Computer Networks

A Computer Network is a set of devices connected through links. A node can be computer, printer, or any
other device capable of sending or receiving the data. The links connecting the nodes are known as
communication channels.
A 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.
It uses distributed processing in which task is divided among several computers. Instead, a single computer
handles an entire task, each separate computer handles a subset.

Components Of Computer Network:

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.
o 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.
o 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.

Cables and connectors

Cable is a transmission media that transmits the communication signals. There are three types of cables:
o Twisted pair cable: It is a high-speed cable that transmits the data over 1Gbps or more.
o Coaxial cable: Coaxial cable resembles like a TV installation cable. Coaxial cable is more
expensive than twisted pair cable, but it provides the high data transmission speed.
o Fibre optic cable: Fibre optic cable is a high-speed cable that transmits the data using light beams.
It provides high data transmission speed as compared to other cables. It is more expensive as
compared to other cables, so it is installed at the government level.
Router
Router is a device that connects the LAN to the internet. The router is mainly used to connect the distinct
networks or connect the internet to multiple computers.
Modem
Modem connects the computer to the internet over the existing telephone line. A modem is not integrated
with the computer motherboard. A modem is a separate part on the PC slot found on the motherboard.
Access Points
An access point allows devices to connect to the wireless network without cables. A wireless network
makes it easy to bring new devices online and provides flexible support to mobile workers. An access point
acts like an amplifier for your network. While a router provides the bandwidth, an access point extends that
bandwidth so that the network can support many devices, and those devices can access the network from
farther away.

Wireless Networking
To create your wireless network, you can choose between three types of deployment: centralized
deployment, converged deployment, and cloud-based deployment.
1. Centralized deployment
The most common type of wireless network system, centralized deployments are traditionally used in
campuses where buildings and networks are in close proximity. This deployment consolidates the wireless
network, which makes upgrades easier and facilitates advanced wireless functionality. Controllers are
based on-premises and are installed in a centralized location.
2. Converged deployment
For small campuses or branch offices, converged deployments offer consistency in wireless and wired
connections. This deployment converges wired and wireless on one network device—an access switch—
and performs the dual role of both switch and wireless controller.
3. Cloud-based deployment
This system uses the cloud to manage network devices deployed on-premises at different locations. The
solution requires Cisco Meraki cloud-managed devices, which provide full visibility of the network
through their dashboards.

Uses Of Computer Network

o Resource sharing: Resource sharing is the sharing of resources such as programs, printers, and
data among the users on the network without the requirement of the physical location of the
resource and user.
o Server-Client model: Computer networking is used in the server-client model. A server is a
central computer used to store the information and maintained by the system administrator. Clients
are the machines used to access the information stored in the server remotely.
o Communication medium: Computer network behaves as a communication medium among the
users. For example, a company contains more than one computer has an email system which the
employees use for daily communication.
o E-commerce: Computer network is also important in businesses. We can do the business over the
internet. For example, [Link] is doing their business over the internet, i.e., they are doing
their business over the internet.
Data Transmission Media
Data Transmission media is a communication channel that carries the information from the sender to the
receiver. Data is transmitted through the electromagnetic signals.
The main functionality of the transmission media is to carry the information in the form of bits through
LAN (Local Area Network). It is a physical path between transmitter and receiver in data communication.
a) In a copper-based network, the bits in the form of electrical signals.
b) In a fibre-based network, the bits in the form of light pulses.
In OSI (Open System Interconnection) phase, transmission media supports the Layer 1. Therefore, it is
considered to be as a Layer 1 component.
The electrical signals can be sent through the copper wire, fibre optics, atmosphere, water, and vacuum.
The characteristics and quality of data transmission are determined by the characteristics of medium and
signal.
Transmission media is of two types are wired media and wireless media. In wired media, medium
characteristics are more important whereas, in wireless media, signal characteristics are more important.
Different transmission media have different properties such as bandwidth, delay, cost and ease of
installation and maintenance. The transmission media is available in the lowest layer of the OSI reference
model, i.e., Physical layer.
Some factors need to be considered for designing the transmission media:
a) Bandwidth: All the factors are remaining constant, the greater the bandwidth of a medium, the
higher the data transmission rate of a signal.
b) Transmission impairment: When the received signal is not identical to the transmitted one due to
the transmission impairment. The quality of the signals will get destroyed due to transmission
impairment.
c) Interference: An interference is defined as the process of disrupting a signal when it travels over a
communication medium on the addition of some unwanted signal.

