CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Detection)

Short for Carrier Sense Multiple Access / Collision Detection, a set of rules determining how network devices respond when two devices attempt to use a data channel simultaneously (called a collision). Standard Ethernet networks use CSMA/CD to physically monitor the traffic on the line at participating stations. If no transmission is taking place at the time, the particular station can transmit. If two stations attempt to transmit simultaneously, this causes a collision, which is detected by all participating stations. After a random time interval, the stations that collided attempt to transmit again. If another collision occurs, the time intervals from which the random waiting time is selected are increased step by step. This is known as exponential back off.

CSMA/CD is a type of contention protocol.  Networks using the CSMA/CD procedure are simple to implement but do not have deterministic transmission characteristics. The CSMA/CD method is internationally standardized in IEEE 802.3.

ETHERNET

Ethernet is a physical and data link layer technology for local area networks (LANs). Ethernet was invented by engineer Robert Metcalfe. A local-area network (LAN) architecture developed by Xerox Corporation in cooperation with DEC and Intel in 1976. Ethernet uses a bus or star topology and supports data transfer rates of 10 Mbps. The Ethernet specification served as the basis for the IEEE 802.3 standard, which specifies the physical and lower software layers. Ethernet uses the CSMA/CD access method to handle simultaneous demands. It is one of the most widely implemented LAN standards.

A newer version of Ethernet, called 100Base-T (or Fast Ethernet), supports data transfer rates of 100 Mbps. And the newest version, Gigabit Ethernet supports data rates of 1 gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second.

Difference between a hub and a switch

Difference between a hub and a switch

A Hub is a networking device that allows one to connect multiple PCs to a single network. Hubs may be based on Ethernet, Firewire, or USB connections. A switch is a control unit that turns the flow of electricity on or of in a circuit. It may also be used to route information patterns in streaming electronic data sent over networks. In the context of a network, a switch is a computer networking device that connects network segments.

Hub	Switch
Physical layer. Hubs are classified as Layer 1 devices per the OSI model.	Data Link Layer. Network switches operate at Layer 2 of the OSI model.
Hubs always perform frame flooding; may be unicast, multicast or broadcast	First broadcast; then unicast & multicast as needed.
4/12 ports	Switch is multi port Bridge. 24/48 ports
A network hub cannot learn or store MAC address.	A network switch stores MAC addresses in a lookup table.
Passive Device (Without Software)	Active Device (With Software) & Networking device
Half duplex	Full duplex
Hub has one Broadcast Domain.	Switch has one broadcast domain [unless VLAN implemented]
LAN	LAN
Electrical signal or bits	Frame (L2 Switch) Frame & Packet (L3 switch)
To connect a network of personal computers together, they can be joined through a central hub.	Allow to connect multiple device and port can be manage, Vlan can create security also can apply
Collisions occur commonly in setups using hubs.	No collisions occur in a full-duplex switch.

OSI

1)It has 7 layers

2)Transport layer gurantees delivery of packets

3)Horizontal approach

4)Seperate presentation layer

5)Seperate session layer

6)Network layer provides both connectionless and connection oriented services

7)It defines the services,interfaces and protocols very clearly and makes a clear distinction between them

8)The protocol are better hidden and can be easily replaced as the technology changes

9)OSI truly is a general model

10)It has a problem of protocol filtering into a model

TCP/IP

1)Has 4 layers

2)Transport layer does not gurantees delivery of packets

3)Vertical approach

4)No session layer, characteristics are provided by transport layer

5)No presentation layer, characteristics are provided by application layer

6)Network layer provides only connection less services

7)It does not clearly distinguishes between service interface and protocols

8)It is not easy to replace the protocols

9)TCP/IP can not be used for any other application

10)The model does not fit any protocol stack.

Session Layer

The session layer manages sessions between applications, including initiation, maintenance and termination of information transfer sessions. Usually this is visible to the user by having to log on with a password.

The session layer tracks connections, also called sessions. The session layer should keep track of multiple file downloads requested by a particular FTP application, or multiple telnet connections from a single terminal client, or web page retrievals from a web server.

With TCP/IP this functionality is handled by application software addressing a connection to a remote machine and using a different local port number for each connection.

The session layer performs the following functions:

Communication with the Presentation layer above.

Organize and manage one or more connections per application, between hosts.

Communication with the Transport layer below.

Session layer protocols are particularly useful for multimedia applications for which it is necessary to coordinate the timing of two or more types of data, such as voice and moving images, with a high degree of precision. Examples include video conferencing and streaming.

