We explain what computer networks are and how they are classified. Also, what are their characteristics and the uses they have.
What are computer networks?
Computer networks, data communications networks or computer networks are understood to mean a set of interconnected computer systems through various wired or wireless devices.
Through these systems can share information in data packetswhich are transmitted by electrical impulses, electromagnetic waves or any other physical means.
Computer networks are no different, in their exchange logic, from other communication processes: They have a sender, a receiver and a messagea medium through which to transmit it and a series of codes to ensure mutual understanding. The peculiarity is that in this case, the transmitters and receivers are computers.
The invention of computer networks It represented a technological, social and economic revolutionallowing remote interaction for numerous operations, and is one of the great advances of the late twentieth century in computing.
See also: Social networks
Types of computer networks
Commonly, computer networks are classified according to their scope, as follows:
- LAN. Local Area Network (“Local Area Network”) refers to smaller networks, such as those in a call center or Internet café, or a home.
- MAN. Metropolitan Area Network (“Metropolitan Area Network”) refers to networks of intermediate size, such as those on university campuses or large libraries and companies.
- WAN. Wide Area Network (“Wide Area Network”) is what networks of greater size and scope are called, such as the global Internet network.
Networks can also be classified according to the technology that allows the connection, as follows:
- Guided Media Networks. They connect computers using some physical cable system: braided cable, coaxial cable or optical fiber.
- Unguided media networks. They connect their computers through dispersed and area-range media, such as radio waves, infrared, or microwaves.
Elements of a computer network
Computer networks contain the following elements:
- Servers. Servers are computers that process the flow of data on the network, serving all the others and centralizing control of the network. They operate as prosecutors, serving the others (hence their name). Previously they were called “masters.”
- Clients or workstations. Interconnected computers, not servers, that are part of the network and allow access to it. Previously they were called “slaves”.
- Transmission medium. The wiring or electromagnetic waves that the network uses to transmit information, depending on the type of network.
- Hardware. Electronic parts that allow the network to be established, such as the network cards in each computer, the modems and routers that support the transmission, or the repeater antennas that extend the wireless connection.
- Software. The programs required to manage and operate hardware, including the Network Operating System (NOS). Network Operating System) or communication protocols (such as TCP and IP).
Network topology
This is the name given to the interconnection model that establishes the relationships between clients and servers within a network. It can be of three types:
- Linear or bus. A server is at the head of the network and clients are spread out along a straight line from it. This line is the only communication channel, called bus either backbone (“spine”).
- in starThe server is in the center and each client has an exclusive connection to it, so communication between servers must first go through the center.
- In ring or circular. All computers are connected in a circle, in contact with those nearby and on equal terms.
What are computer networks used for?
Who owns a computer network can manage an internal communication systemfile sharing, Internet access points or even controlling peripherals such as printers, scanners, etc.
This means that Computers can exchange information directlyovercoming physical distances and reducing the time required to do so.
Network protocols
Communication in computer networks is achieved thanks to a series of communication standards or “protocols”, which They translate requests and responses into the same code of the teams.
The most common of these is TCP/IP, but There are many that vary in their complexity and in the number of layers of information they manage at the same time, allowing for more secure, reliable and inaccessible communication by third parties.
Why are computer networks important?
In today’s computerized world, computer networks They are found in almost all areas of lifeespecially those that concern bureaucracy or administration.
Also involve the Internet itselfwhich we access from computers, cell phones and other devices.
The global economy, cultural exchange and even online socialization exist thanks to networks.
Internet
Internet is the best current example of the reach and power of networksIt is a gigantic WAN that connects all the computers of all the users in all the countries of the world, allowing them to exchange information at very different levels.
through her online video games, foreign exchange operations are offeredsending millions of emails a day, videoconferences, software updates, illegal downloads, electronic purchases and a practically unlimited etcetera.
Advantages of computer networks
A computer network is an extremely valuable resource for any type of organization, and indispensable in today’s interconnected world.
Computer networks allow all kinds of operations to be carried out in real time and overcoming enormous distances, such as:
- Electronic purchases and capital movements.
- Social interactions, teleconferences, video calls.
- Data transmission, email and resource sharing.
- Transmission stream of audiovisual content.
- Satellite exploration and other surveillance technologies.
Disadvantages of computer networks
Computer networks have their weak sides. You may be a victim of cyber attackswhether from malicious software (viruses, adware, etc.) or from cyberterrorists (hackers).
These attacks can cause loss of informationviolations of privacy or damage to equipment and software.
History of computer networks
The first computer networks were heirs of the already widespread telegraphic networks and then telephone, since they applied the same principles.
The connection of the first computers, which were slow, expensive and took up an entire room. The first transmission between one and the other occurred in 1940when they sent a message from Dartmouth University in New Hampshire to New York.
This is how the Internet came into being, exclusively for military uses at firstbut then as another domestic service.
The creation in subsequent years of minicomputers and personal computers revolutionized this field, allowing computers in the 1980s to use their modems to send and receive information over the telephone.
In the following decade, when the Internet was already a mass-demand service, Telephone lines were the way to connect these modems.called “dial up” or dialing, since they occupied the line.
Subsequently ADSL or “broad banking” was introducedwhich allowed transmission through independent channels, and finally WiFi technology, which eliminated the wiring that traditionally ran to the computer.