computer network is an interconnected collection of autonomous computers.As the volume of information in most fields of interest grows so issues of information dissemination and access become more significant. Networking holds the key to this by providing the means to exchange information and to share the resources involved. A network can link people through Computers, related equipment and other devices using media such as coaxial cable, telephone lines and microwave and satellite links for the purpose of information exchange and resource sharing. Information exchange may, for example, take the form of electronic mail or participation in a public computer-based ‘conference’. Resource sharing may include the use of a distant computing facility, or access to a locally sited laser printer or the retrieval of information from a shared data base where the information itself is a resource.
Initially, computer networks were set up to promote the time sharing of large mainframe computers. Typically, the terminals were of the same type and there were as many physical connections to the mainframe as terminals on the network. The next step was to accommodate peripheral devices such as line printers and file stores, as well as extending the range of terminal devices and expanding the number of physical connections. With more terminal connections on the network than accesses to the mainframe, users competed for ports and the use of the mainframe. The merging of computer and communication technologies has significant influence on the way in which computer systems are organized. Networks are being set up, not only to share computing power, but also, and even primarily, to improve the flow of information within organizations and beyond.
Network technology may be discussed in terms of three different methods of information transfer: voice, data and video. Organizations seeking to provide efficient and cost effective communication links may well wish to use all three. The technologies are essentially different but it is not uncommon for a network to combine two of the three and in some cases over parts of a network all three. Voice networking is most common and an account for most of today’s networking traffic
Initially, computer networks were set up to promote the time sharing of large mainframe computers. Typically, the terminals were of the same type and there were as many physical connections to the mainframe as terminals on the network. The next step was to accommodate peripheral devices such as line printers and file stores, as well as extending the range of terminal devices and expanding the number of physical connections. With more terminal connections on the network than accesses to the mainframe, users competed for ports and the use of the mainframe. The merging of computer and communication technologies has significant influence on the way in which computer systems are organized. Networks are being set up, not only to share computing power, but also, and even primarily, to improve the flow of information within organizations and beyond.
Network technology may be discussed in terms of three different methods of information transfer: voice, data and video. Organizations seeking to provide efficient and cost effective communication links may well wish to use all three. The technologies are essentially different but it is not uncommon for a network to combine two of the three and in some cases over parts of a network all three. Voice networking is most common and an account for most of today’s networking traffic
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