A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes.

COMPUTER NETWORK

A piece of a message transmitted over a packet-switching network. See under packet switching. One of the key features of a packet is that it contains the destination address in addition to the data. In IP networks, packets are often called datagrams. called datagrams.

Packet

- Local area network (LAN) technologies connect many devices that are relatively close to each other, usually in the same building.

Local Area Network (LAN)

-Wide area network (WAN) technologies connect a smaller number of devices that can be many kilometers apart.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

-A node is anything that is connected to the network. While a node is typically a computer, it can also be something like a printer or CD-ROM tower.

Node

-This is the physical address of any device -- such as the NIC in a computer -- on the network. The MAC address, which is made up of two equal parts, is 6 bytes long. The first 3 bytes identify the company that made the NIC. The second 3 bytes are the serial number of the NIC itself.

Media Access Control (MSC)

-An IP (Internet Protocol) Address is an alphanumeric label assigned to computers and other devices that connect to a network using an internet protocol. 

IP Address

-Each node is daisy-chained (connected one right after the other) along the same backbone, similar to Christmas lights. Information sent from a node travels along the backbone until it reaches its destination node

Bus Topology

-Like a bus network, rings have the nodes daisy-chained. The difference is that the end of the network comes back around to the first node, creating a complete circuit. In a ring network, each node takes a turn sending and receiving information through the use of a token

Ring Topology

-In networking, a token is a special series of bits that travels around a token-ring network. As the token circulates, computers attached to the network can capture it.

Network Token

-In a star network, each node is connected to a central device called a hub. All devices are connected to a central hub. Star networks are relatively easy to install and manage, but bottlenecks can occur because all data must pass through the hub.

Star Topology

-A tree topology combines characteristics of linear bus and star topologies. It consists of groups of star-configured workstations connected to a linear bus backbone cable.

Tree Topology

-An agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices. 

Protocol

-is a commonly used computer networking architecture in which each workstation, or node, has the same capabilities and responsibilities

Peer-Peer Architecture

-Client-server architecture (client/server) is a network architecture in which each computer or process on the network is either a client or a server.

Client/Server Architecture