NETWORKS TYPES

Personal Area Network

•A PAN is a network that is used for communicating among computers and computer devices (including telephones) in close proximity of around a few meters within a room

•It can be used for communicating between the devices themselves, or for connecting to a larger network such as the internet

•PAN’s can be wired or wireless

nPAN’s can be wired with a computer bus such as a universal serial bus: USB (a serial bus standard for connecting devices to a computer, where many devices can be connected concurrently)

nPAN’s can also be wireless through the use of  bluetooth (a radio standard designed for low power consumption for interconnecting computers and devices such as telephones, printers or keyboards to the computer) or IrDA (infrared data association) technologies.

Local Area Network

•A LAN is a network that is used for communicating among computer devices, usually within an office building or home

•LAN’s enable the sharing of resources such as files or hardware devices that may be needed by multiple users

•Is limited in size, typically spanning a few hundred meters, and no more than a mile

•Is fast, with speeds from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps

•Requires little wiring, typically a single cable connecting to each device

•Has lower cost compared to MAN’s or WAN’s

LAN basics

nLAN’s can be either wired or wireless. Twisted pair, coax or fiber optic cable can be used in wired LAN’s

nNodes in a LAN are linked together with a certain topology. These topologies include:

nBus

nRing

nStar

nBranching tree

nA node is defined to be any device connected to the network. This could be a computer, a printer, a router, etc.

nA Hub is a networking device that connects multiple segments of the network together

nA Network Interface Card (NIC) is the circuit board that has the networking logic implemented, and provides a plug for the cable into the computer (unless wireless). In most cases, this is an Ethernet card inserted in a slot of the computer’s motherboard

nThe Network Operating System (NOS) is the software (typically part of the operating system kernel) that communicates with the NIC, and enables users to share files and hardware and communicate with other computers. Examples of NOS include: Windows XP, Windows NT, Sun Solaris, Linux, etc..