Network and Topologies

Network and Topologies

1. Types Of Network

   • Local Area Network
     • Examples
       • Networks employed by small businesses, schools, homes, universities
   • Wide Area Network
     • Examples
       • The Internet, banks use these

2. Factors that affect the performance of networks

   • Number of devices connected, bandwidth, type of network traffic, network latency

3. Client-server networks

   • Servers
     • A computer that manages and stores files/provides services to other computers on the network
     • file servers, application servers, web servers, print servers, mail servers
   • Clients
     • A computer that relies on servers to provide and manage data
   • Suited to organisations with many computers (schools)

4. Peer to Peer networks

   • All computers have equal status - both clients and servers
     • Peers
       • Store their own files, which can be accessed by other peers on the network
   • Best suited to smaller organisations that have fewer computers, or where fewer computers need access to the same data.

5. Advantages

   • file sharing, communication, roaming access, centralised security + maintenance, user monitoring

6. Disadvantages

   • cost, hacking, spread of malware, management

7. Network Hardware

   • Routers
     • They collect knowledge of available routes to transmit data, then determine the most sensible route for sending data
   • Wireless Access Points
     • Uses a radio transceiver to allow wireless connections to networks
   • Switches
     • Records which computers are connected to which ports.When traffic is received, the switch forwards its traffic to the intended recipient only
   • Hubs
     • Any signal that arrives at the hub is transmitted to all connected computers