network

network

1. WAN

   • Wide Area Network
   • A network that spans a large area or multiple organisation

2. LAN

   • Local Area Network
   • A network in a small area or single organisation

3. Disadvantages of networks:

   • Networks are expensive
   • Problems such as viruses can affect every computer on the network
   • Expertise is needed to set up and maintain a network

4. Networks allow computers to:

   • Share files, so the same files are available whichever computer you use
   • Share resources such as printers and Internet connection
   • Share Logins, so the same username and password can be used on every computer on the network

5. Topologies

   • bus
     • looks like a bus
     • cheap to install
     • however is very slow
   • star
     • looks like a star
     • low chances of failure
     • no collisions
   • ring
     • cheap to install
     • no collisions
     • looks like a ring

6. IP Addresses

   • an IP Address is a unique value assigned to every computer on a network
     • the internet is a huge network with more devices than its possible to assign a unique address to

7. Internet

   • the internet is a giant mesh of computers
   • there are multiple different routes between any two nodes

8. Data

   • data is split into small chunks called packets