1.

A computer network or data network is a telecommunications network that allows computers

to exchange data. In computer networks, networked computing devices pass data to each other
along data connections. Data is transferred in the form of packets. The connections (network
links) between nodes are established using cable, media or wireless media. The best-known
computer network is the internet.
Network computer devices that originate, route and terminate the data are called network
nodes. Nodes can include hosts such as personal computers, phones, servers as well as
networking hardware. Two such devices are said to be network together when one device is able
to exchange information with other devices, whether or not they have a direct connection to each
other.
Computer networks support applications such as access to the World Wide Web, shared
use of application and storage servers, printers and fax machines, and use of email and instant
messaging applications. Computer network differ in the physical media used to transmit their
signals, the communications protocols to organize network traffic, the networks size, topology
and organization intent.
Using a computer connected to a network allows us to:
Easily share files and data
Share resources such as printers and internet connections
Communicate with other network users (e-mail, instant messaging, video-conferring,
etc.)
Store data centrally (using a file server) for ease access and back up
Keep all of our settings centrally so we can use any workstation
In particular, if we use computer connected to the Internet we can:
Make use of on-line services such as shopping (e-commerce) or banking
Get access to a huge range of information for research
Join on-line communities (e.g. MySpace, Facebook, etc.)

2. The key hardware components of a wireless computer network include adapters, routers and
access points, antennas and repeaters.

Wireless Network Adapters
Wireless network adapters (also known as wireless NICs or wireless network cards) are
required for each device on a wireless network. All newer laptop computers incorporate wireless
adapters as a built-in-feature of the system. Separate add-on adapters must be purchased for older
laptop PCs; these exist in either credit card or USB form factors.
No wireless hardware other than adapters is required to build a small local network.
However, to increase the performance of network connections, accommodate more computers,
and increase the networks range, additional types of hardware can be deployed.

Wireless Routers
Wireless routers function comparably to traditional routers for wired Ethernet networks.
One generally deploys wireless routes when building an all-wireless network from the ground
up.
Similar to routers, access points allow wireless networks to join an existing wired
network. One typically deploys access points when growing a network that already has routers
installed. In home networking, a single access point (or router) possesses sufficient range to span
most residential buildings. Businesses in office buildings often must deploy multiple access
points and/or routers.

Wireless Antennas
Access points and routers often utilize a Wi-Fi wireless antenna that significantly
increases the communication range of the wireless radio signal. These antennas are optional and
removable on most equipment. Its also possible to mount aftermarket add-on antennas on
wireless clients to increase the range of wireless adapters. Add-ons antennas are usually not
required on typical wireless networks.

Wireless Repeaters
A wireless repeater connects to a router or access point. Often called signal boosters or
range expanders, repeaters serve as a two-way relay station for wireless radio signals, helping
clients otherwise unable to receive a networks wireless signal to join.




3. Types of Networks
There are several different types of computer networks. Computer network can be
characterized by their sizes as well as their purpose.
The size of a network can be expressed by the geographic area they occupy and the
number of computers that are part of the network. Networks can cover from a handful of devices
within a single room to millions of devices spread across the entire globe.
Some of the different networks based on size are:
Personal area network, or PAN
Local area network, or LAN
Metropolitan area network, or MAN
Wide area network, or WAN

Personal Area Network
A personal area network, or PAN, is a computer network organized around an
individual person within a single building. This could be inside a small office or residence. A
typical PAN would include one or more computers, telephones, peripheral devices, video game
consoles and other personal entertainment devices.
If multiple individuals use the same network within a residence, the network is
sometimes referred to as a home area network, or HAN. In a very typical setup, a residence will
have a single wired Internet connection connected to a modem. This modem then provides both
wired and wireless connections for multiple devices. The network is typically managed from a
single computer but can be accessed from any device.
This type of network provides great flexibility. For example, it allows you to:
Send a document to the printer in the office upstairs while you are sitting on the couch
with your laptop.
Upload the photo from your cell phone to your desktop computer.
Watch movies from an online streaming service to your TV.
If this sounds familiar to you, you likely have a PAN in your house without having called
it by its name.



