Computer Networks

What is a Computer Network? 

Computer Network is a group of computers connected with each other through wires, optical fibres or optical links so that various devices can interact with each other through a network. The aim of the computer network is the sharing of resources among various devices.  In the case of computer network technology, there are several types of networks that vary from simple to complex level. 

Major components of a computer network are:

 NIC(National interface card) NIC is a device that helps the computer to communicate with another device. The network interface card contains the hardware addresses, the data-link layer protocol use this address to identify the system on the network so that it transfers the data to the correct destination. 

 There are two types of NIC: wireless NIC and wired NIC.

Wireless NIC: All the modern laptops use the wireless NIC. In Wireless NIC, a connection is made using the antenna that employs the radio wave technology. 

Wired NIC: Cables use the wired NIC to transfer the data over the medium. 

Hub

 Hub is a central device that splits the network connection into multiple devices. When computer requests for information from a computer, it sends the request to the Hub. Hub distributes this request to all the interconnected computers. 

 Switches 

 Switch is a networking device that groups all the devices over the network to transfer the data to another device. A switch is better than Hub as it does not broadcast the message over the network, i.e., it sends the message to the device for which it belongs to. Therefore, we can say that switch sends the message directly from source to the destination.