What is a network?
Table of Content:
The advent of computer and communication technology have changed our daily life. Observe the following daily life examples:
- Watching cable TV.
- Cash withdrawal from ATM.
- Sending and receiving emails.
- Booking railway or airlines tickets.
- Sending and receiving SMS through mobile.
These services are provided by the collection of interconnected communicating devices like computers, which makes communication network.
FACT File
A collection of computers in a school computer laboratory or an organisation, etc. connected together is called a computer network.
WHAT IS A NETWORK?
A system of interconnected computers and computer peripherals such as printers is called computer network. This interconnection among computers facilitates information sharing among them. Computers may connect to each other by either wired or wireless media.
In simplest terms, the network can be defined as:
"A computer network consists of two or more connected autonomous computers."
Advantages of Computer Networking
- Ability to communicate with network users, using email, short messaging services, etc.
- Common use of documents, images, photos, songs, video, etc.
- Sharing software such as computer games.
- Facility to save important information in a network storage device.
- Ease of taking backups since the data files are saved in a server computer in the network.
- Ability to share software and hardware.
- Ability to access the internet.