Computer Network

A computer network is a series of computers that are connected together in a way that allows them to exchange information between the computers.

Packet

A packet is a piece of a message that is transmitted over a packet-switching network. Packets have a key feature in which that is they carry not only the part of a message, but they also carry a destination address. When packets are in an IP network, they are often referred to as datagrams.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A local area network is a system of technology that connects many devices that are close together, typically in the same building.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

A wide area network is a system of technology that connects a small amount of items that are typically of upwards to kilometers away from each other. They can typically connect several LAN networks together!

Node

A node is anything that is connected to a network. While nodes are most typically computers, they can be anything like a printer or CD ROM tower.

Media Access Control (MAC)

This is the physical address of any device. The MAC address is made up of 6 total bytes where the first three bytes identify the address's company and the last three bytes identify the serial number of the Network Interface Card.

IP Address

Short for internet protocol, an IP address is an identifier for a computer or device on a network. Networks use this address to route messages to the corresponding location.

Bus Topology

The computers in this type of network are connected to an electrical backbone in which the signals, containing messages, are transferred. The information is carried along the backbone until it reaches its destination or it hits the termination resistor at the end of the backbone that is used to prevent the bouncing back of a message along the system.

Ring Topology

Just like a bus topology system, all of the nodes are connected to a central system in which the data is transferred, the difference is that the network completes a loop in order to send signals back around to the beginning node.

Network Token

The information that is traveling between the nodes in a ring topology system are called tokens which will travel from the first node, to the second node, and to all of the nodes along the way and will eventually make it back to the first node by the end of its cycle.

Star Topology

A star topology system each node is connected to a central device called a hub. This hub takes the signal that comes from any node and passes it along to all of the other nodes. The hub is simply a junction for data transfer and does not perform any data processing or routing.

Tree Topology

A tree topology system combines and utilizes both of the systems from star topology and bus topology. They are typically set up so that there are stars of nodes connected to a bus topology back bone.

Protocol

An agreed upon protocol that is used to transmit information between two devices. This protocol consists of a type of error checking, data compression method (if needed), how to indicate to the sending device that the information has been sent, and how the receiving device will indicate that it has received the information.

Peer-Peer Architecture

Abbreviated as "P2P," a peer-peer architecture is a style of networking in which each work station has equivalent working capabilities and responsibilities.

Client/ Server Architecture

A type of network architecture in which a computer or process is either a client or a server. Servers are powerful computers or processes that are dedicated to managing disc drives, printers, or network traffic. A client is a PC or work station in which users run applications.