What is Network of Computers?
A group of computers connected in some fashion in order to share resources. Networks with enhanced storage and server-based processing power provide users with greater functionality and security than independent or stand-alone machines.
Networks can be classified based on:
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Physical size:
They can be classified as local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), or wide area networks (WANs).
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Topology:
Topologies (the manner and complexity of interconnections) include the bus topology, star topology, ring topology, and mesh topology.
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Security:
Networks can be based on workgroups, in which all machines control their own security, or they can be based on servers (such as domain-based Microsoft Windows 2000 networks).
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Network architecture:
For example, networks can be classified as Ethernet, Token Ring, or Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) networks.
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Primary protocol:
Networks can be classified as Internet Protocol (IP) networks, Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) networks, Systems Network Architecture (SNA) networks, and so on.
NOTE
In TCP/IP networking, a network is a group of hosts with the same network ID. Multiple networks can be combined using routers to form an internetwork. Each network in an internetwork can be referred to as a subnetwork.