Networking Essentials

General Networking

Keywords

Bus Network / Client-server / Firewall / intranet / ISDN / LAN / Node / Peer-to-peer / Router / Star network / Token Ring / WAN / Packet / TCP/IP / Web server / Proxy server / Winsock / DNS

Bus Network

A network where all the computers are connected to a single wire (or bus) which forms the central highway for all network traffic

Client-server

A client-server network is more commonly found in a medium-sized and large businesses. Computers are connected directly through intermediary machines know as servers. Servers handle all security, information and access peripherals, such as printers or modems.

A system designed to prevent unauthorised access to a network, particularly from unauthorised Internet users (or hackers). All information entering or leaving a network is scrutinised, and rejected if it fails to meet the security policy on the firewall.

An internal network of computers (such as an office environment) which allows transmission of data to colleagues. The intranet is controlled by a network administrator who decides on access privileges and controls the network software.

Integrated Services Digital Network. This is a way of transmitting digital, rather than analog, signals down standard phone lines. The results are faster, and there is more of a chance of an error free connection being made.
In practice ISDN is an extra cost service offered by BT and other providers which will require an ISDN modem and perhaps some special software at the client end.

Local Area Network. A network of computers in a relatively small area such as an office or school building. Each computer (or node) has its own operating system, but can access files or use devices such as printers or modems, across the network. Users can also chat via their PCs and use email across the network.

This is another term for a network terminal, or a point where the computer is connected to the network.

Peer-to-peer

A peer-to-peer network links computers together, but has no central server. The method allows computers to exchange data and access peripherals with every other computer on the network. Peer-to-peer networks only work with a small number of computers in a small office.

A router is a bridge between two LANs. A router allows information to be exchanged between two LANs. The Internet uses routing extensively to more information from one LAN to another.
In a packet-switching network, such as the Internet, a router examines the packets of data and sends them to their appropriate destination.

Star Network

A network where all the computers are directly connected to a central computer or server. Start networks are more flexible in terms of adding new computers to the network, and isolating one malfunctioning node. But if the central computer goes down, the network work can‘t operate.

A type of computer network in which all the computers are arranged (schematically) in a circle. A special pattern travels around the circle. To send a message, a computer catches the token, attaches a message to it and then lets it continue to travel around the network.

Wide Area Network. A computer network that spans a wide geographical area. For example a company might have a number of LANs around the country. Connecting these LANs together would create a WAN. The Internet is one of the worlds biggest WANs.

This is a unit of data, which is typically a part of a file, prepared for transmission across a network.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This is the standard governing communication between all computers on the Internet. TCP/IP works by sending packets of information across multiple networks.

This term refers to a computer that serves Web pages. When your browser sends out a request for a page (such as http://www.teletec.f9.co.uk/networking/index.html), the server that holds the pages for this Web site will pick up that request and sends the correct page to your browser.

Proxy server

A server that sits between your computer and the Web server, which monitors all requests that pass through it. The proxy server intercepts all requests and checks that it doesn‘t all ready have the requested page on its local hard drive.
If it has then the proxy server returns the requested Web page from its local hard drive. If the proxy server doesn‘t have the requested page then it forwards the requested on to the Web server holding the requested page. A proxy server can be used to speed up Internet Access for a large number of users or can be used to filter out certain unsuitable Web pages.

A program that provides Microsoft Windows with a standard way in which it can communicate with the Internet. Any PC that uses Microsft Windows as its Operating System needs one; you will probably be provided with a copy by your ISP if you don‘t already possess a Winsock on your system, though it may come as part of your connection Software.

Domain Name System. Networks operate on a series of IP address. Each machine has one or more IP addresses and one node and one domain. For other people on other domains (or over a WAN or LAN) to resolve these IP addresses to host names a domain name System needs to be used. This links the IP address with the host name. For example the Web site called www.foo.com could be linked to the IP address 197.283.37.5 and so on.

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