What is Networking?
A computer network is made up of more than one computer that is connected to communicate, exchange, or share data and resources.
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Information Sharing: Websites allow people to easily exchange various kinds of data such as photos, videos, and articles. This allows for easy transmission of information across multiple platforms and users.
Resource Sharing: In offices, the concept of resource sharing greatly improves operations. For instance, numerous users can use the same printer, reducing the need for individual printers. This combination cuts operational costs while also simplifying maintenance.
Application Sharing: Sharing applications makes collaborative work processes more efficient and productive. Thus, a team of account managers can collaborate on the same bookkeeping application. This guarantees that data is managed consistently and facilitates seamless team collaboration.
Types of Network:
A computer network can be classified by its size. A computer network is primarily of three types:
Local Area Networks, or LANs, allow computers to share resources, data, and files over a relative short distance. A Local Area Network (LAN), for instance, could connect every computer in a hospital, school, or office building. LANs are usually privately owned and operated.
Metropolitan Area Networks, or MANs, are usually bigger than LANs but not as big as WANs. MANs are usually owned and operated by cities and government organizations.
Wide Area Networks, or WAN, as the name indicates, a WAN connects computers across a large distance, such as across continents or even regions. In the world, the internet connects billions of computers, making it the largest WAN. For WAN administration, you will usually find dispersed or pooled ownership models.
Device Used in Networking:
The most common network devices are hubs, switches, routers, bridges, gateways, modems, repeaters, and access points. Each of these devices will be described in greater depth below.
Hubs: Hubs are used to connect several network devices together. They can be used to send both digital and analog data. Digital information is sent as packets, whereas analog information is sent as a signal. Hubs also serve as repeaters, amplifying signals that become weakened after being transmitted over a long distance. Hubs operate at the Physical layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.
Switch: A switch is a type of multiport network device used to increase network throughput and enhance communication between hubs, routers, and other network devices. To forward incoming packets to the right place, switches are clever devices that collect information from the packets. In general, switches don't know much about the other network nodes.
Router: The primary function of a router is to transmit data packets to their intended locations. Compared to hubs or switches, routers are more sophisticated since they can remember details about the other network devices they are linked to. Since they may be set up to act as firewalls that filter packets and refer to access control lists (ACLs) when forwarding packets, routers can be very useful in network security. They are employed to separate networks into subnetworks and filter allowed network traffic, enabling zero-trust architecture.
Bridge: A bridge is used to connect hosts or network segments together. By being positioned in the middle of network devices and controlling traffic flow, they can be used, much like routers, to split up larger networks into smaller ones. Before being forwarded, data packets called frames can also be filtered by a bridge. Switches are becoming more and more common in place of bridges because they offer greater functionality.
Gateway: A gateway device is used to help various technologies work together, including Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and Open System Interconnection (OSI). To put it another way, they interpret one another's messages. A gateway can be compared to a router that also has translation capabilities.
Modem: Modulators-Demodulators, or Modems for short, are a type of network hardware that is used to translate digital signals into analog signals so that they can be sent over analog telephone lines. An additional modem will transform the analog signals back into digital format once they reach their destination.
Repeater: A repeater is a comparatively simple network device that extends its range by increasing the signal it receives. Repeaters function on the OSI model's Physical layer.
Access Point: An access point (AP) is a router-like network device that also has a built-in transmitter, antenna, and adapter. Multiple network devices, including wired and wireless ones, can be connected together using an access point (AP).