What Is a Computer Network?

In the broadest sense, a network is any interconnected group of people or things capable of sharing meaningful information with one another. In a technology context, network is usually short for "computer network" or "data network" and implies that computers are the things sharing the meaningful information. At a conceptual level, all data networks consist of nodes, which refers to any computer or digital device using the network and links, the physical connections (either wired or wireless) that carry messages between nodes. Data networks are important to all contemporary organizations because they provide faster, easier access to any message or data that can be represented and stored in digital format. For example, when your colleagues and predecessors research an issue relevant to your organization and share their data and conclusions with you in a data format your computer recognizes, you can copy key information from their report into your own, saving yourself significant amounts of time (of course, you're always sure to give credit where it's due). If the colleague whose work you're relying on works in the same cubicle as you and they remember where they've stored the relevant report, a network may not offer significant advantages since you can turn to him or he and ask for the file on a CD or USB flash drive. However, in many organizations, large distances separate co-workers, and data sharing becomes a significant logistical problem in the absence of a network. In addition to data sharing, computer networks also enable resource sharing, an important consideration in all budget-conscious organizations. Rather than buying one printer for every employee and replacing them when they wear out, an organization with a network can buy a single printer, connect it to the network, and configure it in such a way that every computer user in the organization can print to it. The initial cost of a networked printer is usually more than the cost of a single desktop printer, but when considering costs on a per-user basis, the average cost of the networked printer is often much less than the cost of buying a printer for every employee. While some networked devices such as printers, scanners, and fax machines have predetermined, specialized functions, you can also network and share generic, unspecialized computing power in the form of servers. Servers are large, powerful computers that can handle resource-intensive tasks more efficiently than desktop computers. As with the networked printer, the initial outlay for a server is more than that for a desktop computer, but across the organization, it's often cheaper to run the server-based version of a program since individual users won't need expensive, high-performance desktop and laptop computers. Servers can also deploy software to other networked machines at a lower cost.

Roles and Responsibilities

Networks also vary considerably in terms of the roles and responsibilities of the computers on that network and the relationships that tie those machines together. A computer totally disconnected from other devices is typically referred to as a standalone machine. When several computers are interconnected, but no computer occupies a privileged position, the network is usually referred to as a peer-to-peer network. In this type of network, every

computer can communicate with all the other machines on the network, but in general each one stores its own files and runs its own applications. With a client-server network, one or more servers will perform critical functions on behalf of the other machines (the clients) on the network. These functions might include user authentication, data storage, and the running of large, shared, resource-intensive applications such as databases and client relationship management (CRM) software. Typically, both peer-topeer and client-server networks rely on a shared Internet connection for access to external resources of these basic network structures. Another type of network that's been rapidly gaining in popularity over the past decade is the cloud-based network. In this model, an organization pays a third-party vendor to host data, applications and other resources on servers and manages those resources via a web browser. A cloud-dependent network can be simpler, cheaper, and greener than a client-server network since you aren't buying, maintaining and powering your own servers. However, it's not necessarily the right solution for every organization particularly those that handle and store sensitive client data or health records. Learn more about cloud computing for your nonprofit or library on TechSoup's cloud page.

Standards and Protocols

Protocols, also known as standards, are essential parts of many modern technologies. In essence, they're consensus-based documents that describe guidelines for vendors, manufacturers, and other stakeholders in order to ensure quality and interoperability in a diverse, competitive marketplace. Most networking protocols are fairly obscure and you only need to worry about them if something goes wrong. However a few standards are so widely adopted that every decision-maker and accidental techie needs to know their names and basic functions. Discussing networking without implicit or explicit reference to Ethernet and TCP/IP protocols is like discussing American law and politics without reference to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Furthermore, adopting widely-accepted protocols (also known as de facto standards) has benefits in all aspects of technology, since it's a form of future-proofing. When you need to repair, replace, or upgrade networking equipment years from now, you can safely predict that products and services compatible with today's widely-adopted standards will still be available. Therefore, you can replace a few pieces of outdated equipment without building a new network from scratch. Also, you'll be able to find technicians and consultants who still understand these protocols. After several decades of struggle amongst competing network protocols (each with a different corporate sponsor), three sets of network protocols emerged as de facto standards for local networks by the late 1990s. In local area networks, Ethernet over twisted pair (also known as 10 BASE T, twisted-pair Ethernet, or IEEE 802.3) is the accepted standard for wired networking while 802.11b/g/n (or WiFi) is the accepted standard for wireless networks. The TCP/IP protocol stack is a standard component of almost all modern networks, especially when those networks expect to communicate on the Internet where TCP/IP is the lingua franca. In wide area

networking, there still exists a large degree of diversity and competition among networking protocols. However, at the local network level, any networking technology your organization adopts should be compatible with the three standards mentioned above.

What is Internet addressing?

A way to locate people, computers, and Internet resources. It can be

IP (Internet Protocol) addresses and domain names Electronic mail addresses URLs

In general, Internet addressing is a systematic way to identify people, computers and Internet resources.

On the Internet, the term "address" is used loosely. Address can mean many different things from an electronic mail address to a URL. 1.IP Address
An IP address is a unique number that identifies computers on the Internet; every computer directly connected to the Internet has one. Every client, server and network device must have a unique IP address for each network connection (network interface).

IP addresses are conceptually similar to phone numbers, except they are used in LANs (Local Area Network), WANs (Wide Area Network), and the Internet. Because the numbers are not easy for humans to remember, the Domain Name System provides a service analogous to an address book lookup called "domain name resolution" or "name resolution". Special DNS servers on the internet are dedicated to performing the translation from a domain name to an IP address and v.v. An IP address consists of four numbers separated by periods. Each number must be between 0 and 255. An example is: 204.81.205.32
The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address.

