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Network - A network is a group of computers connected together in a way that allows information to be exchanged between the computers.

Packet - A piece of a message transmitted over a packet-switching network. 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.

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

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

Node - 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.

Media Access Control (MAC) address - 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.

IP (Internet Protocol) Address - an alphanumeric label assigned to computers and other devices that connect to a network using an internet protocol. This address allows these devices to send and receive data over the internet. Every device that is capable of connecting to the internet has a unique IP address.

Bus - 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. Each end of a bus network must be terminated with a resistor to keep the signal that is sent by a node across the network from bouncing back when it reaches the end of the cable.

Ring - 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.

Network Token - In programming languages, a single element of a programming language. For example, a token could be a keyword, an operator, or a punctuation mark.

star topology - All devices are connected to a central hub. Star networks are relatively easy to install and manage, but bottlenecks can occur because all datamust pass through the hub.

Tree 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.

Protocol - An agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices. The protocol determines the following

Peer-peer Architecture - Often referred to simply as peer-to-peer, or abbreviated P2P, a type of network in which each workstation has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities. This differs from client/server architectures, in which some computers are dedicated to serving the other machines in the system. Peer-to-peer networks are generally simpler, but they usually do not offer the same performance under heavy loads.

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.