What are computer networks?

Answer 1

Community Answer 1

What are computer networks? I'm glad you asked. A given company or organization may have more than one computer, and can arrange for these computers to be connected (in more than just the way all computers can connect by way of the internet) so that they share programs, have access to each other's data, etc.

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Community Answer 2

A PC system is an arrangement of PCs associated together with the end goal of sharing assets. The most widely recognized asset shared today is association with the Internet. Other shared assets can incorporate a printer.

Answer 2

A computer network as a bunch of computers linked together. There are two types of computer networks. WAN's and LAN's

A WAN is a Wide Area Network. The internet is a WAN because it is a giant network, connecting computers together.

A LAN is a Local Area Network. These networks are smaller networks, such as a business network, a home network or a school network. The main functions of these networks are connecting multiple computers to the internet, and sharing files between networks.

There are actually two types of LAN's. Domains and Workgroups.

A domain is the kind of network that you would see at a school or large workplace. These networks consist of a large server that contains all the data files for all the users on the network. This is good in a school or work environment, because any user can log onto any terminal within the network and have all of their files and preferences.

You would typically see a workgroup at a home or small business. These networks contain no central hosting server and each computer has their own user accounts.

There are two ways two ways to connect to a typical network. The fastest and most common method is via cable. These cables are called Ethernet cables and are normally blue or yellow in color. To connect to an Ethernet network, a user has to plug an Ethernet cable into the Ethernet port on their computer and also into an Ethernet port on a Hub or wall socket. An Ethernet port looks like a telephone cable, only slightly wider.

The other way to connect to a network is wireless. There are at least three protocols to connect to a standard wireless network. 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n, the latter is the newest and fastest. To connect to a wireless network you must have a wireless network interface card.

There is no difference in functionality between wireless and wired networks.

This answer only touches the surface of computer networking and doesn't cover the setting up of a network, or network troubleshooting. There are other ways to use computer networks, and computers are not the only things that can be networked, however the information provided should answer the question.