Chapter 4 - Network Access Flashcards
What is the role of the data link layer?
On the sending device it’s role is to prepare data for transmission and control how that data accesses the physical medium. On the receiving end it receives the frame from the physical layer for acceptance and processing.
What is the role of the physical layer?
On the sending device it’s role is to control how the data is transmitted onto the physical media by encoding the binary digits that represent data into signals. On the receiving end, the physical layer receives signals across the connecting media, and decodes the signal back into data, before passing the frame to the data link layer.
What is needed for any network communications to occur?
A physical connection to a local network must be established. A physical connection can be a wired connection using a cable or a wireless connection using radio waves.
What is an AP?
An AP is a wireless access point. In order to offer wireless capability, devices on a wireless network must be connected to a wireless access point.
What are ISRs?
ISRs are Integrated Service Routers. They offer both wired and wireless connectivity into one device. ISRs offer a switching component with multiple ports allowing multiple devices to be connected to the local area network (LAN) using cables. Many ISRs also include an AP, allowing wireless devices to connect as well.
What are NICs?
NICs are Network Interface Cards which connect a device to a network. Ethernet NICs are used for a wired connection. WLAN (Wireless local area network) NICs are used for wireless connections. An end-user may include one, or both types of NICs. For example a printer may only have an Ethernet NIC, and a phone or tablet may only have a WLAN NIC.
What is the difference in performance level between physical connections?
A wireless device will experience degradation in performance based on its distance from a wireless access point. A wired connection will not degrade in performance. All wireless devices must share access to the airwaves connecting to the wireless access point. This means slower network performance may occur as more wireless devices access the network simultaneously. A wired device does not need to share its access to the network with other devices.
What is the process that data undergoes from a source node to a destination node?
The user data is segmented by the transport layer, placed into packets by the network layer, and further encapsulated into frames by the data link layer.
The physical layer encodes the frames and creates the electrical, optical, or radio wave signals that represent the bits in each frame.
These signals are then sent on the media, one at a time.
The destination node physical layer retrieves these individual signals from the media, restores them to their bit representations, and passes the bits up to the data link layer as a complete frame.
What are the basic forms of network media?
Copper cable - The signals are patterns of electrical pulses
Fiber-optic cable - The signals are patterns of light
Wireless - The signals are patterns of microwave transmissions.
Who defines the services and protocols in the TCP/IP suite?
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Who defines and governs the physical layer standards?
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
- Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronic Industries Association (TIA/EIA)
- International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
- American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- National telecommunications regulatory authorities including the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in the USA and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
- Regional Cabling standards groups, such as Canadian Standards Association (CSA), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), and JSA/JIS (Japanese Standards Association), which develop local specializations.
What do the physical layer standards address?
Physical Components - The electronic hardware devices, media, and other connectors that transmit and carry the signals to represent the bits. Hardware components such as NICs, interfaces and connectors, cables materials, and cable designs are all specified in standards associated with the physical layer.
Encoding - A method of converting the stream of data bits into a predefined “code”. Codes are groupings of bits used to provide a predictable pattern that can be recognized by both the sender and the receiver. In networking encoding is a pattern of voltage or current used to represent bits; the 0s and 1s.
Signaling - The physical layer must generate the electrical, optical, or wireless signals that represent the “1” and “0” on the media. The method of representing the bits is called the signaling method. The physical layer standards must define what type of signal represents a “1” and what type of signal represents a “0”. This can be as simple as a change in the level of an electrical signal or optical pulse. For example, a long pulse could represent a 1, a short pulse, a 0.
How does Manchester encoding work?
Manchester encoding represents a 0 bit by a high to low voltage transition, and a 1 bit as a low to high voltage transition. This type of encoding is used in 10b/s Ethernet, faster data rates require more complex encoding.
What is modulation?
A common method to send data, it is the process by which the characteristic of one wave (the signal) modifies another wave (the carrier). This is how AM (Amplitude Modulation) and FM (Frequency Modulation) are used to send a signal.
What is bandwidth?
The capacity of a medium to carry data. Digital bandwidth measure the amount of data that can flow from one place to another in a given amount of time. Bandwidth is sometimes thought of as the speed that bits travel, however that is not accurate. In both 10Mb/s and 100Mb/s Ethernet, the bits are sent at the speed of electricity. The difference is the number of bits that are transmitted per second.
