long-distance data communication. The best example is the Internet, which connects billions of devices from around the world. WANs can be immensely complex, such as the sub-networks powering the Internet or an optical fibre connection that connects a local PC to an ISP’s gateway server and onto the Internet.
WANs that connect across other LANs and/or WANs and across end systems are known as switched WANs, while the ones that connect client nodes to Internet service providers are called point-to-point WANs.
The Internet is multiple WANs and LANs interconnected with one another. A business can connect its LANs using switched WANs for improved communications. And, then connect the backbone WAN to the Internet to become part of a global WAN. Point-to-point WANs connect LANs to the Switched WAN.
- One key thing to note is that LANs interconnect hosts or consumers while WANs interconnect different connecting devices, i.e., the entities necessary for operating a computer network. Some of the most commonly utilized connecting devices are routers, switches, and modems.
- Point-to-point WANs connect two communicating devices from two different networks. Switched WANs connect multiple communicating devices across multiple different networks.
It is a point-to-point WAN that connects your computer to your ISP and switched WAN/s to connect an ISP to the Internet.
- Wireless communication is rapidly gaining popularity over wired communication for obvious reasons. A decade ago, coaxial copper cables were heavily used as physical media. Today, fibre optics and wireless mobile communication frequencies are rapidly replacing coaxial cables as the primary medium.
- Internet protocols are the rules and laws that make safe, secure, reliable, & accurate communications possible. Data communication, in this age, is no longer simple, requiring the need for the task to be divided into different layers and subsequently, protocol layering.
The Internet and all other kinds of computer networks use protocol-layered data communications for optimal results. Protocol layering has become the standard today, and we are going to take a quick look at it before wrapping things up.
But before we do that, do you need some expert computer network assignment help? Then, connect with the postgraduate subject matter experts of MyAssignmentHelp, the UK’s largest online academic provider.
A Quick Look at Layered Network Communications
You must have heard of the TCP/IP model. It is the standard protocol used for Internet communications.
- TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
- The TCP/IP model follows a four-layer procedure that involves dividing any data into multiple packets, transmitting the packets, and then reassembling them at the destination. Smaller packets make transmission safer and more accurate.
- The four layers in the model are logical. Starting from the bottom, they are ????
- The network access layer, which handles the physical infrastructure (the cables, wireless transceivers, the network interface cards, device drivers, etc.) as well as the technical infrastructure (the programs that convert digital data into transmittable signals and vice versa)
- The Internet layer controls the flow and routing of data traffic and, thus, the speed & accuracy. It is also responsible for disassembling and reassembling data packets. The Internet Protocol, along with certain helping protocols, operate at this layer.
- The transport layer ensures reliable communication between communicating devices. It adds features to data packets that ensure authenticity and safety. The Transmission Control Protocol and several others work at this layer.
- The application layer enables applications on one device to communicate with the applications on another device across the Internet—different protocols run in this layer, often in tandem with the protocols of an operating system.
TCP/IP is the standard and built into the networking hardware & drivers in any modern machine. Are you eager to learn more? Here’s a link to a comprehensive e-book on TCP/IP’s technicalities from IBM.
And that’s all the space we have for today. Hope this was an interesting read for everyone. Mastery of computer networking requires diligent studying and a healthy dose of practical ideas. Ace your assignments to build your ideas and connect with MyAssignmentHelp.co.uk for expert aid.
All the best!