What is a Computer Network?

"A Computer Network is defined as a set of two or more computers that are linked
together?either via wired cables or wireless networks i.e., WiFi?with the purpose of
communicating, exchanging, sharing or distributing data, files and resources."

Computer Networks are built using a collection of hardware (such as routers, switches,
hubs, and so forth) and networking software (such as operating systems, firewalls, or
corporate applications).

All the other technologies, including the internet, Google search, instant messaging
apps, online video streaming, social media, email, cloud kitchen, cloud data
storage, etc., all exist because of computer networks.

Computer Network Types

Below are the most common computer network types that are frequently used these
days:
•LAN [Local Area Network}
•WLAN [Wireless local area network]
•CAN [Campus Area Network]
•MAN [Metropolitan Area Network]
•PAN [Personal Area Network]
•SAN [Storage Area Network]
 •VPN [Virtual Private Network]
•WAN [ Wide Area Network]

1. LAN

LAN or Local Area Network is a group of devices connecting the computers and other
devices such as switches, servers, printers, etc., over a short distance such as office,
home. The commonly used LAN is Ethernet LAN. This network is used as it allows the
user to transfer or share data, files, and resources.

2. WLAN
WLAN or Wireless local area network is similar to LAN with the difference that it uses
wireless communication between devices instead of wired connections. WLAN typically
involves a Wi-Fi router or wireless access point for devices, unlike smartphones,
laptops, desktops, etc.

3. CAN
CAN or Campus Area Network is a closed corporate communication network. A CAN is
a mobile network that may contain a private or public part. CANs are widely
used colleges, academies, and corporate sites.

4. MAN

MAN or Metropolitan Area Network is typically a more extensive network when

compared to LANs but is smaller than WANs. This network ranges between several
buildings in the same city. Man networks are connected via fiber optic cable (usually
high-speed connection). Cities and government bodies usually manage MANs.
5. PAN

PAN or Personal Area Network is a type of network used personally and usually serves
one person. This network usually connects devices like your smartphones, laptop, or
desktop to sync content and share small files, like songs, photos, videos, calendars, etc.
These devices connect via wireless networks such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Infrared, etc.

6. SAN
SAN or Storage Area Network is a specialized high-speed network that stores and
provides access to block-level storage. It is a dedicated shared network that is used for
cloud data storage that appears and works like a storage drive.

SAN consists of various switches, servers, and disks array. One of the advantages of
SAN is that it is fault-tolerant, which means if any switch or server goes down, the data
can still be accessed.

7. VPN

VPN or Virtual Private Network is a secure tool that encrypts point-to-point Internet
connection and hides the user's IP address and virtual location. It determines an encrypted
network to boost user's online privacy so as their identity and data are inaccessible to
hackers.
8. WAN

WAN or Wide Area Network is the most significant network type connecting computers
over a wide geographical area, such as a country, continent. WAN includes several LANs,
MANs, and CANs. An example of WAN is the Internet, which connects billions of
computers globally.

Networking terms and concepts

1. IP address

An IP address or Internet Protocol is a unique number that represents the address

where you live on the Internet. Every device that is connected to the network has a
string of numbers or IP addresses unlike house addresses.

You won't find two devices connected to a network with an identical IP address. When
your computer sends data to another different, the sent data contains a 'header' that
further contains the devices' IP address, i.e., the source computer and the destination
device.

2. Nodes(Devices)

A node refers to a networking connection point where a connection occurs inside a

network that further helps in receiving, transmitting, creating, or storing files or
data.

Multiple devices could be connected to the Internet or network using wired or wireless
nodes. To form a network connection, one requires two or more nodes where each node
carries its unique identification to obtain access, such as an IP address. Some examples
of nodes are computers, printers, modems, switches, etc.

3. Routers

A router is a physical networking device, which forwards data packets between

networks. Routers do the data analysis, perform the traffic directing functions on the
network, and define the top route for the data packets to reach their destination node.
A data packet may have to surpass multiple routers present within the network until it
reaches its destination.

4. Switches

In a computer network, a switch is a device that connects other devices and helps in
node-to-node communication by deciding the best way of transmitting data within a
network (usually if there are multiple routes in a more extensive network).

Though a router also transmits information, it forwards the information only between
networks, whereas a switches forwards data between nodes present in a single network.

