NETWORK

introduction to network
In the broadest terms, people like to view the Internet as a cloud, you put your data in one place, it comes out the place you want it to on the other side. In reality the internet is tens of thousands kilometers of fiber optic cable, hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometers of copper wire, and hardware and software connecting them all together in a redundant, fast, and self-sufficient network. But not to worry, it’s not that bad: you only have to worry about a very small portion of the network, you can let someone else worry about the rest, and you even get someone to yell at when things go wrong.
definition network

Benefits Of Computer Networking

Technically speaking networking can be defined as a bunch of computers that have with wires running in between them. If proper implementation of a network is done it acts as a system that provides unique capabilities, to its users. These are much beyond the abilities of individual machines and software applications associated with them.
The benefits networking offers to its users can be separated into two main groups i.e. sharing and connectivity. Networks make computers and their users capable of being connected together. This facilitates sharing of resources and information between the users. The modern businesses are expanded all over the world. So, uses and significance of networking has gained momentum during the last years.

Types of Networks

There are several different types of computer networks. Computer networks can be characterized by their size as well as their purpose.

The size of a network can be expressed by the geographic area they occupy and the number of computers that are part of the network. Networks can cover anything from a handful of devices within a single room to millions of devices spread across the entire globe.

Some of the different networks based on size are:

• Personal area network, or PAN
• Local area network, or LAN
• Metropolitan area network, or MAN
• Wide area network, or WAN

In terms of purpose, many networks can be considered general purpose, which means they are used for everything from sending files to a printer to accessing the Internet. Some types of networks, however, serve a very particular purpose. Some of the different networks based on their main purpose are:

• Storage area network, or SAN
• Enterprise private network, or EPN
• Virtual private network, or VPN
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• Identify the devices needed in computer network communication

  DEVICE NAME	FUNCTION
  Network Interface Card (NIC)	Is an adapter card or PC card that allow computers to access and communicate over a wired computernetwork.(Via Cable)
  Wireless Network Interface Card (WNIC)	Is a network card that provides wireless data transmission which connects to a radio-based computer network that allow computers to access and communicate over a wireless computernetwork.
  Internal and external modem (MOdulator/DEModulator)	Is a device that enables a computer to transmit data over telephone or cable lines. It may need to convertdigital signals to analog signal (and vice versa)before transferring data, instructions and information.
  Hub or switch	Is a connection point for devices in a network LAN. A hub connects all the devices on its ports together. A switch understands when two devices want to talk to each other, and gives them a switched connection
  Router	Is a communications device that connects multiple computers or other routers together and transmits data to the correct destination
  Wireless access point	A wireless access point is a central communications device that allow computers to transfer data wirelessly to other wireless devices or to a wired network.