Networks

Networks

1. Advantages

   • share logins
     • The same username and password and password can be used on every computer on the network
   • share resources
     • such as printers and internet connection
   • share files
     • the same files are available whichever computer your on

2. Disadvantages

   • if something goes wrong it can affect every computer
   • malware
     • viruses and other malicious software can spread through the network
   • difficult
     • requires a technical expertise

3. Types of networks

   • LAN
     • Local area network
   • WAN
     • Wide area network
     • often consists of multiple LAN'S networks together

4. Topology networks

   • Bus topology
     • advantages
       • cheap to install ( only one wire needed )
     • disadvantages
       • high chance of catastrophic failure ( a break in the central cable takes out the entire network )
       • high chance of collisions
       • more computers mean more collisions so the network gets slower as it gets bigger
   • ring topology
     • advantages
       • cheap to install
       • no collisions
     • disadvantages
       • difficult to add new computers
       • if any cable breaks or any computer goes down, the entire network fails
   • star topology
     • advantages
       • fast
       • easy to add new computers
       • a broken cable only taken out one computer
     • disadvantages
       • expensive
       • failure of the switch will take down the network

5. IP adress

   • An IP adress is a unique value assigned to every computer on a network, used to identify it.
   • messages on a network have an IP adress attached which is how a computer knows whether or not to keep the message