How is bandwidth measured?
Bandwidth is typically measured in kilobits per seconds (kb/s), megabits per second (Mb/s), or gigabits per second (Gb/s).
What factors determine the practical bandwidth of a network?
- The properties of the physical media
- The technologies chosen for signaling and detecting network signals.
- Physical media properties, current technologies, and the laws of physics all play a role in determining the available bandwidth.
What is throughput?
The measure of the transfer of bits across the media over a given period of time. Due to a number of factors, throughput usually does not match the specified bandwidth in physical layer implementations. On a network with multiple segments throughput cannot be faster than the slowest link in the path from source to destination. Even if all or most of the segments have high bandwidth, it will only take one segment in the path with low throughput to create a bottleneck to the throughput of the entire network.
What might influence throughput?
- The amount of traffic
- The type of traffic
- The latency created by the number of network devices encountered between source and destination
What is latency?
The amount of time, including delays, for data to travel from one given point to another.
What is goodput?
Goodput is the measure of usable data transferred over a given period of time. Goodput is throughput minus traffic overhead for establishing sessions, acknowledgments, and encapsulation.
What are standards for copper media defined for?
- Type of copper cabling used
- Bandwidth of the communication
- Type of connectors used
- Pinout and color codes of connections to the media
- Maximum distance of the media
What are the benefits and disadvantages of copper media?
Copper media is inexpensive, easy to install, and has low resistance to electrical current. However, copper media is limited by distance and signal interference.
What is signal attenuation?
The longer a signal travels, the more it deteriorates. Copper media is prone to this, and must follow strict distance limitations as specified by the guiding standards.
What causes signal interference?
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) or radio frequency interference (RFI) - EMI and RFI signals can distort and corrupt the data signals being carried by copper media. Potential sources of EMI and RFI include radio waves and electromagnetic devices. Crosstalk - Crosstalk is a disturbance casused by the electric or magnetic fields of a signal on one wire to the signal in an adjacent wire. In telephone circuits, crosstalk can result in hearing part of another voice conversation from an adjacent circuit. Specifically when an electrical current flows through a wire, it creates a small, circular magnetic field around the wire, which can be picked up by an adjacent wire.
How does copper wire counteract the effects of signal interference and crosstalk?
To counteract EMI and RFI, some types of copper are wrapped in metallic shielding and require proper grounding connections.
To counteract the negative effects of crosstalk, some types of copper cables have opposing circuit wire pairs twisted together, which effectively cancels crosstalk.
It can also be limited by:
-Selecting the cable type or category most suited to a given networking environment
-Designing a cable infrastructure to avoid known and potential sources of interference in the building structure
-Using cabling techniques that include the proper handling and termination of the cables.
What are the main types of copper media used in networking?
Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP), shielded twisted-pair (STP), coaxial.
Describe a UTP.
Unshielded twisted-pair cabling is the most common network media. It’s terminated with RJ-45 connectors. It’s used for interconnecting network hosts with intermediate networking devices, such as switches and routers. Consists of four pairs of color-coded wires that have been twisted together and encased in a flexible plastic sheath that protects from minor physical damage. The twisting of wires helps protect against signal interference from other wires. The color codes identify the individual pairs of wires and aid in cable termination.
Describe an STP.
Shielded twisted-pair provides better noise protection than UTP cabling, however it is significantly more expensive and difficult to install. It uses an RJ-45 connector. It combines the techniques of shielding to counter EMI and RFI, and wire twisting to counter crosstalk. STP cables are terminated with special shielded STP data connectors. If improperly grounded the shield may act as an antenna and pick up unwanted signals. Each pair of wires is wrapped in a foil shield, and then they are wrapped in an overall metallic braid or foil.
Describe a coaxial cable.
Coax for short, they get their name from the fact that there are two conductors that share the same axis. Coaxial cable consists of:
-A copper conductor used to transmit electronic signals
-A layer of flexible plastic insulation surrounding a copper conductor
-The insulating material is surrounded in a woven copper braid, or metallic foil, that acts as the second wire in the circuit, and as a shield for the inner conductor. The second layer, or shield, reduces amount of outside electromagnetic interference.
-The entire cable is covered with a cable jacket to prevent minor physical damage.
Uses BNC, N type and F type connectors.