Local Area Network
A local area network, or LAN, consists of a computer network at a single site, typically
an individual office building. A LAN is very useful for sharing resources, such as data storage
and printers. LANs can be built with relatively inexpensive hardware, such as hubs, network
adapters and Ethernet cables.
The smallest LAN may only use two computers, while larger LANs can accommodate
thousands of computers. A LAN typically relies mostly on wired connections for increased speed
and security, but wireless connections can also be part of a LAN. High speed and relatively low
cost are the defining characteristics of LANs.
LANs are typically used for single sites where people need to share resources among
themselves but not with the rest of the outside world. Think of an office building where
everybody should be able to access files on a central server or be able to print a document to one
or more central printers. Those tasks should be easy for everybody working in the same office,
but you would not want somebody just walking outside to be able to send a document to the
printer from their cell phone! If a local area network, or LAN, is entirely wireless, it is referred to
as a wireless local area network, or WLAN.

Metropolitan Area Network
A metropolitan area network, or MAN, consists of a computer network across an entire
city, college campus or small region. A MAN is larger than a LAN, which is typically limited to
a single building or site. Depending on the configuration, this type of network can cover an area
from several miles to tens of miles. A MAN is often used to connect several LANs together to
form a bigger network. When this type of network is specifically designed for a college campus,
it is sometimes referred to as a campus area network, or CAN.

Wide Area Network
A wide area network, or WAN, occupies a very large area, such as an entire country or
the entire world. A WAN can contain multiple smaller networks, such as LANs or MANs. The
Internet is the best-known example of a public WAN.
Private Networks
One of the benefits of networks like PAN and LAN is that they can be kept entirely
private by restricting some communications to the connections within the network. This means
that those communications never go over the Internet.
For example, using a LAN, an employee is able to establish a fast and secure connection
to a company database without encryption since none of the communications between the
employee's computer and the database on the server leave the LAN. But what happens if the
same employee wants to use the database from a remote location? What you need is a private
network.
One approach to a private network is to build an enterprise private network, or EPN.
An EPN is a computer network that is entirely controlled by one organization, and it is used to
connect multiple locations. Historically, telecommunications companies, like AT&T, operated
their own network, separate from the public Internet. EPNs are still fairly common in certain
sectors where security is of the highest concern. For example, a number of health facilities may
establish their own network between multiple sites to have full control over the confidentiality of
patient records.
One way to categorize the different types of computer network designs is either by their
scope or scale. For historical reasons, the networking industry refers to nearly every type of
design as some kind of area network. Common examples of area network types are:
LAN- Local Area Network
WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network
WAN - Wide Area Network
MAN - Metropolitan Area Network
SAN - Storage Area Network, System Area Network, Server Area Network, or
sometimes Small Area Network
CAN - Campus Area Network, Controller Area Network, or sometimes Cluster Area
Network
PAN - Personal Area Network
DAN - Desk Area Network

4. Formal Networks
Formal Networks meet all governance and accountability requirements laid out in the
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU between the Local Network and the Global
Compact Office has been formally signed, and use of the Network logo is authorized.

Established Networks
Established Networks have met at least two of the governance and accountability
requirements, but have not formally signed the MoU.

5. A. Often abbreviated STP, a type of copper telephone wiring in which each of the two copper
wires that are twisted together are coated with an insulating coating that functions as a ground for
the wires. The extra covering in shielded twisted pair wiring protects the transmission line from
electromagnetic interference leaking into or out of the cable. STP cabling often is used in
Ethernet networks, especially fast data Ethernets.
Short for unshielded twisted pair, a popular type of cable that consists of two unshielded
wire twisted around each other. Due its low cost, UTP cabling is used extensively for local-area
networks (LANs) and telephone connections. UTP cabling does not offer a high bandwidth or as
good protection from interference as coaxial or fiber optic cables but it is less expensive and
easier to work with.
Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced 'ko.ks), is a type of cable that has an inner
conductor surrounded by a tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield.
Many coaxial cables also have an insulating outer sheath or jacket. The term coaxial comes from
the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing a geometric axis. Coaxial cable was invented by
English engineer and mathematician Oliver Heaviside, who patented the design in 1880. Coaxial
cable differs from other shielded cable used for carrying lower-frequency signals, such as audio
signals, in that the dimensions of the cable are controlled to give a precise, constant conductor
spacing, which is needed for it to function efficiently as a radio frequency transmission line.
An optical fiber cable is a cable containing one or more optical fibers that are used to
carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with plastic layers and
contained in a protective tube suitable for the environment where the cable will be deployed.
Different types of cable are used for different applications, for example long
distance telecommunication, or providing a high-speed data connection between different parts
of a building.

