What is a computer network - peak concepts

A computer network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources such as printers and CD-ROMs, exchange files, or allow electronic communications. The computers on a computer network may be linked through cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.

Computer network can be classified on the basis of following features :

By Scale:Computer networks may be classified according to the scale :

    Local Area Network (LAN)
    Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
    Wide Area Network (WAN)

By Connection Method: Computer networks can also be classified according to the hardware technology that is used to connect the individual devices in the network such as Optical fibre, Ethernet, Wireless LAN.

 

By Functional Relationship (Network Architectures) : Computer networks may be classified according to the functional relationships which exist between the elements of the network. This classification also called computer architecture. There are two type of network architecture :

• Client-Server
• Peer-to-Peer Architecture

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