WEEK 2 DAY 1 : NETWORKING COMPONANTS AND BASICS

2.1 NETWORKING COMPONANTS AND BASICS

         As we know networking is one of the ever growing needs of human society as communication between devices are growing day by day. the type of networking is based on many factors like speed etc. There is no surprise that the railways need them too.   

         So, to meet its networking requirements it usually uses Ethernet since it is fast and cheapest network architecture to implement. They are mainly 10BASE-2, 10BASE-5, 10BASE-T, 100BASE-T, 100BASE-FX, 1000BASE-T & 10GB Ethernet which uses coaxial, twisted cable as well as fibre optic cable. Interface include Simple, Fast & Gigabit Ethernet cards. To connect various devices mainly desktop computers require a central network devices which includes Hub, switches and router. Types of ports are fixed and modular. Fixed Ports include Ethernet (RJ45 connector), AUI (FX-SC connector), Serial, BRI, Console & Auxiliary (DB-25 & DB-9 connector) .Modular Ports include Serial, BRI, VOIP, GBIC & Mini GBIC(SFP).

2.1.1 TERMINALS     

         Let's  talk about terminals, Basically, terminal is a human-machine interface(HMI) used for entering & extracting data from a computing system. e.g. dumb terminal, thin & thick clients. Let us define them. 
        a) DUMB CLIENT

• It is an I/O device with small buffer memory & no processing ability.
•  It relies on the computing system (server) to which it is connected. 

        b) THIN CLIENT 

• low-end computer terminal, with mini OS, GUI interface & flash memory. 
• Suitable for hostile environment. 

        c) THICK CLIENT

•  High-end computing system with full fledged OS, own processing & storage system ( e.g. normal desk top system / PC)

2.1.2 SERVERS 
       

         It is a dedicated, high end computer system providing services over a network through a request-response routine. Specialized servers will provide multiple concurrent services. (e.g. Mail, Web, File, Print, Proxy, DHCP & DNS servers). 

2.1.3 NETWORKING BASICS

         We will talk about some basic concepts of networks, some of its devices and other things. Let's continue :-

        There are two types of network as we all know.They are:-

• LAN :- Local Area Network which consists of devices say within a small area like an office etc. e.g :- microsoft networks.
• WAN :- Wide Area Network consists of devices within a large network like inter- city, intra-city etc.

2.1.4 HARDWARE EQUIPMENT FOR LAN

• LAN CARD :- It is the hardware that allows device to connect to LAN and exchange data.
• HUB :- It is a central network device that allows multiple computers to connect to a network. 
• SWITCH :- It is also a central network device that allows multiple computers to connect to a network.  
• ROUTER  :- It is mainly used in WAN when multiple computer in long distance is to be connected.

        1) LAN CARD

         LAN card also known as NIC card ( Network Interface Card ) is a hardware which interface between the LAN network and device ( computers etc ). It is connected through RJ-45 pin ( simple LAN pin that we use ).  

         Every LAN card contains a 48-bit MAC address also called physical address. It is unique for every LAN card. In other word without it your connection request will be rejected by other devices on network. It is like a unique ID of your computer more specifically your LAN card.

         This 48-bit MAC address is divided into two 24-bit address. First 24-bit address is given by vendor ( manufacturer ) and the other 24-bit is given by IEEE which keeps database of these cards so you can easily tracked when you do something illegal !!!!. If you want to look into your MAC address you can open your command window and type ipconfig/all and go to Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller. 

         There are two types of MAC address given. Apart from your main LAN card address and wireless LAN address ( if any ) there are many other MAC address which are logical MAC addresses used for interfacing and checking various networking functions. Logical LAN address is therefore software defined rather than hardware defined. 

        So that ends for today have a nice day.

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