Within an isolated network, you can assign IP addresses at random as long as each one is unique. However, connecting a private network to the Internet requires using registered IP addresses (called Internet addresses) to avoid duplicates. The four numbers in an IP address are used in different ways to identify a particular network and a host on that network. Four regional Internet registries -- ARIN, RIPE NCC, LACNIC and APNIC -- assign Internet addresses from the following three classes.
Class A - supports 16 million hosts on each of 126 networks Class B - supports 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks Class C - supports 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks

Format. An IP address is made up of four bytes of information (totaling 32 bits) expressed as four numbers between 0 and 255 shown separated by periods. For example, your computer's IP address might be 238.17.159.4, which is shown below in human-readable decimal form and in the binary form used on the Internet. Example IP Address Decimal: Binary: 238 . 17 . 159 . 4 11101110 00010001 10011111 00000100

Each of the four numbers uses eight bits of storage, and so can represent any of the 256 numbers between zero (binary 00000000) and 255 (binary 11111111). Therefore, there are more than 4 billion possible different IP addresses in all: (Internet Protocol address) The address of a device attached to an IP network (TCP/IP network). Every client, server and network device must have a unique IP address for each network connection (network interface). Every IP packet contains a source IP address and a destination IP address. Static and Dynamic IP Each device in an IP network is either assigned a permanent address (static IP) by the network administrator or is assigned a temporary address (dynamic IP). Depending on one's Internet connection the IP address can be the same every time one connects (called a static IP address), or different every time one connects, (called a dynamic IP address). In order to use a dynamic IP address, there must exist a server, which can provide the address. IP addresses are usually given out through a server service called DHCP or the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. If a static address is used, it must be manually programmed into parameters of the device's network interface. Routers, firewalls and proxy servers use static addresses. Client machines may use static or dynamic IP addresses.In routers and operating systems, the default configuration for clients is dynamic IP .

Dotted Decimals IP addresses are written in "dotted decimal" notation, which is four sets of numbers separated by periods; for example, 204.171.64.2. If you knew the IP address of a Web site, you could enter the dotted decimal number into your browser instead of the domain name .The traditional IP address uses a 32-bit number that defines both the network and the host computer. The network class determines how many of the 32 bits are used for the network address, leaving the remaining bits for use as the host number. The host number can be further divided between subnetworks and hosts Class A, B and C Although the computer identifies the class by the first three bits of the address (A=0; B=10; C=110), people identify the class by the first number in the address (see range below). This class-based system has also been greatly expanded, eliminating the huge disparity in the number of hosts that each class can accommodate
Maximum Maximum Class Number Hosts Number of per Range Networks Network 1-126 127 16,777,214 128-191 16,383 65,534 192-223 2,097,151 254 127 reserved for loopback test Number of Bits used in Network/Host ID ID 7/24 14/16 21/8

Class A B C

An IP address is first divided between networks and hosts. The host bits are further divided between subnets and hosts.

More detail
The Internet Protocol (IP) knows each logical host interface by a number, the IP address. On any given network, this number must be unique among all the host interfaces that communicate through this network. Users of the Internet are sometimes given a host name in addition to their numerical IP address by their Internet service provider. The IP addresses of users browsing the World Wide Web are used to enable communications with the server of the web site. Also, it is usually in the header of email messages one sends. In fact, for all programs that utilize the TCP/IP protocol, the sender IP address and destination IP address are required in order to establish communications and send data. Internet addresses are needed not only for unique enumeration of hosted interfaces, but also for routing purposes, therefore a high fraction of them are always unused or reserved. The unique nature of IP addresses makes it possible in many situations to track which computer and by extension, which person has sent a message or engaged in some other activity on

the Internet. This information has been used by law enforcement authorities to identify criminal suspects. The dynamically-assigned nature of many IP addresses can make this more difficult. Domain Name
Most computers on the Internet have a unique domain name.

Special computers, called domain name servers, look up the domain name and match it to the corresponding IP address so that data can be properly routed to its destination on the Internet. An example domain name is: healthyway.com Domain names are easier for most people to relate to than a numeric IP address. 2.Electronic Mail Address
An Internet electronic mail, or e-mail, address is used to identify a person (or persons) and a computer for purposes of exchanging electronic mail messages.

An example Internet e-mail address is: abc123@columbia.edu Internet e-mail addresses are read from left to right:

"abc123" is the name of the person receiving or sending the message; this is referred to as the username. "columbia" is part of the domain name of the organization. "edu" is also part of the domain name and indicates that "columbia" is an educational institution.

Electronic Mail Address

Other networks may use different electronic mail addressing schemes within their own networks. To be used in Internet e-mail, these addresses often need to be modified.

For example, within CompuServe an e-mail address consists only of two numbers separated by a comma: 36547,891.
To convert this to an address that can be used on the Internet, the comma is changed to a period and the number serves as the username.

The domain name is compuserve.com, so the Internet address would be: 36547.891@compuserve.com

3.URLs
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. URLs are used to identify specific sites and files available on the World Wide Web.

The structure of a URL is: protocol://server.subdomain.top-level-domain/directory/filename Not all URLs will have the directory and filename. Two examples:
http://www.healthyway.com/exercise/mtbike.html gopher://gopher.state.edu/

URLs
Similar to an e-mail address, a URL is read like a sentence. For example the URL

http://www.healthyway.com is read as "http colon forward slash forward slash www dot healthyway dot com".
In Summary:

Internet addressing is used to identify people, computers, and Internet resources. Using the Internet requires an understanding of different addressing schemes. People are identified with electronic mail addresses. Computers are identified with IP addresses and domain names. Resources and files available through the World Wide Web are identified using URLs.