level computing following tasks:

tasks,

a network

operating

system

is responsible

for

a11 the

Directing Allowing Preventing

Managing

data traffic through and preventing

the network. requirements,

access to data based on security

access to data files while they are being processed

the flow of information between a variety of workstations.

Managing Managing Managing

requests

for printer services and messages between between network users

communication connections

the network

and remote sites

Make services

as transparent

as possible

to the user

Components

of the Network Operating

System
operating system
They are:

There are two main components

.

of the network
on clients.

Client

software

-installed

Server software

-installed

on servers

Client Software
In a network exists client or redirected software environment, in another server to the when part with a user the initiates a request the request resource. to use The a resource that of the

on a server

of the network, requested is the redirector.

has to be forwarded component

that does

this task

Redirector
The redirector may also be referred the network operating system that:
.

to as a shell or a requester.

It is a small part of

Intercepts

requests

in the computer by the local system itself or it

Determines if the requests can be serviced needs to be forwarded to the server.

41

Designators
A designator is an alphabet that is assigned to each network resource. redirector keeps track of which drive designators are associated with network resources. The which

For example, to access a particular shared directory on a remote computer, we can assign a letter of the alphabet, says H, to it. We can then refer to the shared directory on the remote computer as H and the redirector will locate it.

Server Software
Server software makes it possible for users working on other machines the server's data and peripherals including shared directories, printers, disks. to share plotters and

Resource Sharing
The server software not only allows sharing of resources, degree of sharing. The degree of sharing includes: but also determines the

Allowing different users levels of access to the resources. For example, a file server could give read or write or read and write permissions to different users. Coordinating access to the resources to make sure that two users use the same resource at the same time. do not

Managing
.

Users
which indicates who gets to use the various

Create user privileges, resources on the network Validate

user names and passwords user privileges

at the time of logging on.

Grant or revoke Remove

on the network.

users from the list of users having access to the server.

Network Services
Network services are network operating application programs that run on the network. The network operating system installation program ensure that the user has a minimum of network services installed by default.

t"I G.

Some examples
.

of services

installed

by the NT operating

system,

by default are

Alerter service -notifies selected users and computers, of administrative alerts that occur on the computer. As an example, an alerter service could be set to issue alerts whenever the used space of a hard disk exceeds a particular percentage of the total hard disk space. Event log service -records system, security and program events in the

eventlog.
.

Messenger service -sends or by the alerter service.

and receives

messages

sent by administrators

Other services such as the telephony service, which is used by programs to make data, fax, voice calls. These services have to be manually started by the user.

Shared Network Applications Applications such as word processors network like any other resource.
The advantages
.

and databases

can be shared on the

of shared

network

applications

are

It makes application programs less expensive because buying a site licence for 200 users on an application is usually cheaper that buying 200 individual copies of the application. It ensure that everyone
The information in the

will be using the same version

data base that is stored on

of the product.
the server can be

accessed by the clients on remote client/server network is the most efficient

. . .

machines. way for:

This

model

of

the

Data base access and management Network management Centralized file storage.

LAN Expansion
Networks cannot be made larger by simply adding new computers and more cable because each topology has its limits. However, there are certain components which can increase the size of the network within the existing environment. These components are :

43

Repeaters Routers Bridges

Brouters Gateways

Repeaters
A repeater is a device that regenerates signals so that the signal can travel on additional cable segments. They do not translate or filter data. For a repeater to work, both segments that the repeater joins must have the same media access scheme, protocol and transmission technique. Repeaters can move packets from one medium to another. Some multi port repeaters can connect different types of media. Repeaters improve performance by dividing the network into segments, thus reducing the number of computers per segment.

Routers
A router is a device used to connect networks that use different architecture and protocols. They can switch and transfer information packets across multiple networks. This process is called routing. They can determine the best path for sending data and filtering broadcast traffic to the local segment. Routers cannOt link to remote computers. They only read addressed network packets. Routers can link segments that use different data packaging and media access schemes.

Bridges
A bridge is a device that can join two LANs. overloaded network into separate networks, and making each network more efficient. A such as twisted-pair and coaxial Ethernet. It such as Ethernet and Token Ring. They are also referred Control layer bridge :
. . .

However, a bridge can also divide an reducing the traffic on each segment bridge can link unlike physical media can also link unlike network segments

to as Media Access

Control

layer bridges.

A Media Access

Checks the source and destination Creates a routing table. F orwards packets.

address

of each packet.