Switching is further classified into three types, which are as follows:

•Circuit Switching
•Packet Switching
•Message Switching
 •Circuit Switching: In this switching type, a secure communication path is
established between nodes (or the sender and receiver) in a network. It
establishes a dedicated connection path before transferring the data, and this
path assures a good transmission bandwidth and prevents any other traffic from
traveling on that path. For example, the Telephone network.
•Packet Switching: With this technique, a message is broken into independent
components known as packets. Because of their small size, each packet is sent
individually. The packets traveling through the network will have their source and
destination IP address.
•Message Switching: This switching technique uses the store and forward
mechanism. It sends the complete unit of the message from the source node,
passing from multiple switches until it reaches its intermediary node. It is not
suitable for real-time applications.

5. Ports

A port allows the user to access multiple applications by identifying a connection

between network devices. Each port is allocated a set of string numbers. If you relate
the IP address to a hotel's address, you can refer to ports as the hotel room number.
Network devices use port numbers to decide which application, service, or method is
used to forward the detailed information or the data.

6. Network cable types

Network cables are used as a connection medium between different computers and
other network devices. Typical examples of network cable types are Ethernet cables,
coaxial, and fiber optic. Though the selection of cable type usually depends on the size
of the network, the organization of network components, and the distance between the
network devices.
Computer Networks and the Internet

The Internet is the major example of a WAN, which connects billions of computers
globally. Internet follows standard protocols that facilitate communication between
these network devices. Those protocols include:

1.HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

2.IP (Internet protocol or IP addresses)

3.TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

4.UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

5.FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

ISPs (Internet Service Providers) NSPs (Network Service Providers) effectively

support the internet infrastructure. The infrastructure allows the transportation of data
packets to the recipient device over the Internet.

Internet is a giant hub of information, but this information is not sent to every computer
connected to the Internet. The protocols and infrastructure are responsible for
managing to share the precise information the user has requested.

How do they work?

1.The Computer networks are formed by connecting multiple nodes such as

computers, desktops, routers, hubs, and switches with the help of either wired
cables (Ethernet, data cables, fiber optics) or wireless networks (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi).
This network connection enables the nodes to communicate and exchange data
over the network.

2.Networks follow communication protocols to send, receive, create or

forward data. Each node connected with a network is allocated a unique IP
(Internet Protocol), the IP address used to identify a device and enables the other
devices to identify it.

3.Routers and Switches are the virtual or physical medium that supports and
manages the communications between networks. Routers examine the data
packets to conclude the best route, following which the data can easily reach its
 destination node. In contrast, Switches connect the devices if there are multiple
routes in a more extensive network and facilitate node-to-node communication,
ensuring that the data packets traveling across the network reach their
destination node.

Network Topology

"Network topology is defined as the arrangement of computers or nodes of a computer

network to establish communication among all."

A node refers to a device that can transmit, receive, create, or store information. The
nodes are connected via a network link that could be either wired (cables, Ethernet) or
wireless (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi).

To help build a successful network in different situations, topologies are further

classified into several types.
Though there are several topologies but in this tutorial, we will discuss the commonly
used ones, which are as follows:

1. Bus Topology
 •A Bus network topology supports a common transmission medium where each
node is directly connected with the main network cable.
•The data is transmitted through the main network cable and is received by all
nodes simultaneously.
•A signal is generated through the source machine, which contains the address of
the receiving machine. The signal travels in both the direction to all the nodes
connected to the bus network until it reaches the destination node.
•Bus topology is not fault-tolerant and has a limited cable length.

2. Ring Topology

•A Ring topology is a modified version of bus topology where every node is

connected in a closed-loop forming peer-to-peer LAN topology.
•Every node in a ring topology has precisely two connections. The Adjacent node
pairs are connected directly, whereas the non-adjacent nodes are indirectly
connected via various nodes.
•Ring topology supports a unidirectional communication pattern where sending
and receiving of data occurs via TOKEN.
3. Star Topology

•In a Star network topology, every node is connected using a single central hub or
switch.
•The hub or switch performs the entire centralized administration. Each node
sends its data to the hub, and later hub shares the received information to the
destination device.
•Two or more-star topologies can be connected to each other with the help of a
repeater.

4. Mesh Topology

In a Mesh topology, every node in the network connection is directly connected to one
other forming overlapping connections between the nodes.

This topology delivers better fault tolerance because if any network device fails, it won't
affect the network, as other devices can transfer information.
The Mesh networks self-configure and self-organize, finding the quickest, most secure
way to transmit the data.

One can form a full mesh topology by connecting every single node to another node in
the network. Full mesh is expensive and is only used in the networks, which demands
high data redundancy.

Another type of mesh topology is partial mesh topology, where only a few devices are
connected, and few are connected to the devices with which they share the most
information. This mesh type is applicable in the networks, requiring less redundancy or
a cost-effective network topology that is easy to execute.