International Journal of Computer Networks & Communications (CNCIJ) Vol.01, No.1, January 2019 Comparative Analysis of Performance of Hub with Switch Local Area Network (LAN) Using Riverbed in University of Technology (Utech),Jamaica. Christopher Udeagha,R. Maye, D.Partrick,D. Humphery,D.Escoffery,E.Campbell School of Computing & Information Technology, Faculty of Engineering & Computing, UTech, Papine, Jamaica. Abstract Hubs and switches have been actively used devices in computer networks vision, over two (2) decades. As results, numerous approaches have been used with varying degrees of success to evaluate the performances of these devices in computer networks. A class of approach that shown substantial promise is one that gives clear and predictive results regarding the numbers of workstations, servers and categories of cables used in the network is by riverbed academic edition, version 17.5. A common theme in this green technique, to this approach is by creating two scenarios. In the first scenario, about seven (7) to ten (10) workstations were connected to web server via a hub. The relevant performance statistics were collected at both workstations and the server. The same was done in the second scenario except that the hub was replaced with a switch, which will facilitate the connections between the workstations and the server. Simulations in the laboratory-using riverbed version 17.5, was done to obtain the statistical comparative results of these two scenarios. This approach has shown to outperform other existing methods in comparative analysis of performance of hub with switch in a local area network (LAN). Keywords : hub; riverbed; simulations; switch; workstation; I INTRODUCTION The goal of this paper is to compare the performance of a pure hub, (LAN), which a switched (LAN) at University of Technology, Jamaica, campus network with about ten (10) workstations using riverbed 17.5.in labouratory 1AX of Networking and Communication Labouratory. Hubs and switches serve as a central connection of computer network equipment and allow transfer of data called frames. Hub is a layer one device of open system interconnectivity (OSI) model, and can be passive or active device, while switch is a layer Two (2) device of OSI model [7]. In comparison, switch is more advanced than hub. A hub can broadcast frames everywhere on the network, while a switch checks for the destination MAC address and forward it to the relevant DOI: 10.5121/cncij.2019.04101 1 International Journal of Computer Networks & Communications (CNCIJ) Vol.04, No.1, January 2019 port to reach a particular computer meant to receive the frame [6]. A switch as an active or an intelligent device reduces traffics and divide the collision domain into segments. It also protects frames from being sniffed by other computers sharing the same segment [2]. A 10 base-T cable, which is a twisted pair wire, that is, a physical media specified in IEEE 802.3 standard for Ethernet LAN, which supports 10Mega bits per seconds (Mbps) transmission speed for normal internet was used to set up the LAN.The system servers were comprised of both profile and application server were used to make all standard network applications such as HTTP, FTP, E-Mail and Database available for use in the topology, while the profile server was configured as a web user. The approach in this paper included connecting the ten (10) workstations, with 10 base-T cable with hub and servers before configuration of the entire network. After the configuration, we chose the statistics that ought to be collected during the simulations. It was possible to compare two (2) statistics simultaneously, between the hub and switch and the results were displayed accordingly. This approach by using riverbed academic version 17.5 yielded almost 100% results. The use of Ethernet hubs and switches in the networking sectors has played an important role across the world by allowing basic devices to communicate with each other within computer networks. Hubs and switches are commonly used to connect segments of a Local area Network (LAN) which can be viewed as sub-networks of a larger interconnected entity. Hubs and switches both play important roles in connecting networks. However, switches tend to be chosen over hubs because of its reliability and its ability to handle heavy network traffic in daily operations. In spite of this, hubs should not be disregarded because they tend to perform fairly well in computer networks such as small business offices and also typical home networks. Hubs operate on the first layer (physical layer) of the Open System Interconnect (OSI) model. The physical layer’s main purpose is for proper transmission of raw bits across the computer network. Switches operate on the second layer (data-link layer) of the OSI model. The data-link layer’s main purpose is to deliver frames between devices on a given Local area Network (LAN). Based on previous researches, several questions are always raised when comparing the two network devices. These questions include; which one of the devices is more intelligent? In what scenario can an Ethernet hub be considered better in a computer network? What are the security concerns as it relates to the network devices? This research also introduces the Riverbed Modeler Academic Edition 17.5 software which will conduct the necessary simulation for the network topologies which are set to be designed. The software is introduced by Riverbed Technology, an American Information Technology company that develops products to improve application performance across computer networks. 