NETWORKS

NETWORKS

1. LAN

   • a local network (LAN) is a network contained in a single geographical area, or an organisation

2. WAN

   • a wide area network(WAN) is a network located in multiple geographical locations or multiple organizations

3. Types Of Network

   • Bus
     • Advantages
       • cheap to install (only one wire needed)
     • Disadvantages
       • high chance of catastrophic failure
       • high chance of collisions
       • slow down as more computers are added
   • ring
     • Advantages
       • cheap to install
       • no collisions
     • disadvantages
       • high chance of catastrophic failure
       • difficult to expand
   • star
     • advantages
       • low chance of failure
       • no collisions (fast)
     • disadvantages
       • expensive
       • depends on a switch

4. Network Addressing

   • IP Address
     • the internet is a huge network with more devices than its possible to sign a unique address to
     • unique addresses are assigned to businesses and houses
     • these houses and businesses run their own mini-network inside with different IP Addresses

5. THE INTERNET

   • the internet is a giant mesh of computers
   • there are multiple routes between any 2 nodes
   • it is impossible to break the internet because another route can always be found
   • a cost is assigned to each connection in a mesh
   • route finding algorithms are used to find the lowest cost route between 2 nodes
   • Data is split into small chunks called packets
   • Each packet is sent across the lowest cost route
   • the packets are reassembled on the other side