"What is a network?

Networking is one of the most significant steps in the electronic evolution since the invention of the PC. A computer network is a group of connected computers that allow the sharing of information and peripherals. The most basic network is made up of two computers connected by some kind of cable in order to exchange information more quickly and efficiently. A standalone computer is very useful to many businesses, but without a network, those businesses would have to spend twice the amount of money on computerization than they would have to by implementing a network.

     A network allows many computers to share peripheral devices such as printers and facsimile machines. The two primary benefits of computer networks are sharing of devices and data. There are two basic types of networks: peer-to-peer and server-based. On a peer-to-peer network, any computer can act as a server to share resources with other machines and as a client to access these resources. On the other hand, server-based networks require a server computer whose job is to respond to requests for services or resources from clients elsewhere on the network. Server-based networks are used in most organizations today. 

     There is an advantage to server-based networks such that it centralizes user accounts and eases maintenance with less need for administration. (a) The Local Area Network (LAN) for smart distance with a high data transfer rate. (b) The Wide Area Network (WAN) for greater physical distance with a low transfer rate. With tremendous revolution in micro computer (PC) in early eighties,

     the LAN system gained its momentum. The LAN system in a PC can work within a short distance, i.e., with the same floor in a building or in different floors of the same building through cable networking. LANs consist of workstations that are connected to a control computer called FILE SERVER (special purpose computer).The file server is. The central node of any of the network systems that sends instructions to the workstations. Actually workstations are the nodal computers and the users use it for executing their application programs locally. The work stations send request to the central node i.e., file server for receiving the desired instructions.