Introduction:
The local area network or the LAN is a combination of computers which are connected to a same local network [1]. This group of computers shares a common communication line. The main aim of using the local area network is to limit this communication only between this groups of computers with a high speed communication. It means the local area network is commonly used in offices, organizations and businesses. In this paper, the LAN installing architecture in school will be discussed. To discuss this LAN architecture, the knowledge of an integral part of the LAN connection is also required. For meeting these requirements, in this paper the OSI layered architecture, TCP/IP protocol suite will be discussed. Also, a comparison between the OSI model and TCP/IP will be drawn, and a concluding part will summarise the whole discussed content of this paper.
The open system interconnections or the OSI model is a typical conceptual model that describes the communication method of a computer system. This OSI model has seven layers of the protocol [2]. To describe the OSI model properly the interoperability, the structure of the OSI model and functionality of each model will be discussed.
The interoperability property in the computer systems allows users to share the resources between different types of systems without any type of restrictions [10]. This process includes both the hardware and software to exchange the data flows using both the wide area network and the local area network. The two main types of interoperability are the syntactic interoperability and the semantic interoperability.
The OSI layer architecture has the total number of seven layers. These layers are the physical layer, data link layer, network layer, transport layer, session layer, presentation layer and the application layer [2]. In this following diagram, the proper architecture of the OSI model is described.
(Figure 1: OSI model structure)
(Source: webopedia.com)
The OSI model was created by the International Organization for Standardization to use it as a framework which can define the connected computer standards. This OSI model has served the basic parts of the computer networks science its introduction in the year of 1984 [2].
The function of each layer is described in the following section:
- Application layer: Used for remotely access the files for resource sharing purpose.
- Presentation layer: Data compression, encryption, decryption and character encoding is done in this layer [9].
- Session layer:The main function of this layer is communication session management.
- Transport layer:Used for data transmission between various points in the network.
- Network layer:This layer manages and structures multi-node network.
- Data link layer: Data frames transmission is done between two layers by using a physical layer.
- Physical layer:Raw bit streams are transmitted using a physical layer.
The TCP/IP model and the OSI model has many similarities and dissimilarities between them. The main similarities between the OSI model and the TCP/IP are:
- Both of the OSI model and the TCP/IP are having the same layered type of architecture.
- The layers described in both of the models have the same type of functionality [7].
- Both of the OSI model and the TCP/IP are the protocol stack.
- Both of the OSI model and the TCP/IP are reference models.
Beside many similarities, the OSI model and the TCP/IP model has many dissimilarities. The main dissimilarities are the:
- The OSI model is the protocol independent model while the TCP/IP model is based on standard protocols [7].
- The transport layer of the OSI model guarantees the packer data deliveries while the transport layer of TCP/IP protocol does not guarantee it.
- OSI model is having a dedicated session and presentation layer while the TCP/IP model does not have it.
- The network layer of the OSI model is both connections less and connection oriented while the network layer of the TCP/IP model is only connectionless.
(Figure 2: Comparison of TCP/IP and OSI model)
(Source: Created by the author)
The OSI model has various types of protocols working on each of the layers. These protocols are specified in a particular layer of a model. In the following section, the functionality of protocols will be discussed.
|
Layer |
Protocol |
Function |
|
Application |
FTP |
The FTP is an application layer based protocol in the OSI model. The FTP is used for transferring and accessing files remotely [3]. |
|
Presentation |
MIME |
This MIME protocol allows the user to exchange various data over the internet including the images, audio and video. |
|
Session |
PPTP |
The PPTP uses generic routing encapsulation tunnel which can encapsulate the PPP packets [8]. |
|
Transport |
UDP |
The UDP or the user datagram protocol is used for connection establishment by using the loss-tolerating and low-latency network. This connection is established between the applications available on the internet. |
|
Network |
IPv4 |
The IPv4 is a type of connectionless protocol which is used in the network layer for the data communication purposes. This protocol is widely used in the Ethernet [4]. |
|
Data link |
ARP |
The main function of ARP or the address resolution protocol is to find the MAC address of the hardware. The ARP preserve the cache which holds the MAC addresses. This MAC address records the mapped IP addresses. |
|
Physical |
OTN |
In the physical layer, the OTN or the Optical Transport Network works as a set of elements of the optical network. This optical transport network uses optical fibre link which can provide the functions like multiplexing, transporting, managing and switching of optical channels. The client signals are also carried by this optical channels. |
The local area network can run on various types of media types. In this paper most suitable media types to run the local area network will be discussed. These media types are the copper medium, fibre optic, infrared signals and radio signals [5]. In the case of copper mediums unshielded twisted pairs, coaxial cables, shielded twisted pairs and heliax are used. All of these media types can handle the local area network very well. For the wired cases the fibre optics are the best solution for the LAN connection. The fibre optics are two types which are single-mode and multi-mode. In the case of wireless LAN communication, infrared media types can be used. Infrared signals are transmitted directly into the air, and then the nearby capable devices can receive the signals. Also, for the wireless Ethernet connections, the radio signals are widely used [6]. In the following table, a comparison will be done in terms of speed, cost and security.
|
Parameters |
Copper Mediums |
Optical Fibre |
Infrared |
Radio Signals |
|
Speed |
Fast |
Fastest among all |
Comparatively Slow |
Comparatively Slow |
|
Cost |
Lowest implementation cost |
Very costly to implement |
Moderate cost for implementation |
Moderate cost for implementation |
|
Security |
Moderate security |
Most secure connection |
Less secure and vulnerable to attacks |
Less secure and vulnerable to attacks |
Conclusion:
Form the above discussion it can be concluded that the LAN connection has a major impact in the case of communications. The LAN connection can help an organization by providing a secure internetwork connection. Also, these types of connections tend to be as fast as the whole network is connected internally. In this paper a brief about the OSI model and the structure of the OSI model is described which is required for a proper LAN setup. From the description of the OSI model also the various protocols of each layer are discussed. Lastly, a comparative analysis of media types which is used by the LAN connections has been done, and from the analysis report, it has been found that the optical fibre is the most suitable media type for the LAN connection. It is also determined that the optical fibre is the most costly media types to implement. In the future cases may the optical fibre will be implemented in most of the cases for a local area connection.
References:
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- García-Holgado, Alicia, and Francisco José García-Peñalvo. “Architectural pattern for the definition of eLearning ecosystems based on Open Source developments.” In Computers in Education (SIIE), 2014 International Symposium on, 93-98. IEEE, 2014.
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