Computer Networks
When two or more processing are connected together either to share any resource like printer, data exchange or electronic communication, it is called a network. There are many different ways in which the computers and devices can be connected to each other in the network including cables, radio waves, infrared, satellites, etc (Tanenbaum 1).
There are two possible types of networks; peer to peer and server based which is mostly called client-server network. In peer to peer network, computers are connected in a group for the purpose of sharing data/ information, and resources. There is no controller or a single central system in this network to authenticate users, file storage etc. and controlling other systems. Also, each computer in this type of a network uses its own applications and software. On the other hand, in a server based network, there is a central controller present called server and its role is to serve or fulfill the requests comings from other computers called clients. Many applications are installed on the server and a user can remotely access it from multiple computers based on authorization (Tanenbaum 2).
There are categorization of these networks based on the geography, accessibility and configuration. These are:
LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LAN)
A local area network is a network that is built for users within a building like office or college. Primarily, it is built in utilizing resources like files, software and hardware needed by multiple users. It is limited in the number of computers and devices connected. LANs are typically very fast ranging from a few Mbps to Gbps ((Tanenbaum 19).
METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK (MAN)
A metropolitan area network is a huge network typically spanning across a city or a large campus. It is used where local area network can’t be used like multiple buildings or a city. It is owned by one single organization, however can be used by people from different organizations and individuals. A typical area covered by this type of network can be between 5 and 50 miles. An example can be an internet service provider’s network (Tanenbaum 13).
WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN)
A wide area network is the largest network that covers multiple cities, countries or the entire globe. Many local area networks are connected within a wide area network. In order to cover such large geographical area, it transmits data using wired links such as high speed telephone lines or wireless links such as satellites. Multiple local area networks are connected through devices like bridges, routers and gateways. The most common example of a wide area network is the internet (Tanenbaum 24).
PERSONAL AREA NETWORK
A personal area network as suggested by the name is a network used to communicate between computers and/ or other electronic devices like mobile phones and television within a personal premise like a house or room. It can be utilized to connect all devices together or with the internet. A personal area network can we wired or wireless however typically it is a combination of both (Tanenbaum 17).
Finally, we’ll look at different network topologies. A topology can be defined as the arrangement or configuration of all the elements, including computers, hardware and connecting devices which is used to build a network. The network can be any one of the four networks mentioned above. This is physical topology. Another part of a network topology is logical which defines and manages how information and data flows irrespective of the type of network. A network can be configured in many ways, such as:
POINT TO POINT
This is the simplest form of a network topology. It has a dedicated link between two end points as a network. It is either permanent or fixed connection or a switched connection which is need based (Tanenbaum 21).
BUS
It is the most common network used in local area network where all the computers or nodes are connected to a single cable. This common cable is called a bus, which is the backbone of this network. Signals and data travel in all directions through this bus. It can be either linear where the bus has only two end points or a distributed where the bus has more than two end points create using branches (Tanenbaum 272).
STAR
This is a setting where each computer or node is connected to a central hub based on a point to point topology. The central hub is primarily a switch or router acting as a server and all the nodes are clients. If we visualize this topology, it looks like a star thus the name. There are two types of this network type called extended star or distributed star (Tanenbaum 375).
RING
In this type of network setting all the computers and nodes are connected in a circular fashion to make a closed loop. Every node or computer works as a receiver and transmitter to accept and pass on the information in the ring. A signal or data passes through each machine between the source node and destination node (Tanenbaum 271).
HYBRID
If we use more than one network topology as the configuration, we get what is called a hybrid network topology. For example a tree network, which is combination of star and bus network is hybrid (Tanenbaum 272).
Works Cited
Tanenbaum, Andrew S. “Computer Networks.” June. 2003. Prentice-Hall Publication.