Causes Of Transmission Impairment:

a) Attenuation: Attenuation means the loss of energy, i.e., the strength of the signal decreases with
increasing the distance which causes the loss of energy.
b) Distortion: Distortion occurs when there is a change in the shape of the signal. This type of
distortion is examined from different signals having different frequencies. Each frequency
component has its own propagation speed, so they reach at a different time which leads to the
delay distortion.
c) Noise: When data is travelled over a transmission medium, some unwanted signal is added to it
which creates the noise.

Classification Of Transmission Media:

a) Guided Transmission Media

b) Unguided Transmission Media
Guided Media
It is defined as the physical medium through which the signals are transmitted. It is also known as Bounded
media.

Types Of Guided media:

a) Twisted pair:
Twisted pair is a physical media made up of a pair of cables twisted with each other. A twisted pair cable is
cheap as compared to other transmission media. Installation of the twisted pair cable is easy, and it is a
lightweight cable. The frequency range for twisted pair cable is from 0 to 3.5KHz.
A twisted pair consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a regular spiral pattern.
The degree of reduction in noise interference is determined by the number of turns per foot. Increasing the
number of turns per foot decreases noise interference.

Types of Twisted pair:

Unshielded Twisted Pair:
An unshielded twisted pair is widely used in telecommunication. Following are the categories of the
unshielded twisted pair cable:
1) Category 1: Category 1 is used for telephone lines that have low-speed data.
2) Category 2: It can support upto 4Mbps.
3) Category 3: It can support upto 16Mbps.
4) Category 4: It can support upto 20Mbps. Therefore, it can be used for long-distance
communication.
5) Category 5: It can support upto 200Mbps.
Advantages Of Unshielded Twisted Pair:
a) It is cheap.
b) Installation of the unshielded twisted pair is easy.
c) It can be used for high-speed LAN.
Disadvantage:
a) This cable can only be used for shorter distances because of attenuation.
Shielded Twisted Pair
A shielded twisted pair is a cable that contains the mesh surrounding the wire that allows the higher
transmission rate.
Characteristics Of Shielded Twisted Pair:
a) The cost of the shielded twisted pair cable is not very high and not very low.
b) An installation of STP is easy.
c) It has higher capacity as compared to unshielded twisted pair cable.
d) It has a higher attenuation.
e) It is shielded that provides the higher data transmission rate.
Disadvantages
a) It is more expensive as compared to UTP and coaxial cable.
b) It has a higher attenuation rate.
Coaxial Cable
i. Coaxial cable is very commonly used transmission media, for example, TV wire is usually a
coaxial cable.
ii. The name of the cable is coaxial as it contains two conductors parallel to each other.
iii. It has a higher frequency as compared to Twisted pair cable.
iv. The inner conductor of the coaxial cable is made up of copper, and the outer conductor is made up
of copper mesh. The middle core is made up of non-conductive cover that separates the inner
conductor from the outer conductor.
v. The middle core is responsible for the data transferring whereas the copper mesh prevents from
the EMI (Electromagnetic interference).

Coaxial cable is of two types:

1. Baseband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting a single signal at high speed.
 2. Broadband transmission: It is defined as the process of transmitting multiple signals
simultaneously.
Advantages Of Coaxial cable:
a) The data can be transmitted at high speed.
b) It has better shielding as compared to twisted pair cable.
c) It provides higher bandwidth.
Disadvantages Of Coaxial cable:
a) It is more expensive as compared to twisted pair cable.
b) If any fault occurs in the cable causes the failure in the entire network.
Fibre Optic
i. Fibre optic cable is a cable that uses electrical signals for communication.
ii. Fibre optic is a cable that holds the optical fibres coated in plastic that are used to send the data by
pulses of light.
iii. The plastic coating protects the optical fibres from heat, cold, electromagnetic interference from
other types of wiring.
iv. Fibre optics provide faster data transmission than copper wires.
Diagrammatic representation of fibre optic cable:

Basic elements of Fibre optic cable:

