COMPUTER NETWORKS

A computer network, often simply referred to as a

network, is a collection of computers and devices
connected by communications channels that
facilitates communications among users and allows
users to share resources with other users. Networks
may be classified according to a wide variety of
characteristics. This article provides a general
overview of types and categories and also presents
the basic components of a network.
Types of networks-
Common types of computer networks may be identified
by their scale.
Personal area network-
A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for
communication among computer and different information
technological devices close to one person. Some examples of devices
that are used in a PAN are personal computers, printers, fax
machines, telephones, PDAs, scanners, and even video game
consoles. A PAN may include wired and wireless connections
between devices. The reach of a PAN typically extends to 10 meters.
[2]
Wired PAN network is usually constructed with USB and
Firewire while wireless with Bluetooth and Infrared.[3]

Local area network-

A local area network (LAN) is a network that connects computers and
devices in a limited geographical area such as home, school,
computer laboratory, office building, or closely positioned group of
buildings. Each computer or device on the network is a node.
Current wired LANs are most likely to be based on Ethernet
technology, although new standards like ITU-T G.hn also provide a
 way to create a wired LAN using existing home wires (coaxial cables,
phone lines and power lines)[4].

Typical library network, in a branching tree topology and controlled access

to resources

All interconnected devices must understand the network layer (layer 3),
because they are handling multiple subnets (the different colors). Those
inside the library, which have only 10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet connections to
the user device and a Gigabit Ethernet connection to the central router, could
be called "layer 3 switches" because they only have Ethernet interfaces and
must understand IP. It would be more correct to call them access routers,
where the router at the top is a distribution router that connects to the
Internet and academic networks' customer access routers.

The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to WANs (Wide Area

Networks), include their higher data transfer rates, smaller geographic range,
and no need for leased telecommunication lines. Current Ethernet or other
IEEE 802.3 LAN technologies operate at speeds up to 10 Gbit/s. This is the
data transfer rate. IEEE has projects investigating the standardization of 40
and 100 Gbit/s.[5]

Home area network-

A home area network is a residential LAN which is used for communication
between digital devices typically deployed in the home, usually a small
number of personal computers and accessories, such as printers and mobile
computing devices. An important function is the sharing of Internet access,
often a broadband service through a CATV or Digital Subscriber Line
(DSL) provider.

Campus area network-

A campus area network (CAN) is a computer network made up of an
interconnection of local area networks (LANs) within a limited geographical
area. It can be considered one form of a metropolitan area network, specific
to an academic setting.

In the case of a university campus-based campus area network, the network

is likely to link a variety of campus buildings including; academic
departments, the university library and student residence halls. A campus
area network is larger than a local area network but smaller than a wide area
network (WAN) (in some cases).

The main aim of a campus area network is to facilitate students accessing

internet and university resources. This is a network that connects two or
more LANs but that is limited to a specific and contiguous geographical area
such as a college campus, industrial complex, office building, or a military
base. A CAN may be considered a type of MAN (metropolitan area
network), but is generally limited to a smaller area than a typical MAN. This
term is most often used to discuss the implementation of networks for a
contiguous area. This should not be confused with a Controller Area
Network. 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.

Metropolitan area network-

A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a network that connects two or more
local area networks or campus area networks together but does not extend
beyond the boundaries of the immediate town/city. Routers, switches and
hubs are connected to create a metropolitan area network.

Wide area network-

A wide area network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a large
geographic area such as a city, country, or spans even intercontinental
distances, using a communications channel that combines many types of
media such as telephone lines, cables, and air waves. A WAN often uses
transmission facilities provided by common carriers, such as telephone
companies. WAN technologies generally function at the lower three layers
of the OSI reference model: the physical layer, the data link layer, and the
network layer.

Global area network-

A global area network (GAN) is a network used for supporting mobile
communications across an arbitrary number of wireless LANs, satellite
coverage areas, etc. The key challenge in mobile communications is handing
off the user communications from one local coverage area to the next. In
IEEE Project 802, this involves a succession of terrestrial WIRELESS local
area networks (WLAN).[6]

Virtual private network-

A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network in which some of the
links between nodes are carried by open connections or virtual circuits in
some larger network (e.g., the Internet) instead of by physical wires. The
data link layer protocols of the virtual network are said to be tunneled
through the larger network when this is the case. One common application is
secure communications through the public Internet, but a VPN need not
have explicit security features, such as authentication or content encryption.
VPNs, for example, can be used to separate the traffic of different user
communities over an underlying network with strong security features.

A VPN may have best-effort performance, or may have a defined service

level agreement (SLA) between the VPN customer and the VPN service
provider. Generally, a VPN has a topology more complex than point-to-
point.

A VPN allows computer users to appear to be editing from an IP address

location other than the one which connects the actual computer to the
Internet.

