Networks - How to Discuss

Networks

Networking Basics

Sharing Data Anywhere, Anytime

When PCs first appeared in business, software program was designed for a single user. There were few obvious advantages to connecting PCs, and the technology was not adequate for doing so. As computers spread throughout business, developers began offering complex software designed for multiple users. Many organizations the electronic transfer of information between computers became a major focus of the computer industry. Dur computers became a major focus of the computer industry. During the past decade, networking technology has become the most explosive area of growth in the entire computer industry. The demand for larger and faster high-capacity networks has increased as businesses have realized the value of networking their computer systems. Networks come in many varieties. When most people think of a network, they imagine several computers in a single location sharing documents and devices such as printers. But a network can include all the computers and devices in a department, a building, or multiple building spread over a wide geographic area, such as a city or even a country. By interconnecting many individual networks into a massive single network, people around the world can share information they were across the hall from one another. The information they share can be much more than text documents. Many networks carry voice, audio, and video traffic, enabling videoconferencing and types of collaboration that were not possible just a few years ago. The Internet is an example of one such network and is possibly the single largest networks in existence today.

The Uses of a Network

A network is a set of technologies including hardware, software, and media that can be used to connect computers together, enabling them to communicate, exchange information, exchange information, and share resources in real time. You should think of a network as a group of technologies. Nearly all networks require hardware, software, and media such as wires to connect computer system together. Networks allow many users to access shared data and programs almost instantly. When data and programs are stored on a network and are shared, individual users can substantially reduce the need for programs on their own computers. Networks open up new ways to communicate, such as e-mail and instant messaging. By allowing users to share expensive hardware resources such as printers, networks reduce the cost of running an organization.

Simultaneous Access

There are moments in any business when several workers may need to use the same data at the same time. A good example is a company’s quarterly sales report, which needs to be viewed and updated by several managers. Without a network that allows workers to share files, workers must keep separate copies of data stored on different disks by each worker who accesses the data. When the data is modified on one computer, data on the other computers becomes outdated. It becomes difficult to determine which copy of the data is the most current. Companies can solve this problem by storing commonly used data at a central location, usually on a network server (also called a server). A network server is a central computer with a large storage device and other resources that all the users can share. You learned about the kinds of computers that can function as network servers.
If the server stores data files for users to access, it is commonly called a file server. The business can store a signle copy of a data file on the server that employee can access whenever thay want. Then, if one user makes a change to the file, other users will see the change when they use the file, and no one needs to figure out who has the latest copy of the data. Advanced software is needed to allow simultaneous access to the same file.
In addition to using many of the same data files, most office workers also use the same program. In an environment where PCs are not networked, a separate copy of each program must be installed on every computer. This setup can be costly for two reasons. First, software can be expensive, especially when you must buy many dozens or hundreds of copies. Second, installing and configuring a program on many different computers can take a lot time and labor, and maintaining many separate installations of a program is an ongoing expense. There are two basic solutions to this problem.

Site Licenses.

One solution to this problem is to purchase a site licenses for an application. Under a site license, a business buys a single copy (or a few copies) of an application and then pays the developer for a license to copy the application onto a specified number of computers. Under a site license, each user has a complete, individual copy of the program running on his or her PC, but the business generally pays less money than it would by purchasing a complete copy of the software for each user.

Network Versions.

Another solution is to connect users’ computers to a central network server and enable users to share a network version of a program. In a network version, only one copy of the application is stored on the server, with a minimum number of supporting files copied to each user’s PC. When workers need to use a program, they simply load it from the server into the RAM of their own desktop computers.
There are trade-offs with placing application on a centrally located server. In some networks, and with certain types of programs, the user’s computer handles all the processing tasks required by the application, even through the application’s core files are stored on the network. In other cases, the network server also handles some or all of the processing tasks.