A Network is a group of computer that can share their
resources with each other. A net can be small as a home or office network (LAN).
It can be small as a two computers and also big as our internet. Basically the entire network has been divided
in to three types. There are many sub divisions also.
1)
Local area Network (LAN)
2)
Metropolitan area Network (MAN) 3) Wide area Network (WAN)
Local area Network
LAN is defined as a small home or office network. Mainly it is
used for sharing the local recourses of a company such as printers, files,
Internet connection etc …, a LAN network can be wired or wireless. Most
commonly used type is wired. In wired network an ‘ETHERNET’ cable is used to
connect the computers each other. Cat5 and Cat6 are the examples for Ethernet
cables. Now day’s Wireless networks are also familiar. It uses Wi-Fi signals to
communicate with each other. A wireless router is used as an access point. And
each system need a wireless receiver (wireless card) to receive the Wi-Fi
signals. It is possible to use both wired and wireless networks in LAN.
Most commonly sharing resources
in LAN
·
Printers
·
Fax
·
Files
·
Internet connection
·
Storage devices
·
Soft wares
2) Metropolitan area Network
MAN network connects computers in
small or larger region. It is larger than a LAN and Smaller than WAN. It can be
a city network which interconnects LAN networks. Network of colleges, hospitals
and also some companies are examples for MAN. It uses Fiber optics cable for
data transferring. And now days, wireless networks are also used.
1)
Wide area Network
Wide area network is that which
covers a large area (beyond national boundaries) and interconnect computers worldwide.
Internet is an example for WAN. Fiber optic channels and satellite connections
are used for WAN communication.
