How Networks work?

What Are Networks Networks allow use to connect to other devices. This can be either around the world or connecting to people in your own home. The purpose of a network is to communicate and to file share. Networking cables

Ring Network In a ring network the workstations are connected in a closed loop. The adjacent pairs of workstations are directly connected but the others are indirectly connected. In a token ring the data only travels one way form node to node. A token ring can be used in a star or a ring network. Advantage: the network can send data quickly even if there are a lot of workstations. Disadvantage: if the main cable fails or a device is faulty the network will not work.

Bus Network In the bus each workstation is connected to a main cable called the bus. In the bus the data is sent by the bus. If there are a lot of workstation the data will travel slowly. If there is a problem with the main cable no data can travel. Each workstation is directly connected to each other. Advantages: easy to install, easy to add workstations and doesn't use a lot of cables. Disadvantages: low security and limited cable length, also if the main cable breaks the bus is inactive.

Star Network The Star network uses a switch. This means all the workstations connect to the switch using a straight through cable. Because we are using a switch another switch can be placed in a different room. This means you can use the network as long as the two switches are connected. The switch send every data packet to every computer. Advantages: very reliable: If one cable or device fails then all the others will continue to work, high performing as no data collisions can occur. Disadvantages: Expensive to install as this type of network uses the most cable (network cable is expensive), If a hub or switch fails all the devices connected to it will have no network connection

Mesh Network In a mesh network you can have either a full or a partial. A full mesh network is where every workstation is connected. In a partial some workstations are connected to every computer but some are only connected to the nodes that transfer the most data. Advantages of Mesh topology  Data can be transmitted from different devices simultaneously. This topology can withstand high traffic. Even if one of the components fails there is always an alternative present. So data transfer doesn’t get affected. Expansion and modification in topology can be done without disrupting other nodes. Disadvantages of Mesh topology There are high chances of redundancy in many of the network connections. Overall cost of this network is way too high as compared to other network topologies. Set-up and maintenance of this topology is very difficult. Even administration of the network is tough.

Hybrid network In this network three switches are used to create a ring network. From each switch is another switch. Form these switches a star network is created where all the work stations are connected using cables. The largest hybrid network is the internet Advantages: this uses three star networks if one of the star networks fail the network is still usable. The hybrid uses aspects of a star, a ring, a bus and a daisy chain. Disadvantage: there is a lot of cable and 6 switches in this example and could be very costly.

Daisy Chain A daisy chain is similar to a ring but the end workstations aren't connected this means it is organised in a liner fashion. Advantages: not much cable so it is cheap, and the data moves quickly. Disadvantages: each workstation and cable is a possible point of failure meaning it is not the best for a permanent network.

Types Of Networks LAN: this is a local area network mainly used in schools because it covers a small area. WAN: wide area network mainly used to connect LANS together. PAN: personal area network such as a phone used for transmission among devices. MAN: metropolitan area network this interacts users with computer resources, this covers a larger area than a Lan but smaller area than a wan.