i. Core: The optical fibre consists of a narrow strand of glass or plastic known as a core. A core is a
light transmission area of the fibre. The more the area of the core, the more light will be
transmitted into the fibre.
ii. Cladding: The concentric layer of glass is known as cladding. The main functionality of the
cladding is to provide the lower refractive index at the core interface as to cause the reflection
within the core so that the light waves are transmitted through the fibre.
iii. Jacket: The protective coating consisting of plastic is known as a jacket. The main purpose of a
jacket is to preserve the fibre strength, absorb shock and extra fibre protection.
Advantages of fibre optic cable over copper:
a) Greater Bandwidth: The fibre optic cable provides more bandwidth as compared copper.
Therefore, the fibre optic carries more data as compared to copper cable.
b) Faster speed: Fibre optic cable carries the data in the form of light. This allows the fibre optic
cable to carry the signals at a higher speed.
c) Longer distances: The fibre optic cable carries the data at a longer distance as compared to copper
cable.
d) Better reliability: The fibre optic cable is more reliable than the copper cable as it is immune to
any temperature changes while it can cause obstruct in the connectivity of copper cable.
e) Thinner and Sturdier: Fibre optic cable is thinner and lighter in weight so it can withstand more
pull pressure than copper cable.
Unguided Transmission
o An unguided transmission transmits the electromagnetic waves without using any physical
medium. Therefore, it is also known as wireless transmission.
o In unguided media, air is the media through which the electromagnetic energy can flow easily.
Unguided transmission is broadly classified into three categories:
Radio waves
i. Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves that are transmitted in all the directions of free space.
ii. Radio waves are omnidirectional, i.e., the signals are propagated in all the directions.
iii. The range in frequencies of radio waves is from 3Khz to 1 khz.
iv. In the case of radio waves, the sending and receiving antenna are not aligned, i.e., the wave sent by
the sending antenna can be received by any receiving antenna.
v. An example of the radio wave is FM radio.
Applications Of Radio waves:
1) A Radio wave is useful for multicasting when there is one sender and many receivers.
2) An FM radio, television, cordless phones are examples of a radio wave.
Advantages Of Radio transmission:
a) Radio transmission is mainly used for wide area networks and mobile cellular phones.
b) Radio waves cover a large area, and they can penetrate the walls.
c) Radio transmission provides a higher transmission rate.
Microwaves
Microwaves are of two types:

Terrestrial microwave
Satellite microwave communication.
Terrestrial Microwave Transmission
1) Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that transmits the focused beam of a radio
signal from one ground-based microwave transmission antenna to another.
2) Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the frequency in the range from 1GHz to 1000
GHz.
3) Microwaves are unidirectional as the sending and receiving antenna is to be aligned, i.e., the waves
sent by the sending antenna are narrowly focussed.
4) In this case, antennas are mounted on the towers to send a beam to another antenna which is km
away.
5) It works on the line-of-sight transmission, i.e., the antennas mounted on the towers are the direct
sight of each other.
Characteristics of Microwave:
i. Frequency range: The frequency range of terrestrial microwave is from 4-6 GHz to 21-23 GHz.
ii. Bandwidth: It supports the bandwidth from 1 to 10 Mbps.
iii. Short distance: It is inexpensive for short distance.
iv. Long distance: It is expensive as it requires a higher tower for a longer distance.
v. Attenuation: Attenuation means loss of signal. It is affected by environmental conditions and
antenna size.
Advantages Of Microwave:
a) Microwave transmission is cheaper than using cables.
b) It is free from land acquisition as it does not require any land for the installation of cables.
c) Microwave transmission provides an easy communication in terrains as the installation of cable in
terrain is quite a difficult task.
d) Communication over oceans can be achieved by using microwave transmission.
Disadvantages of Microwave transmission:
a) Eavesdropping: An eavesdropping creates insecure communication. Any malicious user can catch
the signal in the air by using its own antenna.
b) Out of phase signal: A signal can be moved out of phase by using microwave transmission.
c) Susceptible to weather condition: A microwave transmission is susceptible to weather condition.
This means that any environmental change such as rain, wind can distort the signal.
d) Bandwidth limited: Allocation of bandwidth is limited in the case of microwave transmission.
Satellite Microwave Communication
i. A satellite is a physical object that revolves around the earth at a known height.
ii. Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers more flexibility than cable and fibre
optic systems.
iii. We can communicate with any point on the globe by using satellite communication.
How Does Satellite work?
The satellite accepts the signal that is transmitted from the earth station, and it amplifies the signal. The
amplified signal is retransmitted to another earth station.
Advantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:
a) The coverage area of a satellite microwave is more than the terrestrial microwave.
b) The transmission cost of the satellite is independent of the distance from the centre of the coverage
area.
c) Satellite communication is used in mobile and wireless communication applications.
d) It is easy to install.
e) It is used in a wide variety of applications such as weather forecasting, radio/TV signal
broadcasting, mobile communication, etc.
Disadvantages Of Satellite Microwave Communication:
a) Satellite designing and development requires more time and higher cost.
b) The Satellite needs to be monitored and controlled on regular periods so that it remains in orbit.
c) The life of the satellite is about 12-15 years. Due to this reason, another launch of the satellite has
to be planned before it becomes non-functional.

