What is a network?

A network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources, exchange files, or allow electronic communications. The computers on a network may be linked through cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites or infrared light beams.

Tho very common types of network include Local Area Network and Wide Area Network. A Local Area Network is a network that is confined to a relatively small area. It is generally limited to a geographic area such as a writing lab, school or building. Wide area networks connect networks in larger geographic areas, such as Florida, the United States, or the world. Dedicated transoceanic cabling or satellite uplinks may be used to connect this type of global network.

I given network can also be characterized by the type of data transmission technology in use on it by whether it carries voice, data or both kinds of signals by who can use the network by the usual nature of its connections and by the types of physical links. Large telephone networks and networks using their infrastructure have sharing and exchange arrangements with other companies so that larger networks are created.

In communication networks, a topology is a usually schematic description of the arrangement of a network, including its nodes and connecting lines. There are two ways of defining network geometry the physical topology and the logical topology. There are several common physical topology. The most common topology or general configurations of networks include the bus, star, token ring and mesh topologies.

With the availability and power of today's personal computers, you might ask why networks are needed. From the earliest networks to today's high-powered personal computers, the answer has remained the same networks increase efficiency and reduce costs.