Network is a system used to link two or more computers. Network users are able to share files, printers, and other resources; send electronic messages; and run programs on other computers. A network has three layers of components: application software, network software, and network hardware.
Ten Basic Networking Terms
Node
A terminal or other point in a computer network where a message can be created, received, or transmitted.
Hub
In a star configuration, computers are linked to a central computer called a hub. A computer sends the address of the receiver and the data to the hub, which then links the sending and receiving computers directly.
Repeater
A networking device that boosts and amplifies incoming communications signals and retransmits them.
Router
It is an intermediary device that connects a LAN (Local Area Network) to a larger LAN or to a WAN (Wide Area Network) by interpreting protocol information and selectively forwarding packets to different LAN or WAN connections through the most efficient route available.
Local Area Network (LAN)
A collection of interconnected computers that can share data, applications, and resources, such as printers. Computers in a LAN are separated by distances of up to a few kilometers and are typically used in offices or across university campuses. A LAN enables the fast and effective transfer of information within a group of users and reduces operational costs.
Wide Area Network (WAN)
A computer network that is meant to cover a wide geographic area, usually over telephone lines, as compared to a local area network that operates in a single company or institution. The Internet is an interconnected web of wide area networks.
Topology
It is the way on how nodes or the computers are being connected or configured. Common topologies used to arrange computers in a network are point-to-point, bus, star, ring, and mesh.
Bus Network
A topology for a local area network in which all nodes are connected to a main communications line (bus). On a bus network, each node monitors activity on the line. Messages are detected by all nodes but are accepted only by the node(s) to which they are addressed.
Ring Network
A local area network in which devices (nodes) are connected in a closed loop, or ring. Messages in a ring network pass in one direction, from node to node. As a message travels around the ring, each node examines the destination address attached to the message. If the address is the same as the address assigned to the node, the node accepts the message; otherwise, it regenerates the signal and passes the message along to the next node in the circle.
Star Network
A local area network in which each device (node) is connected to a central computer in a star-shaped configuration (topology); commonly, a network consisting of a central computer (the hub) surrounded by terminals. In a star network, messages pass directly from a node to the central computer, which handles any further routing (as to another node) that might be necessary. A star network is reliable in the sense that a node can fail without affecting any other node on the network.
