Topic 2.2 Components Of Computer Network:

Components Of Computer Network

Major components of a computer network are:

NIC(National interface card)

NIC is a device that helps the computer to communicate with another device. The network interface card contains the hardware addresses, the data-link layer protocol use this address to identify the system on the network so that it transfers the data to the correct destination.

There are two types of NIC: wireless NIC and wired NIC.

Wireless NIC: All the modern laptops use the wireless NIC. In Wireless NIC, a connection is made using the antenna that employs the radio wave technology.
Wired NIC: Cables use the wired NIC to transfer the data over the medium.

Cables and connectors

Cable is a transmission media that transmits the communication signals. There are three types of cables:

Twisted pair cable

It is a high-speed cable that transmits the data over 1Gbps or more.

Coaxial cable

Coaxial cable resembles like a TV installation cable. Coaxial cable is more expensive than twisted pair cable, but it provides the high data transmission speed.

Fibre optic cable

Fibre optic cable is a high-speed cable that transmits the data using light beams. It provides high data transmission speed as compared to other cables. It is more expensive as compared to other cables, so it is installed at the government level.

Hub

Hub is a central device that splits the network connection into multiple devices. When computer requests for information from a computer, it sends the request to the Hub. Hub distributes this request to all the interconnected computers.

Switches facilitate the sharing of resources by connecting together all the devices, including computers, printers, and servers, in a small business network.

Thanks to the switch, these connected devices can share information and talk to each other, regardless of where they are in a building or on a campus.

Building a small business network is not possible without switches to tie devices together.

Switches

Switch is a networking device that groups all the devices over the network to transfer the data to another device.

A switch is better than Hub as it does not broadcast the message over the network, i.e., it sends the message to the device for which it belongs to. Therefore, we can say that switch sends the message directly from source to the destination.

Gateway

A gateway is a hardware device that acts as a "gate" between two networks. It may be a router, firewall, server, or another device that enables traffic to flow in and out of the network. ... For example, a proxy server may only allow local computers to access a list of authorized websites.

Router

A router is a switching device for networks, which is able to route network packets, based on their addresses, to other networks or devices. Among other things, they are used for Internet access, for coupling networks or for connecting branch offices to a central office via VPN (Virtual Private Network).

Just as a switch connects multiple devices to create a network, a router connects multiple switches, and their respective networks, to form an even larger network. These networks may be in a single location or across multiple locations. When building a small business network, you will need one or more routers.

Modem

Modem connects the computer to the internet over the existing telephone line.

It is the Device that connects the netork to the internet. There is no need for a modem in networks that is not connected to the internet.

Uses Of Computer Network

Resource sharing: Resource sharing is the sharing of resources such as programs, printers, and data among the users on the network without the requirement of the physical location of the resource and user.
Server-Client model: Computer networking is used in the server-client model. A server is a central computer used to store the information and maintained by the system administrator. Clients are the machines used to access the information stored in the server remotely.
Communication medium: Computer network behaves as a communication medium among the users. For example, a company contains more than one computer has an email system which the employees use for daily communication.
E-commerce: Computer network is also important in businesses. We can do the business over the internet. For example, amazon.com is doing their business over the internet, i.e., they are doing their business over the internet.

A list Of Computer network features is given below.

Communication speed
File sharing
Back up and Roll back is easy
Software and Hardware sharing
Security
Scalability
Reliability

Features of Computer Network

Communication speed

Network provides us to communicate over the network in a fast and efficient manner. For example, we can do video conferencing, email messaging, etc. over the internet. Therefore, the computer network is a great way to share our knowledge and ideas.

File sharing

File sharing is one of the major advantage of the computer network. Computer network provides us to share the files with each other.

Back up and Roll back is easy

Since the files are stored in the main server which is centrally located. Therefore, it is easy to take the back up from the main server.

Software and Hardware sharing

We can install the applications on the main server, therefore, the user can access the applications centrally. So, we do not need to install the software on every machine. Similarly, hardware can also be shared.

Security

Network allows the security by ensuring that the user has the right to access the certain files and applications.

Scalability

Scalability means that we can add the new components on the network. Network must be scalable so that we can extend the network by adding new devices. But, it decreases the speed of the connection and data of the transmission speed also decreases, this increases the chances of error occurring. This problem can be overcome by using the routing or switching devices.

Reliability

Computer network can use the alternative source for the data communication in case of any hardware failure.

Computer Network Architecture

Computer Network Architecture is defined as the physical and logical design of the software, hardware, protocols, and media of the transmission of data. Simply we can say that how computers are organized and how tasks are allocated to the computer.

The two types of network architectures are used:

Peer-To-Peer network
Client/Server network

Peer-To-Peer network

Peer-To-Peer network is a network in which all the computers are linked together with equal privilege and responsibilities for processing the data.
Peer-To-Peer network is useful for small environments, usually up to 10 computers.
Peer-To-Peer network has no dedicated server.
Special permissions are assigned to each computer for sharing the resources, but this can lead to a problem if the computer with the resource is down.

Advantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network

It is less costly as it does not contain any dedicated server.
If one computer stops working but, other computers will not stop working.
It is easy to set up and maintain as each computer manages itself.

Disadvantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network

In the case of Peer-To-Peer network, it does not contain the centralized system . Therefore, it cannot back up the data as the data is different in different locations.
It has a security issue as the device is managed itself.

Client/Server Network

Client/Server network is a network model designed for the end users called clients, to access the resources such as songs, video, etc. from a central computer known as Server.
The central controller is known as a server while all other computers in the network are called clients.
A server performs all the major operations such as security and network management.
A server is responsible for managing all the resources such as files, directories, printer, etc.
All the clients communicate with each other through a server. For example, if client1 wants to send some data to client 2, then it first sends the request to the server for the permission. The server sends the response to the client 1 to initiate its communication with the client 2.

Advantages Of Client/Server network

A Client/Server network contains the centralized system. Therefore we can back up the data easily.
A Client/Server network has a dedicated server that improves the overall performance of the whole system.
Security is better in Client/Server network as a single server administers the shared resources.
It also increases the speed of the sharing resources.

Disadvantages Of Client/Server network

Client/Server network is expensive as it requires the server with large memory.
A server has a Network Operating System(NOS) to provide the resources to the clients, but the cost of NOS is very high.
It requires a dedicated network administrator to manage all the resources

What Is an Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

The term Internet service provider (ISP) refers to a company that provides access to the Internet to both personal and business customers. ISPs make it possible for their customers to surf the web, shop online, conduct business, and connect with family and friends—all for a fee. ISPs may also provide other services including email services, domain registration and web hosting.

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