7th Class Computers Science Networking Need of Networking

      Need of Networking

A computer network is a group of computers which are interconnected. The first networks were implemented by both IBM's SNA (Systems Network Architecture) and Digital's network architecture. Internet is the biggest example of computer networking. Through Internet you can send email or file to any location in the world. While developing computer network you need to use communication devices, such as modem and router. Basically communication devices are useful to send and receive data on the network. There are three different types of networking having different purpose. These are LAN, MAN and WAN. LAN means Local Area Network. This network is mainly used in the offices.

It has the following characteristics:

• Diameter of LAN does not exceed more than few kilometers. It is typically one kilometer.
• The computer connects with LAN required NIC (Network Interface Card).
• The data transfer rate over LAN is up to 100 Mbps.
• LAN use only one type of transmission medium.

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) is a network technology that covers whole town. It has the following characteristics:

• Helps in covering the entire city,
• The rate of data transfer is very fast up to 200 Mbps,
• Is owned by multiple organizations.
• MAN connects more than one LANs.

WAN is Wide Area Network, it covers wide area means whole world. With the help of WAN we can access many sites on the Internet.

It has the following characteristics:

• More scalable than LAN and MAN.
• Connects many sites spread across large geographic distances,
• Provides sufficient capacity to permit several computers to communicate simultaneously.

The main advantages of networking are the following:  

Reduce Cost: Using network you can share peripheral and software. You need to load software only on the file server all interconnected users used these software form server. This technique saves time and cost compared to installing and tracking files on independent computers. Using network you can also share several resources, such as printers, scanners, fax machines and modems. That reduces hardware cost.

File sharing: Using network you do not need any USB drive or other media to transfer files from one computer to another computer. You can directly share the files using a network.

Email: Using Internet you can send any information, greeting and much more all over the world.