RJ45 (telecommunications), a connector used for modem connections



A network switch (sometimes known as a switching hub) is a computer networking
device that is used to connect devices together on a computer network, by using a form of packet
switching to forward data to the destination device. A network switch is considered more
RJ11(C/W) 6P2C For one telephone line (6P4C if power on second pair)
advanced than a hub because a switch will only forward a message to one or multiple devices
that need to receive it, rather than broadcasting the same message out of each of its ports.
A network switch is a multi-port network bridge that processes and forwards data at
the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Switches can also incorporate routing in addition
to bridging; these switches are commonly known as layer-3 or multilayer switches. Switches
exist for various types of network including Fibre Channel. Asynchronous Transfer Mode
InfiniBand, Ethernet and others. The first Ethernet switch was introduced by Kalpana in 1990.
A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to
connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it
is copied to other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.

A router is a networking device, commonly specialized hardware that forwards data
packets between computer networks. This creates an overlay internetwork, as a router is
connected to two or more data lines from different networks. When a data packet comes in one
of the lines, the router reads the address information in the packet to determine its ultimate
destination. Then, using information in its routing table or routing policy, it directs the packet to
the next network on its journey. Routers perform the "traffic directing" functions on the Internet.
A data packet is typically forwarded from one router to another through the networks that
constitute the internetwork until it reaches its destination node.
The most familiar type of routers are home and small office routers that simply pass data,
such as web pages, email, IM, and videos between the home computers and the Internet. An
example of a router would be the owner's cable or DSL router, which connects to the Internet
through an ISP. More sophisticated routers, such as enterprise routers, connect large business or
ISP networks up to the powerful core routers that forward data at high speed along the optical
fiber lines of the Internet backbone. Though routers are typically dedicated hardware devices,
use of software-based routers has grown increasingly common.
Bus networks (not to be confused with the system bus of a computer) use a common
backbone to connect all devices. A single cable, the backbone functions as a shared
communication medium that devices attach or tap into with an interface connector. A device
wanting to communicate with another device on the network sends a broadcast message onto the
wire that all other devices see, but only the intended recipient actually accepts and processes the
message.
Ethernet bus topologies are relatively easy to install and don't require much cabling
compared to the alternatives. 10Base-2 ("ThinNet") and 10Base-5 ("ThickNet") both were
popular Ethernet cabling options many years ago for bus topologies. However, bus networks
work best with a limited number of devices. If more than a few dozen computers are added to a
network bus, performance problems will likely result. In addition, if the backbone cable fails, the
entire network effectively becomes unusable.
Many home networks use the star topology. A star network features a central connection
point called a "hub node" that may be a network hub , switch or router . Devices typically
connect to the hub with Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Ethernet.
Compared to the bus topology, a star network generally requires more cable, but a failure
in any star network cable will only take down one computer's network access and not the entire
LAN. (If the hub fails, however, the entire network also fails.)
Mesh topologies involve the concept of routes. Unlike each of the previous topologies,
messages sent on a mesh network can take any of several possible paths from source to
destination. (Recall that even in a ring, although two cable paths exist, messages can only travel
in one direction.) Some WANs , most notably the Internet, employ mesh routing.
A mesh network in which every device connects to every other is called a full mesh. As
shown in the illustration below, partial mesh networks also exist in which some devices connect
only indirectly to others.
In a ring network, every device has exactly two neighbors for communication purposes.
All messages travel through a ring in the same direction (either "clockwise" or
"counterclockwise"). A failure in any cable or device breaks the loop and can take down the
entire network.
To implement a ring network, one typically uses FDDI, SONET, or Token Ring
technology. Ring topologies are found in some office buildings or school campuses.


