Introduction to Data Communication: Components and Networking Cables

This report discusses the components required for computer networking, including bridges, routers, DSL modems, switches, network interface cards, and hubs. It also covers the different types of networking cables, including coaxial, fiber optic, unshielded twisted pair, and shielded twisted pair. The report explains the size, speed, and cost of each cable type. Course code and college/university not mentioned.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO DATA COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION TO DATA COMMUNICATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Components required in Network..............................................................................................3
Networking cable.......................................................................................................................7
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Data communication can a referred to the transmission process of the data, which is
digital between two computers or more. The concept mainly helps in exchanging of data
between two devices. The physical connection between two networked devices is created
using either wireless media or cable media. One of the best-known computer networks is the
internet. One of the most important aspects, which can be related to the data communication,
is the computer network (Sayood, 2017). A computer network is a system relating to
interconnected computer and its peripherals for example printer, routers, bridge. They form
the basic infrastructure related to the concept of creating a communication between more than
one computer and the internet. In today’s world, many devices are taking part in this concept
so that the interaction between the computer and the internet can be made secure with the
involvement of speed incorporated into it.
The aim or the report is to take into consideration the different components, which are
used by the computer to operate on a network. To explain the concept network environments
are also taken into consideration. In the second part of the report, different cables, which are
used in the aspect of connecting one network device to another, are taken into consideration.
The cables are mainly described using the concept of size, speed and cost, and on the other
hand, a short description about the different wires which are used for the connection are also
given which gives an overview of the cables
Components required in Networking
Bridge
A bridge is implemented to join segments or LANs workgroup. A bridge can also be
incorporated to reduce the traffic or the problem by means of dividing the network into
sectors. A scenario which can be taken into consideration is that if a volume of traffic from a

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set of one or more computers is flooding with data which results in slowing down of the
LAN, a bridge can be implemented which would be isolating the department or the computer.
Some of the other uses of the bridge are as follows:
 The segment length can be expanded.
 On the network, the number of computers can be increased.
 The traffic jams can be reduced which are formed from an excessive number of computer,
which is attached to the network.
 It can be used to split a network into two separate networks. The concept is beneficial in
the way of reducing the traffic on one network and making each of the network more
secured.
 Linking of the unlike physical media can be done with the use of coaxial Ethernet and
twisted pair.
The bridge is placed at the data link layer of the OSI model. Therefore, not all the
information, which is in the higher level of the model, is available to them. The bridge does
not discriminate between the protocols. They convey all the protocols along the network. Due
to the factor that all the protocols pass through the bridge, it is left to the task of determining
which protocols they can or should recognise. The data link layer consist of two sub layer
attached to it, which are the media access control (MAC), and the logical link control (LLC).
Router
Routers are devices, which can be termed as complex that can be used to connect
more than one device on the network, which is separate. In most of the routers, they have
some physical interfaces to interconnect more than one network not taking into consideration
of the platform of the network or the technology. The router can be implemented in a variety
of architectures. They work on the network layer and for operation uses network addressing.

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IP addresses are universal common address so it can be stated here that a UNIX network can
perform communication with a network based on windows. The router to work would be
matching the packet header to the segments of the LAN and perform the best action to
provide the delivery. A router will directly work out the best way in which the message can
be sent to other routers. The messages, which are related to the WAN travel from one, point
to another over a long distance through one or more routers (Uysal et al., 2016).
DSL Modem
The DSL Modem stands for “Digital Subscriber line”. The technology can be stated
as a medium of communication, which can be used for transferring the digital signal over the
concept of standard telephone lines. Along the cable internet, the DSL can be considered as
one of the most preferred ways to provide broadband internet access. The normal landline can
be used for a voice call using low frequency ranging from 0 Hz to 4 Hz. This range is called
as the voice band range as this uses a small part of the frequency. On the other hand, it can be
stated that the DSL uses a higher frequency to directly transmit the data, which is in the range
of 25 KHz to 1.5 MHz these frequencies can be used for the transmission of the audible voice
(20 kHz). The concept of the DSL can be implemented in computers and laptops. It is one of
the several means of connecting to the internet.
Switch
A Switch can be considered a device, which works at the OSI Layer 2 or the access
level. It can be implemented to connect more than one host to network. Taking into
consideration a hub, a switch can forward a message to a direct host. A switch can send
message to another switch, the switch decodes and receives the frame to decode the physical
address, which is the MAC address. There are few categories of switches, which are available
for work, for example, modular switches and stackable switches. It can be stated here that an