Internetwork-
An Internetwork is the connection of two or more distinct computer
networks via a common routing technology. The result is called an
internetwork (often shortened to internet). Two or more networks connect
using devices that operate at the Network Layer (Layer 3) of the OSI Basic
Reference Model, such as a router. Any interconnection among or between
public, private, commercial, industrial, or governmental networks may also
be defined as an internetwork.

Internet-
The Internet is a global system of interconnected governmental, academic,
public, and private computer networks. It is based on the networking
technologies of the Internet Protocol Suite. It is the successor of the
Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) developed by
DARPA of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Internet is also the
communications backbone underlying the World Wide Web (WWW). The
'Internet' is most commonly spelled with a capital 'I' as a proper noun, for
historical reasons and to distinguish it from other generic internetworks.

Participants in the Internet use a diverse array of methods of several hundred

documented, and often standardized, protocols compatible with the Internet
Protocol Suite and an addressing system (IP Addresses) administered by the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and address registries. Service
providers and large enterprises exchange information about the reachability
of their address spaces through the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP),
forming a redundant worldwide mesh of transmission paths.

Intranets and extranets-

Intranets and extranets are parts or extensions of a computer network,
usually a local area network.

An intranet is a set of networks, using the Internet Protocol and IP-based

tools such as web browsers and file transfer applications, that is under the
control of a single administrative entity. That administrative entity closes the
intranet to all but specific, authorized users. Most commonly, an intranet is
the internal network of an organization. A large intranet will typically have
at least one web server to provide users with organizational information.

An extranet is a network that is limited in scope to a single organization or

entity and also has limited connections to the networks of one or more other
usually, but not necessarily, trusted organizations or entities (e.g., a
company's customers may be given access to some part of its intranet
creating in this way an extranet, while at the same time the customers may
 not be considered 'trusted' from a security standpoint). Technically, an
extranet may also be categorized as a CAN, MAN, WAN, or other type of
network, although, by definition, an extranet cannot consist of a single LAN;
it must have at least one connection with an external network.

Basic hardware components-

All networks are made up of basic hardware building blocks to interconnect
network nodes, such as Network Interface Cards (NICs), Bridges, Hubs,
Switches, and Routers. In addition, some method of connecting these
building blocks is required, usually in the form of galvanic cable (most
commonly Category 5 cable). Less common are microwave links (as in
IEEE 802.12) or optical cable ("optical fiber"). An Ethernet card may also
be required.

Network interface cards-

A network card, network adapter, or NIC (network interface card) is a piece
of computer hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over a
computer network. It provides physical access to a networking medium and
often provides a low-level addressing system through the use of MAC
addresses

Repeaters-
A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal, cleans it from
the unnecessary noise, regenerates it and retransmits it at a
higher power level, or to the other side of an obstruction, so that
the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. In most
twisted pair Ethernet configurations, repeaters are required for
cable which runs longer than 100 meters. Repeaters work on the
Physical Layer of the OSI model.

Hubs-

A network hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it
is copied unmodified to all ports of the hub for transmission. The destination
address in the frame is not changed to a broadcast address.[7] It works on the
Physical Layer of the OSI model.
Bridges-
A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer
(layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges do send broadcasts to all ports except the
one on which the broadcast was received. However, bridges do not
promiscuously copy traffic to all ports, as hubs do, but learn which MAC
addresses are reachable through specific ports. Once the bridge associates a
port and an address, it will send traffic for that address to that port only.

Bridges learn the association of ports and addresses by examining the source
address of frames that it sees on various ports. Once a frame arrives through
a port, its source address is stored and the bridge assumes that MAC address
is associated with that port. The first time that a previously unknown
destination address is seen, the bridge will forward the frame to all ports
other than the one on which the frame arrived.

Bridges come in three basic types:

• Local bridges: Directly connect local area networks (LANs)

• Remote bridges: Can be used to create a wide area network (WAN)
link between LANs. Remote bridges, where the connecting link is
slower than the end networks, largely have been replaced with routers.
• Wireless bridges: Can be used to join LANs or connect remote
stations to LANs

Switches-
A network switch is a device that forwards and filters OSI layer 2 datagrams
(chunk of data communication) between ports (connected cables) based on
the MAC addresses in the packets.[8] This is distinct from a hub in that it
only forwards the frames to the ports involved in the communication rather
than all ports connected. A switch breaks the collision domain but represents
itself a broadcast domain. Switches make forwarding decisions of frames on
the basis of MAC addresses. A switch normally has numerous ports,
facilitating a star topology for devices, and cascading additional switches.[9]
Some switches are capable of routing based on Layer 3 addressing or
additional logical levels; these are called multi-layer switches. The term
switch is used loosely in marketing to encompass devices including routers
and bridges, as well as devices that may distribute traffic on load or by
application content (e.g., a Web URL identifier).