NETWORK

WHAT IS A NETWORK?
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information. Where at least one process in one device is able to send/receive data to/from at least one process residing in a remote device, then the two devices are said to be in a network

WHY DO WE NEED NETWORK?

File sharing: Networking of computers helps the users to share data files. Hardware sharing: Users can share devices such as printers, scanners, CD-ROM drives, hard drives etc. Application sharing: Applications can be shared over the network, and this allows to implement client/server applications User communication: Networks allow users to communicate using e-mail, newsgroups, and video conferencing etc. Network gaming: Lot of games are available, which are supports multi-users.

INTERNET AND INTRARNET

The Internet is available to the public (everyone), whereas an intranet is a private network only available to select users., e.g a school may use an intranet so that its pupils can work from home. An Intranet provides much high speed than the Internet. Intranet-based information is more secure than that of the Internet.

REQUIREMENTS OF NETWORK
The rules and data formats for exchanging information in a computer network are defined by communications protocols. Well-known communications protocols are Ethernet, a hardware and Link Layer standard that is ubiquitous in local area networks, and the Internet Protocol Suite, which defines a set of protocols for internetworking, i.e. for data communication between multiple networks, as well as host-to-host data transfer, and application-specific data transmission formats.

TYPES OF NETWORK
LAN - Local Area Network WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network WAN - Wide Area Network MAN - Metropolitan Area Network SAN - Storage Area Network, System Area Network, Server Area Network, or sometimes Small Area Network CAN - Campus Area Network, Controller Area Network, or sometimes Cluster Area Network PAN - Personal Area Network DAN - Desk Area Network