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Computer networking is the practice of interfacing two or more computing devices with each other for the purpose of sharing data. Computer networks are built with a combination of hardware and software.
Note: This page focuses on wireless networking and computer networks, which is related, but quite different, from social networking.
Computer Network Classification and Area Networks
Computer networks can be categorized in several different ways. One approach defines the type of network according to the geographic area it spans. Local area networks (LANs), for example, typically span a single home, school, or small office building, whereas wide area networks (WANs), reach across cities, states, or even across the world. The Internet is the world’s largest public WAN.
Network Design
Computer networks also differ in their design approach. The two basic forms of network design are called client/server and peer-to-peer. Client-server networks feature centralized server computers that store email, Web pages, files and or applications accessed by client computers and other client devices. On a peer-to-peer network, conversely, all devices tend to support the same functions. Client-server networks are much more common in business and peer-to-peer networks more common in homes.
A network topology defines its layout or structure from the point of view of data flow. In so-called bus networks, for example, all of the computers share and communicate across one common conduit, whereas in a star network, all data flows through one centralized device. Common types of network topologies include bus, star, ring networks and mesh networks.
Network Protocols
Communication languages used by computer devices are called network protocols. Yet another way to classify computer networks is the set of protocols they support. Networks often implement multiple protocols with each supporting specific applications. Popular protocols include TCP/IP – the one most commonly found on the Internet and in home networks.
Computer Network Hardware and Software
Special purpose communication devices including network routers, access points, and network cables physically glue a network together. Network operating systems and other software applications generate network traffic and enable users to do useful things.
Home Computer Networking
While other types of networks are built and maintained by engineers, home networks belong to ordinary homeowners, people often with little or no technical background. Various manufacturers produce broadband router hardware designed to simplify home network setup. A home router enables devices in different rooms to efficiently share a broadband Internet connection, helps people to more easily share their files and printers within the network, and improves overall network security.
Home networks have increased in capability with each generation of new technology. Years ago, people commonly set up their home network just to connect a few PCs, share some documents and perhaps a printer. Now it’s common for households to also network game consoles, digital video recorders, and smartphones for streaming sound and video. Home automation systems have also existed for many years, but these too have grown in popularity more recently with practical systems for controlling lights, digital thermostats, and appliances.
Business Computer Networks
Small and home office (SOHO) environments use similar technology as found in home networks. Businesses often have additional communication, data storage, and security requirements that require expanding their networks in different ways, particularly as the business gets larger.
Whereas a home network generally functions as one LAN, a business network tends to contain multiple LANs. Companies with buildings in multiple locations utilize wide-area networking to connect these branch offices together. Though also available and used by some households, voice over IP communication and network storage and backup technologies are prevalent in businesses. Larger companies also maintain their own internal Web sites, called intranets to help with employee business communication.
Networking and the Internet
The popularity of computer networks sharply increased with the creation of the World Wide Web (WWW) in the 1990s. Public Web sites, peer to peer (P2P) file sharing systems, and various other services run on Internet servers across the world.
Wired vs. Wireless Computer Networking
Many of the same protocols like TCP/IP work in both wired and wireless networks. Networks with Ethernet cables predominated in businesses, schools, and homes for several decades. More recently, however, wireless technologies like Wi-Fi have emerged as the preferred option for building new computer networks, in part to support smartphones and the other new kinds of wireless gadgets that have triggered the rise of mobile networking.
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