What is networking?
Definition: In the world of computers, networking is the practice of interfacing two or more computing devices with each other for the purpose of sharing data. Computer networks are built with a combination of hardware and software.
Area Networks
Computer networks can be categorized in several different ways. One approach defines the type of network according to the geographic area it spans. Local area networks (LANs), for example, typically span a single home, school, or small office building, whereas wide area networks (WANs), reach across cities, states, or even across the world. The Internet is the world's largest public WAN.
Network Design
Computer networks also differ in their design approach. The two basic forms of network design are called client/server and peer-to-peer. Client-server networks feature centralized server computers that store email, Web pages, files and or applications. On a peer-to-peer network, conversely, all computers tend to support the same functions. Client-server networks are much more common in business and peer-to-peer networks much more common in homes.
Network Protocols
Communication languages used by computer devices are called network protocol. Yet another way to classify computer networks is by the set of protocols they support. Networks often implement multiple protocols with each supporting specific applications. Popular protocols include TCP/IP, the most common protocol found on the Internet and in home networks.
While other types of networks are built and maintained by engineers, home networks belong to ordinary homeowners, people often with little or no technical background. Various manufacturers produce broadband router hardware designed to simplify home network setup. Home broadband routers allow devices in different rooms to efficiently share a broadband Internet connection, enable people to more easily share their files and printers within the network, and help with overall network security.
Home networks have increased in capability with each generation of new technology. Years ago, people commonly set up their home network just to connect a few PCs, share some documents and perhaps a printer. Now its common for households to also network game consoles, digital video recorders, and smart-phones for streaming sound and video. Home automation systems have also existed for many years, but these too have grown in popularity more recently with practical systems for controlling lights, digital thermostats and appliances.
Business Networks
Small and home office (SOHO) environments use similar technology as found in home networks. Businesses often have additional communication, data storage, and security requirements that require expanding their networks in different ways, particularly as the business gets larger. Whereas a home network generally functions as one LAN, a business network tends to contain multiple LANs. Companies with buildings in multiple locations utilize wide-area networking to connect these branch offices together. Though also available and used by some households, voice over IP communication and network storage and backup technologies are prevalent in businesses. Larger companies also maintain their own internal Web sites, called intranets to help with employee business communication.
Networking and the Internet
The popularity of computer networks sharply increased with the creation of the World Wide Web (WWW) in the 1990s. Public Web sites, peer to peer (P2P) file sharing systems, and various other services run on Internet servers across the world.Wired versus Wireless Networking
Many of the same network protocols, like TCP/IP, work in both wired and wireless networks. Networks with Ethernet cables predominated in businesses, schools, and homes for several decades. More recently, however, wireless alternatives have emerged as the premier technology for building new computer networks, in part to support smartphones and the other new kinds of wireless gadgets that have triggered the rise of mobile networking.
One way to categorize the different types of computer network designs is by their scope or scale. For historical reasons, the networking industry refers to nearly every type of design as some kind of area network. Common types of area networks are:
- LAN - Local Area Network
- WAN - Wide Area Network
- WLAN - Wireless Local 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
LAN and WAN are the two primary and best-known categories of area networks, while the others have emerged with technology advances
Note that network types differ from network topologies (such as bus, ring and star). (See also - Introduction to Network Topologies.)
A LAN connects network devices over a relatively short distance. A networked office building, school, or home usually contains a single LAN, though sometimes one building will contain a few small LANs (perhaps one per room), and occasionally a LAN will span a group of nearby buildings. In TCP/IP networking, a LAN is often but not always implemented as a single IP subnet.
In addition to operating in a limited space, LANs are also typically owned, controlled, and managed by a single person or organization. They also tend to use certain connectivity technologies, primarily Ethernet and Token Ring.
As the term implies, a WAN spans a large physical distance.The Internet is the largest WAN, spanning the Earth.
A WAN differs from a LAN in several important ways. Most WANs (like the Internet) are not owned by any one organization but rather exist under collective or distributed ownership and management. WANs tend to use technology like ATM, Frame Relay and X.25 for connectivity over the longer distances.
Residences typically employ one LAN and connect to the Internet WAN via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) using a broadband modem. The ISP provides a WAN IP address to the modem, and all of the computers on the home network use LAN (so-called private) IP addresses. All computers on the home LAN can communicate directly with each other but must go through a central network gateway, typically a broadband router, to reach the ISP.
While LAN and WAN are by far the most popular network types mentioned, you may also commonly see references to these others:
- Wireless Local Area Network - a LAN based on Wi-Fi wireless network technology
- Metropolitan Area Network - a network spanning a physical area larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN, such as a city. A MAN is typically owned an operated by a single entity such as a government body or large corporation.
- Campus Area Network - a network spanning multiple LANs but smaller than a MAN, such as on a university or local business campus.
- Storage Area Network - connects servers to data storage devices through a technology like Fibre Channel.
- System Area Network (also known as Cluster Area Network)- links high-performance computers with high-speed connections in a cluster configuration.
free bba hons notes, bba hons free online notes, online notes of bba hons, bba hons all free notes, mcat ecat in cms, mcat in Hyderabad, ecat in hyderbad, ecat mcat program in cms, ecat mcat preparatory sessions, cms hyderabad offers, cms contact number, cms college of modern sciences FREE NOTES, cms Hyderabad college, cmsian, valiant cmsian, ecat mcat entry test program, entry test preparations in cms, get admission on merit in mehran university, BBA AND MBA ONLINE NOTES, MBA ONLINE NOTES, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION HONORS, BBA HONORS FREE NOTES, COURSE CONTENTS OF BBA HONORS, SYLLABUS OF BBA HONS 1ST SEMESTER, Syllabus OF BBA HONS 2ND SEMESTER, SYLLABUS OF BBA HONS 3RD SEMESTER, SYLLABUS OF BBA HONORS 4RTH SEMESTER, SYLLABUS OF BBA HONS 5TH SEMESTER, SYLLABUS OF BBA HONS 6TH SEMESTER, SYLLABUS OF BBA HONS 7TH SEMESTER, SYLLABUS OF BBA HONS 8TH SEMESTER, all bba hons syllabus free notes, all bba honors free online notes, study guide for bba honors, study for bba honors online, free mba and bba honors notes, free bba and mba notes, all free bba notes, bba honors free notes, mba free notes, university of sindh jamshoro examinations schedule, university of sindh bba honors time table, cms time table, cms hyderabad college examination schedule, bba time table, bba honors exam timetable, basics of NETWORKING, what is LAN, WAN and Home Networking, bba hons, bba honors, bba cms, cmsian bba, valiant cmsian bba, cms bba hons website, all cms notes here, all bba hons notes of cms college, bba syllabus, bba course outlines, bba hons course outline, MBA syllabus, MBA hons course outline of university of sindh, mba honos course outlines of cms,
