Information Technology Education, IT Network

Introduction
This guide is primarily about TCP/IP network protocols and ethernet network architectures, but also
briefly describes other protocol suites, network architectures, and other significant areas of networking.
This guide is written for all audiences, even those with little or no networking experience. It explains in
simple terms the way networks are put together, and how data packages are sent between networks and
subnets along with how data is routed to the internet. This document is broken into five main areas which
are:
1. Basics - Explains the protocols and how they work together
2. Media - Describes the cabling and various media used to send data between multiple points of a
network.
3. Architecture - Describes some popular network architectures. A network architecture refers to the
physical layout (topology) of a network along with the physical transmission media (Type of wire,
wireless, etc) and the data access method (OSI Layer 2). Includes ethernet, Token Ring, ARCnet,
AppleTalk, and FDDI. This main area of the document can and should be skipped by those
learning networking and read later.
4. Other Transport Protocols - Describes IPX/SPX, NetBEUI, and more.
5. Functions - Explains some of the functionality of networking such as routing, firewalls and DNS.
6. Further Details - Gives information about some protocols not covered in the "Basics" section. In
the future, it will include more information about packet fragmentation and re-assembly along
with more details about UDP and especially TCP and TCP connections.
7. More Complex functions - Documents multicasting, dynamic routing, and network management
8. Applications - Documents how some of the applications work such as ping and traceroute. In the
future, it will cover telnet, Rlogin, and FTP.
9. Other Concerns - Includes installing drivers, network operating systems, applications, wide area
networks, backing up the network and troubleshooting the network.
10. References - Includes a reference list of terms, RFCs and recommended reading.
The reader may read this document in any order, but for beginners, it would be best to read through from
the beginning with the exception of sections 2 (media), 3 (architecture), and 4 (other). At some point,
however, the reader should be able to break from the basics and read about routing and IP masquerading.
Introduction
There are no links to various reading material or software packages inside this document, except under
the references section. This is because it is more structured, and makes it easier to keep the document
current.
This document will first talk about the network basics so the reader can get a good grasp of networking
concepts. This should help the reader understand how each network protocol is used to perform
networking. The reader will be able to understand why each protocol is needed, how it is used, and what
other protocols it relies upon. This document explains the data encapsulation techniques in preparation
for transport along with some of the network protocols such as IP, TCP, UDP, ICMP, and IGMP. It
explains how ARP and RARP support networking. In functional areas, such as routers, several examples
are given so the user can get a grasp on how networking is done in their particular situation. This
document covers routing, IP masquerading, and firewalls and gives some explanation of how they work,
how they are set up, and how and why they are used. Firewalls and the available packages are described,
but how to set them up is left to other documentation specific to the operating system and the package.
Application protocols such as FTP and Telnet are also briefly described. Networking terms are also
explained and defined.
This document explains the setup of networking functions using Linux Redhat version 6.1 as an
operating system (OS) platform. This will apply to server functions such as routing and IP masquerading.
For more documentation on setting up packages, read documentation on this web site and other locations
specific to the operating system and the package. If you know how to set up other operating servers such
as Windows NT, you can apply the information in this document to help you understand how to
configure services on that OS platform.
This document was written because I perceived a need for a basic networking document to explain how
these networking services work and how to set them up, with examples. It will help a novice to learn
networking more quickly by explaining the big picture concerning how the system works together. I have
seen much good networking documentation, but little that explains the theory along with practical setup
and applications.
Network Topology
Network Topology
A network consists of multiple computers connected using some type of interface, each having one or more
interface devices such as a Network Interface Card (NIC) and/or a serial device for PPP networking. Each
computer is supported by network software that provides the server or client functionality. The hardware used to
transmit data across the network is called the media. It may include copper cable, fiber optic, or wireless
transmission. The standard cabling used for the purposes of this document is 10Base-T category 5 ethernet cable.
This is twisted copper cabling which appears at the surface to look similar to TV coaxial cable. It is terminated on
each end by a connector that looks much like a phone connector. Its maximum segment length is 100 meters.
Network Categories
There are two main types of network categories which are:
l Server based
l Peer-to-peer
In a server based network, there are computers set up to be primary providers of services such as file service or
mail service. The computers providing the service are are called servers and the computers that request and use
the service are called client computers.
In a peer-to-peer network, various computers on the network can act both as clients and servers. For instance,
many Microsoft Windows based computers will allow file and print sharing. These computers can act both as a
client and a server and are also referred to as peers. Many networks are combination peer-to-peer and server
based networks. The network operating system uses a network data protocol to communicate on the network to
other computers. The network operating system supports the applications on that computer. A Network Operating
System (NOS) includes Windows NT, Novell Netware, Linux, Unix and others.
Three Network Topologies
The network topology describes the method used to do the physical wiring of the network. The main ones are bus,
star, and ring.
1. Bus - Both ends of the network must be terminated with a terminator. A barrel connector can be used to
extend it.
2. Star - All devices revolve around a central hub, which is what controls the network communications, and
can communicate with other hubs. Range limits are about 100 meters from the hub.
3. Ring - Devices are connected from one to another, as in a ring. A data token is used to grant permission for
each computer to communicate.
There are also hybrid networks including a star-bus hybrid, star-ring network, and mesh networks with
connections between various computers on the network. Mesh networks ideally allow each computer to have a
direct connection to each of the other computers. The topology this documentation deals with most is star
topology since that is what ethernet networks use.