6. A network protocol defines rules and conventions for communication between network
devices. Protocols for computers networking all generally use packet switching techniques to
send and receive messages in the form of packets.
Network protocols include mechanisms for devices to identify and make connections
with each other, as well as formatting rules that specify how data is packaged into messages sent
and received. Some protocols also support message acknowledgement and data compression
designed for reliable and/or high-performance network communication. Hundreds of different
computer network protocols have been developed each designed for specific purposes and
environments.
Ethernet
The Ethernet protocol is by far the most widely used one. Ethernet uses an access method
called CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection). This is a system where
each computer listens to the cable before sending anything through the network. If the network is
clear, the computer will transmit. If some other nodes have already transmitted on the cable, the
computer will wait and try again when the line is clear. Sometimes, two computers attempt to
transmit at the same instant. A collision occurs when this happens. Each computer then backs off
and waits a random amount of time before attempting to retransmit. With this access method, it
is normal to have collisions. However, the delay caused by collisions and retransmitting is very
small and does not normally effect the speed of transmission on the network.
The Ethernet protocol allows for linear bus, star, or tree topologies. Data can be
transmitted over wireless access points, twisted pair, coaxial, or fiber optic cable at a speed of 10
Mbps up to 1000 Mbps.
Fast Ethernet
To allow for an increased speed of transmission, the Ethernet protocol has developed a
new standard that supports 100 Mbps. This is commonly called Fast Ethernet. Fast Ethernet
requires the application of different, more expensive network concentrators/hubs and network
interface cards. In addition, category 5 twisted pair or fiber optic cable is necessary. Fast
Ethernet is becoming common in schools that have been recently wired.
Local Talk
Local Talk is a network protocol that was developed by Apple Computer, Inc. for
Macintosh computers. The method used by Local Talk is called CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance). It is similar to CSMA/CD except that a computer
signals its intent to transmit before it actually does so. Local Talk adapters and special twisted
pair cable can be used to connect a series of computers through the serial port. The Macintosh
operating system allows the establishment of a peer-to-peer network without the need for
additional software. With the addition of the server version of AppleShare software, a
client/server network can be established.
The Local Talk protocol allows for linear bus, star, or tree topologies using twisted pair
cable. A primary disadvantage of Local Talk is low speed. Its speed of transmission is only 230
Kbps.
Token Ring
The Token Ring protocol was developed by IBM in the mid-1980s. The access method
used involves token-passing. In Token Ring, the computers are connected so that the signal
travels around the network from one computer to another in a logical ring. A single electronic
token moves around the ring from one computer to the next. If a computer does not have
information to transmit, it simply passes the token on to the next workstation. If a computer
wishes to transmit and receives an empty token, it attaches data to the token. The token then
proceeds around the ring until it comes to the computer for which the data is meant. At this point,
the data is captured by the receiving computer. The Token Ring protocol requires a star-wired
ring using twisted pair or fiber optic cable. It can operate at transmission speeds of 4 Mbps or 16
Mbps. Due to the increasing popularity of Ethernet, the use of Token Ring in school
environments has decreased.
FDDI
Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) is a network protocol that is used primarily to
interconnect two or more local area networks, often over large distances. The access method
used by FDDI involves token-passing. FDDI uses a dual ring physical topology. Transmission
normally occurs on one of the rings; however, if a break occurs, the system keeps information
moving by automatically using portions of the second ring to create a new complete ring. A
major advantage of FDDI is high speed. It operates over fiber optic cable at 100 Mbps.
ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a network protocol that transmits data at a speed
of 155 Mbps and higher. ATM works by transmitting all data in small packets of a fixed size;
whereas, other protocols transfer variable length packets. ATM supports a variety of media such
as video, CD-quality audio, and imaging. ATM employs a star topology, which can work with
fiber optic as well as twisted pair cable.
ATM is most often used to interconnect two or more local area networks. It is also
frequently used by Internet Service Providers to utilize high-speed access to the Internet for their
clients. As ATM technology becomes more cost-effective, it will provide another solution for
constructing faster local area networks.
Gigabit Ethernet
The latest development in the Ethernet standard is a protocol that has a transmission
speed of 1 Gbps. Gigabit Ethernet is primarily used for backbones on a network at this time. In
the future, it will probably also be used for workstation and server connections. It can be used
with both fiber optic cabling and copper. The 1000BaseTX, the copper cable used for Gigabit
Ethernet, became the formal standard in 1999.

7. When dealing with networking, you may hear the terms network model and network layer
used often. Network models define a set of network layers and how they interact. There are
several different network models depending on what organization or company started them. The
most important two are:
The TCP/IP Model- This model is sometimes called the DOD model since it was
designed for the department of defense. It is also called the internet model because
TCP/IP is the protocol used on the internet.
OSI Network Model- the International Standards Organization (ISO) has defined a
standard called the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. This is a seven
layer architecture listed in the next section.