What is a network
More than one computer system connected together allowing for communication apart and the area that they serve
What is a Local area network (LAN)
when computer systems are situated geographically close together
Where are LANs commonly found
Within the same building or small site like a school or office
Who usually owns the network infrastructure of a LAN
Usually owned and managed by the network owner
What is a Wide area network (WAN)
A wide area network has computer systems situated geographically distant to each other possibly across a country or even across the world
What is a client server network
When a client makes requests to a server, the server manages these requests and responds.
Large services like Amazon and google with need very powerful servers to handle millions of requests a second
Advantages to a client server network
Can be controlled centrally from the server to easily backup data and update software
Hardware, Software and resources can be shared across the network such as printers applications and data files
The network allows for improved scalability meaning more clients can easily be added to the central server
Disadvantages of client server network
Large amounts of traffic congestion will cause network to slow down
If a fault occurs with the server then the whole network will fail
IT technicians may be required to manage and maintain the network
Malware such as viruses can spread quickly across the network
What is a peer to peer network
When data is shared directly between systems without requiring a central server.Each computer is equally responsible for providing data.
Advantages of peer to peer networks
This is a simpler network than client server to set up as no server is required
Clients are not dependent on a server
perfect for quickly sharing files between systems such as downloading media files
Disadvantages of peer to peer networks
Without a dedicated server there is no central device to manage security or backups.Backups must be performed on each individual system
Computer performance will decrease with more devices connected to the network especially if other machines are slow
What is a data packet
When you send data across a network files are broken down into smaller parts called data packets
What is a network topology and what are two types of network topology
A layout of computer systems on a local network
Two types include:
Star topology
Mesh topology
How does a star topology work and what is it
Each computer system is connected to the central hub or switch and transfers its data packets there.
the hub or switch looks at the destination address and transfers the packets directly to the intended computer
When each computer system is connected to a central device, usually a hub or switch
What is a mesh topology and how does it work
Each computer system is connected to every other computer system
data packets are transferred to the destination address along the quickest path travelling from node to node
if a pathway is broken there are many alternative paths that the packets can take
What can affect performance
The bandwidth available
Number of users at the same time
Number of data collisions
Interference (e.g thick walls)
Distance to travel/signal strength
Amount of data to transfer
What is bandwidth
The maximum amount of data that can be sent across network at once
What is a wireless access point (WAP) and give examples
Provides a link between wireless and wired networks.it creates a wireless local area network that allows Wi-Fi enabled devices to connect to a wired network
Examples could be Wi-Fi or Bluetooth hotspot
What is a router and what does it do
Routers receive data packets and use the IP address in the packet header to determine the best route to transmit the data
routers are used to transfer data packets between networks
What is a switch
A switch is used to connect devices together On a LAN
What does a network interface controller do?
A network interface controller (NIC) is an internal piece of hardware that is required for the computer to connect to a network
Three common types of transmission data
Ethernet cables-used typically on a LAN to transfer data between nodes and hardware such as switches
Fibre optic cables-very fast but more expensive and fragile cables typically used to send data quickly along a WAN
coaxial cable-older,slower,copper cables that are not used as much in modern times as they can be affected by electromagnetic interference
What does a domain name system sever do
A DNS stores a list of domain names and a list of corresponding IP addresses where the website is stored
eg www.csnewbs.com
Cloud storage characteristics
Huge capacity and you can upgrade your subscription for more storage
A fast connection would mean that cloud storage is very portable.But poor connection would make access difficult
