Common types
- WAN (wide area network)
- LAN (local area network)
- WLAN (wireless LAN)
- PAN (personal area network)
- CAN (campus area network)
- SAN (storage area network)
- VPN
How it works
Computers, routers, and switches are connected using cables, fibre optics, or wireless signals
- Router: sends info between networks
- Switch: sends info between nodes within a network
- Port:
- different protocols have different ports
Architecture
Client/server
- client: a computer that needs to access a service
- server: a computer that serves the needs of the client
- resources are not shared
P2P
- peer to peer, no central server required
- each computer acts as both a client and a server
- each peer makes some of its resources available to the network, sharing storage, memory, bandwidth, and processing power
Topology
