Network

Network

1. types of network

   • WAN- Wide area network
     • Is a collection of LANS spread across multiple sites
   • LAN- Local area network
     • Is contained within a single geographical area or organisation

2. network advantages

   • you can log into your account on any laptop of the same network
   • files, printers, documents and more can be shared throughout all of the laptops

3. network disadvantages

   • Most networks are expensive to set up
   • If there were a virus it would spread through all the computers

4. Topology

   • Types of topology
     • Star
       • low chance of collisions
       • low chance of catastrophic failure
       • expensive
     • Bus
       • all the devices are attached to a single cable
       • if one computer crashes then so do the rest
       • cheap to install
     • Ring
       • a network connected in a ring
       • reduced collisions
       • high chance of catastrophic faliure
     • Mesh topology
       • if any node or connection becomes unavailable, the messgae can simply take a different route
       • easy to expand, robust
       • suitable for very large networks
       • very expensive and very hard to set up

5. IP address

   • An IP address is a unique value assigned to every computer on a network used to identify it