44

Note:

A routing table stores the addresses and all the othe,r

from one network to another.

informatio~information

necessary

to route information

If the destination address is not listed in the routing table, the bridge forwards the packets to all segments.
Multiple bridges can be used to combine several small networks network. A bridge can be installed internally or externally. Bridges routers because routers perform complex functions on each packet. The following
.

into one large are faster than

are the differences

between

bridges and routers cards in its own

The bridge only recognizes segment. Routers recognize

A bridge search can among only recognize active

the addresses of network network addresses.

one paths path between networks. the best

A router path.

can

multiple

and determine

The router only works with routable

protocols

Brouters
A brouter
.

combines

the best features

of both

a bridge

and a router.

Brouters can

Route routable

protocols protocols

Bridge non-routable

Gateways
Gateways make communication possible between systems .that use different communication protocols, data formatting structures, languages and architectures. Gateways repackage data going from one system to another. Gateways are usually dedicated servers on a network and are task-specific.

Wide Area Network Transmission

With components such as bridges, routers and communications service local area networks can be connected to create WANs. Communications make use of the following three types of transmission technologies :
.

providers, services

Analog
Digital

45

Packet-switching

Analog Connectivity
Analog
.

transmission
Dial-up Dedicated This method Liens

refers to telephone
-used for infrequent for a ready

lines used with modems

data transmissions. and continuous link.

These can be

Lines

-used

frequent

data

transmissions

provides

communication

Digital

Connectivity

Digital lines provide faster and a more secure transmission as compared to the telephone lines. Digital transmission does not require the use of modems. Following are the different forms of digital lines :
.

DDS (Digital T1

Data Service)

T3

T4
Switched
sends data

56
through device a device converts called digital a Channel signals Service into Unit/Data that Service is part Unit of the

DDS

(CSU/DSU). synchronous

This

a form

communications.

T1 and T3 use point-to-point transmission that can transmit voice, data and video signals. T1 offers high data speeds and is the most widely used type of digital line. T3 is the highest capacity leased line service available. Switched 56 is a digital dial-up service with each computer on the network. that requires a CSU/DSU to be installed

Packet-switching
Packet-switching packet-switching,

Networks
is a fast and efficient way to transmit data over wide areas. With data is divided into packets of small size and a destination

46

address is attached to each packet. This way each packet can be sent separately over the network. Packets are transmitted along the best route available between the source and the destination.

Sending

Data Across

a WAN

If the technologies discussed above for data transmission are inadequate, the network administrator can consider using any of the advanced WAN technologies. Some of these technologies are :
.

X.25 Packet Switching Asynchronous Transfer Mode (A TM) (ISDN)

Integrated

Service

Digital Network Data Interface

Fiber Distributed

(FDDI)

X.25 Packet Switching

X.25 is a set of protocols included in a packet-switching network. An X.25 network uses switches, circuits and the available routes for routing at any time.

Asynchronous

Transfer

Mode (ATM)

A TM is also an advanced form of packet-switching. It is a broadcast method that transmits data in 53-byte cells. Each cell consists of 48 bytes of data and five bytes of header information. Therefore, the packets that are generated are consistent and uniform. A TM can be used with any media. A TM switches are multi port devices that can act as either hubs or routers. In architectures, such as Ethernet and Token Ring where only one computer at a time may transmit. A TM uses switches as multiplexers to permit several computers to put data on a network.

Note: In asynchronous transmission, data is transmitted as a stream. Each character is converted into a string of bits. Each string is separated from the other strings by a start bit and a stop bit. In this method, there is no device or method to coordinate transmission between t he sender and the receiver. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

Basic Rate ISDN uses digital transmission that divides its bandwidth into three channels. Two of these transmit data at 64 Kbps, and the third at 16 Kbps. The 64 Kbps channels can carry voice, data or images. The slower 16 Kbps channel carries signaling data.

47

A computer have

connected data

to an ISDN stream.

service

can

use

both

the 64 Kbps

channels

to

a 128 Kbps

Fiber Distributed

Data Interface

(FDDI) that uses fiber-optic media and

FOOl is a high-speed token-passing ring network was developed for high-end computers.

FOOl uses a dual-ring topology. In this, there are two data streams flowing in opposite directions around two counter-rotating rings. One ring is called the primary ring and the other is called the secondary ring. The secondary ring acts as a backup. Computers may connect to one or both FOOl cables in a ring.

48