INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS

LESSON 5 – NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

Network Connectivity
When you heard of terms: Network, Internet or Connectivity, What
comes into your mind? When we say Network in computing terminology it is
a group of different computer or digital devices that is interconnected with
each other. And according to Techopedia.com, “Network Connectivity
describes the extensive process of connectinv various parts a network to one
another, for example, through the use of routers, switches and gateways, and
how the process works.”

On this lesson, we will be discussing some of the basic terminologies

about Network Connectivity such as intranet, extranet, internet, protocol,
LAN, WAN and packets. More advance terminologies will be discussed later
in the following chapters.

Let’s begin by defining the first three terminologies namely Intranet,

Extranet and Internet. Basically this three can be categorized as one because
of their similar networking method and according to Tutorialspoint.com;
“Intranet is a networking system in which multiple PCs are connected to each
other but are not available to the world outside the intranet.” Meaning intranet
is a type of network that is only available to the resources or computers inside
an organization. Most companies are utilizing this type of technology to
protect their data from the outside networks or outside intruders known to be
hackers.

So next is Extranet, if we define intranet as inside network then Extranet

can be defined as outside network. What do i mean about that? Extranet is
also a networking system that allows outside networks to connect to your
inside network securely. For example, you have an integrated inventory
system that has suppliers in it then you can allow your suppliers system to
connect securely into your system to provide you with their updated supplies
and as well as their available inventory.

And lastly, we have Internet; According again to Tutorialspoint.com,

Internet is a world-wide / global system of interconnected computer network.
It uses standard Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and every computer in an internet
is identified by unique IP addresses. These IP addresses serve as the house
address of the computer to identify their location. A special Computer DNS
(Domain Name Server) is used to give name to the IP Address so that user can
locate a computer by a name.” So if i will to summarize the definition given
by TutorialsPoint.com, Internet only means WWW or World Wide Web and it
is the network that we use every now and then such as the Facebook, the
Twitter, the Google, the Yahoo and many more.
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 5 – NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

Fig 1.16 – Intranet, Extranet and Internet

Next thing to define is Protocol. What is protocol? According to

ComputerGuru.net, “A Network Protocol is a specialized language that
enables network computers to communicate. Different types of computers,
using different operating systems, can communicate with each other, and
share information as long as they follow the network protocols. A protocol
suite is a set of related protocols that come from a single developer or source.
While a protocol stacks is a set of two or more protocols that work together,
with each protocol covering a different aspect of data communication.”

With the definition given by ComputerGuru.net, we can say that Protocol

is like a common language we use to be understood and to understand people
from other countries. Like for example English Language, if we go to other
country like Japan, if we speak using our native language then people in that
country will not understand us but if we use English language then there will
be some people of that country that will understand us. And it goes the same
way with computers if we connect Mac Computers with Intel Computers and
they use their native protocols then they could not connect to one another but
if they will use common protocols then they can connect to one another.

After discussing what protocol is? We can now discuss the two different
type of Networks namely LAN (Local Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area
Network). LAN or Local Area Network according to Creative-Wisdom.com
is a smaller network that is within one location or between several buildings.
And when we say Local Area Network it can be in one room, several rooms in
a floor, between floors or can be between buildings but connected locally
meaning Local Area Network or LAN doesn’t use Service Providers to
transport data from one location to another location or from one building to
another building.
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING
CHAPTER 1: COMPUTING ESSENTIALS
LESSON 5 – NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

And WAN or Wide Area Network according to Creative-Wisdom.com is

a giant network spanning across several cities or even several continents. And
if we talked about Wide Area Network, we are also talking about several
Service Provider Technologies that can be used to transport the data from one
location to another location like Leased Lines, VPN, ATM, ISDN and many
more. To sum up the definition of LAN and WAN, LAN is contained in a
smaller area or smaller network while WAN is into a much wider
geographical scope that uses Service Provider Technologies.

Last topic for this lesson is Packets. And more advance topic for Network
Connectivity will be discussed in Chapter 4 of this course module. Packets
according to digitalocean.com are the most basic unit that is transferred over a
network. When communicating over a network, Packets are the envelops that
carry your data into pieces from one end point to the other. And Packet is the
protocol data unit for the Network Layer of the OSI Model.

And those are some of the basic terminologies when it comes to network
connectivity. Again, more of Data Communication and Network Connectivity
will be discussed in Chapter 4 of this course module. Now, let’s precede to the
last lesson of Chapter 1 which is People Behind these Systems.