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access layer switches facilitate the connection between the end nodes devices directly to the
network for example Modem, Printers, PC etc. The feature of port security decides on how
and what types of devices can be allowed to be connected to the device.
Network Interface Card
The network interface card connects the user’s computer to the internet or local data
network. The card directly converts the data of the computer into an electrical signal, which
can be sent across the network. The popularity, which applies to the network and internet in
general, virtually all the desktops and the laptops have some interface card included in it. The
network card can be included to a bare bone computer, which does not have a network card.
The network card functions as an intermediary, which is placed between the data network and
the computer. The function can be explained with an example such as when a user logs into a
system and access the internet; the computer passes the information of the site to the network
card, which converts the address into electrical pulses. The network card carries the pulses to
the server of the web, which is located somewhere on the internet which response using
sending a web page back to the user in the electronic form.
Hub
A hub is a box, which is rectangular often made up of plastic and receives its main
power from the ordinary wall outlet. It can be used for joining multiple computers together to
form a network. The network is formed in such a way that each of the computers can directly
communicate with each other. A hub is also known as a network hub. It can consider as a
common connection point for devices in the network. The main function of the hub is to
connect devices to segments of LAN (Liggins et al., 2017). The Hub can consist of more than
one port. When any packet arrives at one port, it is then copied to another port. This results in
all the packets to notice all the packets. The function of the hub is very much similar to a

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switch, which serves as a central connection for the entire requirement related to the network.
They are capable of handling data types, which are known as frames. There are three types of
the hub, which are active, passive and intelligent. The Ethernet hub operates at the layer one
device relating to the OSI model. The main benefit that can be achieved from the
implementation is that it can temporarily replace a broken network or when on the network
the performance is not a critical factor (Yang & Liao, 2016).
Networking cable
Cable 1: Coaxial cable
This type of cable was invented back in the 1880s. During the period, the “coax” was one of
the best-known cables that connected the television. The coaxial cable can be considered a
standard for 10 Mbps Ethernet cables (Lu et al., 2015)
Size
The RG 59 is the most standard Coaxial cable, which is used. The inner conductor is
made up of bare copper. The dielectric is 4.6 mm with its outer conductor made of aluminium
polyester foil which surrounded by copper braid. The Coaxial cable can be cables more than
the distance, which is covered by the twisted pair cables (Hayes et al., 2017)
Speed
Coaxial cable can support speed 10 to 100 Mbps. Comparing it with the speed of
other cables it can be stated as quite high when compared to other cables.
Cost
The cost of Coaxial cable is $ 0.01 – 0.08.
Fiber optic cable

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A fibre optic cable can be considered as a network cable that contains strands of glass
fibre inside a casing, which is insulated. They are designed for long distance
telecommunication involving the high performance of data.
Size
The size of fibre optic cable can be referred taking into account the outer diameter of
the core, coating and cladding. For example, 50/125/250 indicates that a fibre with a core of
50 microns, cladding involved is 125 microns and a coating of 250 microns.
Speed
The speed of the fibre optic cable is very much high into the gigabits.
Cost
The cost of the Fiber optic cable is approximately $5.87 per foot (Bernardos et al., 2014).
Unshielded Twisted Pair
The unshielded twisted pair cable is widely used in telecommunication and computers
as telephone wires and Ethernet cables. The cables are usually grouped with colour-coded
insulators, the number directly dependent on the purpose it is being used for to connect two
devices.
Size
The unshielded twisted pair has an external diameter of approximately 0.43 cm (0.17 inches).
Speed
The speed of unshielded twisted pair is approximately 10 to 1000 Mbps.

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Cost
The cost of unshielded twisted pair cable is $1-20.
Shielded twisted pair
The extra covering, which is involved in the shielded twisted pair, protects the
transmission line from electronic interferences, which directly leaks out of the cable. The
STP cabling is often used in Ethernet network especially to generate fast rate Ethernets
contrast with UTP.
Size
The size of shielded twisted pair cable is around 0.73 cm.
Speed
The speed of the shielded twisted pair cable is around 10 to 100 Mbps
Cost
The cost of the shielded twisted pair cable is $3 -10 (Sharma et al., 2014)
Conclusion
The report focuses on the components, which are required for the computer to operate
in a network. In the report, major components are like the bridge, router, DSL Modem,
switch, network interface card and hub. The main functionality of the components is
described using an example for each of the components how they are implemented. The
network environment which supports the components is also taken into consideration. In the
second part of the report, the different cables, which are required in networking, are mainly
discussed. The main point of emphasis is the cost, size and speed of the cables. It can be

10INTRODUCTION TO DATA COMMUNICATION
stated here that different cables have different functionality and can be implemented
according to the need of the user. The different cables have different cost and size.

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References
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