How Stuff Works: Computer Networking Basics

Computer networks: basic terms

I chose the concept of “networking,” since it appeared to be the only one of my three selections that was on no one else’s list.  “How Stuff Works” took the concept of networking first as a computer term—not surprisingly—but also generated links to social networking, which is just a small leap to another category of digital networking, namely, social media.  Adding a descriptor or two generates other types of networking, in some cases metaphorical extensions of the computer network and in others separate emergences such as telephone or TV networks.  However, because of the primacy of the concept as associated with computer devices connected by cables, I took my explorations in that direction.  The most useful article I consulted, Nick Pidgeon’s (2000) “How Ethernet Works,” was neither the newest nor the first that I consulted, but I found it uniformly useful for establishing key concepts and terminology.    Although networks can be classified as Local Area Networks (LAN) (generally used by a single organization and often within a single building or office) or Wide Area Networks (WAN) (interconnected networks or the internet itself), the same components make up each type.  Lines connecting entities in a network are known as medium, typically a cable, whether coaxial copper cable or fiber optic cable, and a single section of cable connecting two devices is called a segment.  The devices attached to segments, such as a desktop work station or a printer, are called nodes.  Frames are chunks of information that are communicated between nodes.  Protocols are rules used for constructing frames and for governing connections.  Networks also contained dedicated devices used for controlling the flow of information or passing on information.  These include things like repeaters and bridges, particularly in Ethernet networks.  I also suspect that these are more relevant to earlier networks that were entirely wired (pure Ethernet networks, in other words).  After all, the technology has changed since the time this article was written.  In any case, the more important component for the smooth functioning of networks is the router.  There are smaller, limited versions of these as well as larger powerful versions for large networks and relay points, but in any case, routers are what controls the passage of information, the “crucial device that lets messages flow between networks” (Franklin, 2000).  Routers keep information moving towards its destination but also prevent it from clogging channels or going where it isn’t needed.  In other words, a router is not only a mail carrier but a traffic cop, so to speak.  Information travels through computer networks in packets.  In contrast with a land line telephone call which makes a stable circuit to phone being called, this means that messages are chopped up into manageable sizes and sent in pieces via any efficient route.  It is the routers that send along the packets through maximally efficient routes (Franklin, 2000).  On reach the destination device, packets are reunited to reconstruct the original message.

Network layout and network types

An aspect of networks that emerged as a key element in general was the set-up or the structure of the network.  However, it became apparent to me that from the time that the earlier articles were written that some concerns had diminished.  For example, Pidgeon’s 2000 article on Ethernet discussed radial, or branching set-ups where devices connected in a hierarchical way, back to central hubs, or a token ring set-up where devices are arrayed in a non-hierarchical, circular arrangement and signals are sent one-way around the circle until a destination is reached.  Another term used for a radial type arrangement with a central hub is star topology, mentioned in a 2008 article on hybrid networks (Roos, 2008).  

Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NetworkDecentral.svg

Establishing a set-up to avoid overworking the same segments with multi-direction traffic was an issue that led to strategic arrangements like the star topology or the token ring.  However, mesh networks take what was a weakness in the past—too many things connecting to too many other things—and have built it into a strength of densely-populated hybrid networks.  Traditional hybrid networks (Roos, 2008)) are networks where some components are connected by Ethernet cables while others are connected wirelessly.  A challenge of hybrid networks is to get a wi-fi signal of adequate strength and to avoid security risks.  Users of home networks are also warned that wireless is slower (Wilson, 2001). Mesh networks, on the other hand, are flexible, densely-populated networks built on relatively few wired connections and a plethora of wireless devices.  

Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Star_Topology.png

Because of the availability of a large number of devices that can receive and transmit wireless signals, these networks are actually faster and more efficient, say their proponents (Roos, 2007).  Unlike the earlier wired networks, the mesh networks are not limited to single routes on cables but can pass packets in multiple routes using multiple proximate devices.  Due to the use of small wireless radio transmitters that can be stashed in various locations and don’t require burying cables or digging into walls, many large and densely-populated locations are moving towards mesh networks.  Some examples are hospitals, hotels, college campuses, warehouses and even municipal spaces.  In fact, Roos (2007) seems to see mesh networks as a positive development for an increasingly wired future, not only making urban areas better connected and safer since wireless signals will resist challenges to other infrastructure breakdowns, but also as powerful solutions for less developed countries and remote areas.  One cannot help suspecting, however, a flip side in terms of ever greater concerns for privacy.

Emergent concepts

Several things struck me as I read about how computer networks work in a fundamental sense.  First, while computer networks—particularly with the increase of wi-fi options—enable a sense of ubiquitous connectivity in most of the spaces we inhabit, there is, in fact, a level of materiality that is inescapable.  Devices that receive and transmit signals are things we can hold in our hands and some things are always going to be wired.  Related to this is the idea that layout matters.  Where things are positioned in relation to each other matters. Another concept is the idea of flow of communication, of messages, of information, passing back and forth. With that being the case, efficiency is crucial and security is also a relevant issue.  All of these variables require an element of decision-making by real human beings who construct and maintain networks.  While there is certainly an evolution and apparent randomness, there is also agency.

In New Media: The Key Concepts, sociologists Nicholas Gane and David Beer (2012) discuss six core concepts related to new media. The first concept that they choose is “network,” and they begin their discussion with computer engineering, arguing that although the term has become a trope in cultural and social sciences, it is meaningfully traced back to the computer science. Their discussion begins, therefore, with a few—though not all—of the basic terms that I selected for my very simple discussion above.  As metaphor and as theory, we can take these terms as concepts and run with them in different directions, but I believe that it will be helpful at least to consider their material starting point as rooted in computer science.

Activity

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References

Franklin, C. (2000, July 31). How routers work. HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from 
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/router.htm

Gane, N., & Beer, D. (2012). New media: The key concepts. London: Berg.

Pidgeon, N. (2000, April 1). How Ethernet works. HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from 
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ethernet.htm

Roos, D. (2008, March 11). How hybrid networks work. HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from 
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-networks.htm

Roos, D. (2007, June 20). How wireless mesh networks work. HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from 
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/how-wireless-mesh-networks-work.htm

Wilson, T.V. (2001, April 30). How home networking works. HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved from 
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/home-network.htm