The Basic of Networks

Dear Friends, In this blog I am going to explain the basis of networks.

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What is Networking?

A computer network is a group of computers that use a set of common communication protocols over digital interconnections for the purpose of sharing resources located on or provided by the network nodes. — wiki.

The above one is the wiki definition. Using a Network group of computers shares information with one another. They followed certain protocols. The computers on a network may be linked through cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.

Different types of networks

There are different type of networks available. Most known are WAN and LAN.

PAN: (Personal Area Network)

PAN network is connecting two devices using Bluetooth, Infrared, NFC and USB cable.

LAN: (Local Area Network)

A group of devices (Computers, Servers, Switches & Printers) that are located in the same building.

In close proximity to each other.

The most common type of LAN is Ethernet LAN.

WLAN: (Wireless Local Area Network)

WLAN is wireless communication instead of wired communication. It communicates with wireless devices like mobile phone, laptop etc.

The simple WLAN is the LAN without using the cable.

CAN: (Campus Area Network)

A network that joins 2 or more LANs together within a limited area.

MAN: (Metropolitan Area Network)

It is larger than CAN. Spans over several buildings in a city or town.

SAN: (Storage Area Network)

It is a dedicated network used for data storage.

A special high-speed network that stores and provides access to larger amounts of data.

WAN: (Wide Area Network)

WAN is the largest type of network. WAN uses multiple LANs, CANs, MANs. Spans over large geographical areas such as country, continent, globe. The internet is an example of WAN.

VLAN: (Virtual Local Area Network)

In a VLAN, the computers, servers and other network devices are logically connected regardless of their physical locations.

The network traffic between different departments is separated.

Creating and Connecting Networks:

Hub:

Hub is the device. The purpose of the hub is to connect all of the network devices together on an internal network. Hub has multiple ports that accept ethernet connections. Hub does not have any intelligence. It does not filter any data. When the data packet arrives at one port it copies to all another port.

Switch:

The switch is a device like a hub. Switch stores all device MAC addresses. If data packets come it sends only the direct intended destination port.

Router:

The router comes to a picture when a device wants to communicate with outside of their network devices. Routers are used to connect networks. The router is the device it routes or forwards data from one network to another network based on their IP addresses.

Hub and Switch are for creating networks. The router is for connecting networks.

Thank you for reading. Have a nice day!