Examples of session layer protocols include DLC (data link control), PAP (printer access control), SMB (server message block), ASP (AppleTalk session protocol), NetBIOS (network basic input/output system) and ZIP (zone information protocol).

TYPES of Session:

Simplex: Transmission from one side only. eg TV, Radio.

Half Duplex: Transmission from both side but onc side at a time. eg Walkie Takie, Chatting.

Full Duplex: Transmission from both side simultaneously. eg Telephoe, Mobile, Video Chat.

Hub

This is a hardware device that is used to network multiple computers together. It is a central connection for all the computers in a network, which is usually Ethernet-based. Information sent to the hub can flow to any other computer on the network. If you need to connect more than two computers together, a hub will allow you to do so. If you only need to network two computers together, a simple crossover Ethernet cable will do the trick.

An Ethernet hub, active hub, network hub, repeater hub, multiport repeater or hub is a device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network segment. It has multiple input/output (I/O) ports, in which a signal introduced at the input of any port appears at the output of every port except the original incoming. A hub works at the physical layer (layer 1) of the OSI model. The device is a form of multiport repeater. Repeater hubs also participate in collision detection, forwarding a jam signal to all ports if it detects a collision.

Network Hardwares

 

Networking hardware may also be known as network equipment, computer networking devices. Units which are the last receiver or generate data are called hosts or data terminal equipment.

All these terms refer to devices facilitating the use of a computer network. Specifically, they mediate data in a computer network.

 Specific devices

    Hub: a device that connects multiple Ethernet segments, making them act as a single segment. When using a hub, every attached device shares the same broadcast domain and the same collision domain. Therefore, only one computer connected to the hub is able to transmit at a time. Depending on the network topology, the hub provides a basic level 1 OSI model connection among the network objects (workstations, servers, etc.). It provides bandwidth which is shared among all the objects, in contrast to switches, which provide a connection between individual nodes. It works on OSI layer 1.

    Switch: a device that allocates traffic from one network segment to certain lines (intended destination(s)) which connect the segment to another network segment. Unlike a hub, a switch splits the network traffic and sends it to different destinations rather than to all systems on the network. It works on OSI layer 2.

    Repeater: a device which amplifies or regenerates digital signals received while sending them from one part of a network into another. It works on OSI layer 1.

    Router: a specialized network device that determines the next network point to which it can forward a data packet towards the ultimate destination of the packet. Unlike a gateway, it cannot interface different protocols. It works on OSI layer 3.

    Bridge: a device that connects multiple network segments along the data link layer. It works on OSI layer 2.

    Gateway: this device is placed at a network node and interfaces with another network that uses different protocols. It works on OSI layers 4 to 7.

    Network interface controller: a piece of computer hardware allowing the attached computer to communicate by network.

    Wireless network interface controller: a piece of computer hardware allowing the non-attached computer to communicate by LAN.

    Modem: device that modulates an analog "carrier" signal (such as sound) to encode digital information, and that also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information, such as a computer communicating with another computer over a telephone network.

 

Application Layer

 

In the Internet model, the application layer is an abstraction layer reserved for communications protocols and methods designed for process-to-process communications across an Internet Protocol (IP) computer network. Application layer protocols use the underlying transport layer protocols to establish process-to-process connections via ports.

In the OSI model, the definition of its application layer is narrower in scope. The OSI model defines the application layer as being the user interface. The OSI application layer is responsible for displaying data and images to the user in a human-recognizable format and to interface with the presentation layer below it.[2]

It separates functionality above the transport layer at two additional levels, the session layer and the presentation layer. OSI specifies strict modular separation of functionality at these layers and provides protocol implementations for each layer. The interface – responsible for displaying the information received to the user.

 The application layer consists of what most users think of as programs. The application does the actual work at hand. Although each application is different, some applications are so useful that they have become standardized.

The Internet has defined standards for:

 

File transfer (FTP):

    Connect to a remote machine and send or fetch an arbitrary file. FTP deals with authentication, listing a directory contents, ascii or binary files, etc.

Remote login (telnet):

    A remote terminal protocol that allows a user at one site to establish a TCP connection to another site, and then pass keystrokes from the local host to the remote host.

Mail (SMTP):

    Allow a mail delivery agent on a local machine to connect to a mail delivery agent on a remote machine and deliver mail.

News (NNTP):

    Allows communication between a news server and a news client.

Web (HTTP):

    Base protocol for communication on the World Wide Web.