2 International Journal of Computer Networks & Communications (CNCIJ) Vol.04, No.1, January 2019 II. BACKGROUND Graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in the field of computer networking often require a firm conceptual understanding of one or more of its theoretical foundations [3]. Knowledge of performance optimization, available bandwidth, channel capacity, data rate, bit rate, transmission time, propagation time and throughput should be known otherwise assumed by researchers in this field. Since, 10 base-T, according, to IEEE 802.3 standard for Ethernet LAN, supports transmission speed of 10 Mbps, we shall assume that the available channel capacity of the network is 10Mbps and we can calculate the available bandwidth based on Shannon’s law with a given signal to noise ratio (SNR). C = B x Log2 (1+SNR) ( 1 ) SNR = average signal power/average noise power (2) Throughput = No. of Frames in bits / time in seconds ( 3) Propagation time = Distance in meters /speed in meters per second (4 ) Transmission time = message in bits /bandwidth (5) Computer network allows the sharing of data and resources in timely and an efficient manner. The devices used in computer network may be wired or wireless. A computer network is a special arrangement of computers, printers, scanners etc. along with network devices such as hubs, switches, routers etc. to communicate data packets over internet[4]. In this work, we looked at those statistics that ought to be collected during simulation run. Under client hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), we looked at object response time, page response time, traffic sent and traffic received, as well as user cancellation connections. Under server HTTP, we considered, load, traffic received and traffic sent. Under Transmission control protocol (TCP), we also considered, connection aborts, delay and retransmission count. A communication network is composed from communication links. This is a widely used approach to transferring information over a wired or wireless link to continuous analogue carrier signal to represent the symbol values ‘0’ and ‘1’ as digital data. The carrier analogue signal is sinusoidal, which is associated with a time T, such that at time t, the amplitude of the signal is described by the function Xs (t). By using matlab, the signal Xs (t) =A*sin ((2*pi*fs*t + Φs); can be plotted, as shown in Figure 3 International Journal of Computer Networks & Communications (CNCIJ) Vol.04, No.1, January 2019 1. Velocity xs(t) = Xs sin(2 fs t + s) 2 1.5 Time 1 0.5 s 0 x -0.5 -1 -1.5 -2 -0.1 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 t Time Figure 1.The Sinusoidal analogue Signal of the of the network III WHY USING RIVERBED ACADEMIC EDITION 17.5 Riverbed is a good tool for computer network designs, simulations and analysis. It runs on the backbone of Opnet IT guru Riverbed software equips researchers, teachers, students and industries with the most complete infrastructure visibility to optimize application performance and maximize business performance [8]. Riverbed offers instructor-led classroom training courses that feature in-depth lectures and hands-on installation, configuration, and optimization experience within the Riverbed eLab environment. Riverbed is the leader in application performance infrastructure, providing solutions for end-to-end application visibility, optimization, and control in hybrid IT environments. Riverbed Technology [9], Inc. (Riverbed) is a provider of application performance infrastructure which offers a platform to deliver, control and optimize IT resources across the hybrid enterprise. The technology delivers application performance infrastructure solutions with a focus on two areas, which include application acceleration and performance management. There are other technologies that are quite similar to that of the Riverbed Technology, Inc. (riverbed) such as Clearfield, Inc. and Plantronics .Clearfield, Inc. manufactures [9], markets and sells fiber management and enclosure platform that consolidates, distributes and protects fiber as it moves from the inside plant to the outside plant and all the way to the home, business and cell site. 4 International Journal of Computer Networks & Communications (CNCIJ) Vol.04, No.1, January 2019 IV RELATED WORKS Other related works involving the use of riverbed academic edition 17.5 include; 1) Performance Analysis of Interior Gateway Protocol is study conducted by Kaur & Mir, (2014) to compare the routing protocols: RIP, OSPF and EIGRP using Riverbed Modeler 17.5 as the simulation tool.