COMPUTER NETWORK AND ITS TYPES
Contents
Network:
A network works like a bridge between
the devices with the help of which it exchange the data. It may exchange data
between computers and sometimes other devices as well. It connects computer to
computer and computer to other devices like printer, scanner etc. also. In
networking, we may use wires to connect different computers together or we can
connect them through wireless source as well.
Depending upon the area, we categorize
the network in different classes to study them in easy and classified manner.
Benefits
of Networking:
There are so many advantages of networking but here
I will mention few ones that are most important in today’s world:
FILE
SHARING
From sharing files you can view,
modify, and copy files stored on a different computer on the network just as
easily as if they were stored on your computer.
RESOURCE SHARING
Resources such as printers, fax
machines, Storage Devices (HDD, FDD and CD Drives), Webcam, Scanners, Modem and
many more devices can be shared.
PROGRAM
SHARING
Just as you can share files on a
network, you can often also share program on a network. For example, if you
have the right type of software license, you can have a shared copy of
Microsoft Office, or some other program, and keep it on the network server,
from where it is also run
Depending upon the region and area
we have divided the types of network in the following categories:
LOCAL
AREA NETWORKING:
A Local Area Network (LAN) is a
network that is confined to a relatively small area. It is generally limited to
a geographic area such as a writing lab, schools, buildings, offices etc.
In this type of networking, we have
a one main Server computer that works as a head and have all the data in it. We
prefers to have a best powerful system having all best devices for a server
because it accesses the other computers connected with it.
Mainly it is connected through a
wire that is known as optical fiber but we can also connect them with the help
of wireless devices also. Different types of ways are there to physically
connect devices and is known as physical topology. There are several types of
physical topology by which we connect computers and devices know as linear bus,
star and tree (expended star) topology.
Example of linear bus topology
Example
of star topology
Example
of tree or Expanded star topology
So, it was all about the Local area networking, now
we will further proceed to the new types of networking that is:
METROPOLITAN
AREA NETWORKING:
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network that interconnects users with computer
resources in a geographic area or
region larger than that covered by even a large local area network (LAN)
but smaller than the area covered by a wide area network (WAN).
Its area is nearly equal to the
city and it can work in the entire city. For example If we have different
campuses of our factory with in the specific city or a large area, we can
connect them through the metropolitan area networking with the help of which we
can easily share the information or data.
It mainly uses optical fiber and
sometimes wireless source for sharing.
Main advantage of MAN is to extent the LAN
connectivity of buildings /offices that are
within the same city or urban area.
WIDE AREA NETWORKING
Wide Area Networks are used to
connect server machines and computers across continents are countries for
constant information updates. Wide Area Networks, are used across the globe,
many networks connect with one another across continents to create one giant
Wide Area Network. Wide Area Networks use optic fibre as their communication medium. The largest example of
a Wide Area Network is the internet itself, which connects all users to the
information and data that is available on the internet.
PERSONAL AREA NETWORKING
It is the network in which computer
and its parts are connected that belongs to the one specific person only that
is why it is known as personal area network. Example is personal computer, fax
machine, PDAs, scanner etc. it usually works with in the limit of 10 meters.
CAMPUS AREA NETWORKING
It is actually the interconnection of local area
networking within the limited geographical region of 1 – 5 KM. For Example We
have a local area networking in different departments of a university including
library, gymnasium, presentation hall etc and we interconnect them through an
optical fiber.
INTERNET:
The Internet is the largest
example of an internetwork. It is a global system of interconnected
governmental, academic, corporate, public, and private computer networks. In
simple and short words, it is the network of networks.
INTRANET
An intranet is a private network that is contained
within an enterprise or a management or a
company. The administrative
entity limits use of the intranet to its authorized users. Most commonly, an
intranet is the internal LAN of an organization. A large intranet typically has
at least one web server to provide users with organizational information. It is
in simple words, the internal network of your organization or secured version
if internet.
EXTRANET
An extranet is a network that
is also under the administrative control of a single organization, but supports
a limited connection to a specific external network. For example, an
organization may provide access to some aspects of its intranet to share data
with its business partners or customers. These other entities are not
necessarily trusted from a security standpoint. Network connection to an
extranet is often, but not always, implemented via WAN technology.
So, here is
the picture that actually differentiate between the LAN, MAN and WAN clearly.
Bibliography
[1]
|
[Online].
Available: http://fcit.usf.edu/network/chap5/chap5.htm.
|
[2]
|
[Online].
Available: http://fcit.usf.edu/network/chap5/chap5.htm.
|
[3]
|
[Online].
Available: http://fcit.usf.edu/network/chap5/chap5.htm.
|
[4]
|
[Online].
Available:
https://www.google.com.pk/search?q=USES+OF+metropolitan+area+network+(man)&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiy2ZLe9dDJAhUDXBoKHX68A_YQ_AUIBigB.
|
[5]
|
[Online].
Available:
http://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/gorry/course/intro-pages/man.html.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment