Week 4-Types of Network

Network is a group of computers that are connected to each other to share information or resources. The basic purpose of a network is to enable effective communication, share resources and facilitate centralized management of data. Networks are of different types and serve different purposes according to the users’ geographical boundaries. Here are the types of network that you can find these days……

LAN – Local Area network

LAN is a network that connects computers in the same physical area such as a room, a building or a campus. In this network, software applications and other resources are stored on a file server. The computers are connected to each other using Ethernet.



There are two types of LAN network;

• Intranet; A private LAN set up in an organization which normally consists of an internet e-mail system, a message board and one or more website portals that contain company news, forms and personal information about the organization.
  
• Extranet; A network that connects people within your company with people who are outside your company – all within a secure password protected network that can be accessed from anywhere. This is the network which helps you work from home without having to travel to the office.

WAN – Wide Area Network

This is the kind of network that’s used in a wide geographical area like across a country or even globally.



There four types of network that come under WAN.

• MAN – Metropolitan area network
• PAN – Public area network
• VAN – Value added network
• VPN – Virtual private network

Peer to Peer network

In peer to peer network, each computer is considered separate and equal in importance. They are formed just to share information or resources between each computer. This network is very inexpensive and is easy to set up. They are popular as home networks and as networks used in small companies. The maximum number of peers in this network is ten. The network won’t work well if the computers connected are more than ten.



Server Based Network

A server based network is set up where there is much concern about the security of data. Servers in this network require faster CPUs, more memory, larger disk drives, and extra peripherals such as tape drives. There is a centralized control over how the network is being used and why. This network is more expensive than the peer to peer network and require expert staff to handle complex server software.



Client/Server Network

In this network, the server’s only function is to respond to the requests of clients. The server contains file, print, application,security, and other services in a central computer that is continuously available to respond to client requests.



Networks simplify our lives in many ways. It saves our money by letting us share resources between many computers and it saves our time by not having to transfer files from one computer to another externally. It also allows us to work from home and not travel for hours to the workplace.