Infrared
i. An infrared transmission is a wireless technology used for communication over short ranges.
ii. The frequency of the infrared in the range from 300 GHz to 400 THz.
iii. It is used for short-range communication such as data transfer between two cell phones, TV remote
operation, data transfer between a computer and cell phone resides in the same closed area.
Characteristics Of Infrared:
i. It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data rate will be very high.
ii. Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls. Therefore, the infrared communication in one room
cannot be interrupted by the nearby rooms.
iii. An infrared communication provides better security with minimum interference.
iv. Infrared communication is unreliable outside the building because the sun rays will interfere with
the infrared waves.

Types of Computer Networks

A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that enables the computer to
communicate with another computer and share their resources, data, and applications.
A computer network can be categorized by their size. A computer network is mainly of four types:
 a) LAN (Local Area Network)
b) PAN (Personal Area Network)
c) MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
d) WAN (Wide Area Network)

LAN (Local Area Network)

o Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each other in a small area such as
building, office.
o LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers through a communication medium
such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.
o It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as hubs, network adapters, and
ethernet cables.
o The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area Network.
o Local Area Network provides higher security.

PAN (Personal Area Network)

o Personal Area Network is a network arranged within an individual person, typically within a range
of 10 meters.
o Personal Area Network is used for connecting the computer devices of personal use is known as
Personal Area Network.
o Thomas Zimmerman was the first research scientist to bring the idea of the Personal Area
Network.
o Personal Area Network covers an area of 30 feet.
o Personal computer devices that are used to develop the personal area network are the laptop,
mobile phones, media player and play stations.
There are two types of Personal Area Network:

o Wired Personal Area Network

o Wireless Personal Area Network
Wireless Personal Area Network: Wireless Personal Area Network is developed by simply using
wireless technologies such as WiFi, Bluetooth. It is a low range network.
Wired Personal Area Network: Wired Personal Area Network is created by using the USB.
Examples Of Personal Area Network:
o Body Area Network: Body Area Network is a network that moves with a person. For example, a
mobile network moves with a person. Suppose a person establishes a network connection and then
creates a connection with another device to share the information.
o Offline Network: An offline network can be created inside the home, so it is also known as
a home network. A home network is designed to integrate the devices such as printers, computer,
television but they are not connected to the internet.
 o Small Home Office: It is used to connect a variety of devices to the internet and to a corporate
network using a VPN

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

o A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger geographic area by interconnecting a
different LAN to form a larger network.
o Government agencies use MAN to connect to the citizens and private industries.
o In MAN, various LANs are connected to each other through a telephone exchange line.
o The most widely used protocols in MAN are RS-232, Frame Relay, ATM, ISDN, OC-3, ADSL,
etc.
o It has a higher range than Local Area Network (LAN).
Uses Of Metropolitan Area Network:
o MAN is used in communication between the banks in a city.
o It can be used in an Airline Reservation.
o It can be used in a college within a city.
o It can also be used for communication in the military.

WAN (Wide Area Network)

o A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large geographical area such as states or
countries.
o A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.
o A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it spans over a large geographical
area through a telephone line, fibre optic cable or satellite links.
o The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
o A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business, government, and education.
Examples Of Wide Area Network:
o Mobile Broadband: A 4G network is widely used across a region or country.
o Last mile: A telecom company is used to provide the internet services to the customers in
hundreds of cities by connecting their home with fiber.
o Private network: A bank provides a private network that connects the 44 offices. This network is
made by using the telephone leased line provided by the telecom company.
Advantages Of Wide Area Network:
a) Geographical area: A Wide Area Network provides a large geographical area. Suppose if the
branch of our office is in a different city then we can connect with them through WAN. The
internet provides a leased line through which we can connect with another branch.
b) Centralized data: In case of WAN network, data is centralized. Therefore, we do not need to buy
the emails, files or back up servers.
c) Get updated files: Software companies work on the live server. Therefore, the programmers get
the updated files within seconds.
d) Exchange messages: In a WAN network, messages are transmitted fast. The web application like
Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype allows you to communicate with friends.
e) Sharing of software and resources: In WAN network, we can share the software and other
resources like a hard drive, RAM.
f) Global business: We can do the business over the internet globally.
g) High bandwidth: If we use the leased lines for our company then this gives the high bandwidth.
The high bandwidth increases the data transfer rate which in turn increases the productivity of our
company.
Disadvantages of Wide Area Network:
a) Security issue: A WAN network has more security issues as compared to LAN and MAN network
as all the technologies are combined together that creates the security problem.
b) Needs Firewall & antivirus software: The data is transferred on the internet which can be
changed or hacked by the hackers, so the firewall needs to be used. Some people can inject the
virus in our system so antivirus is needed to protect from such a virus.
c) High Setup cost: An installation cost of the WAN network is high as it involves the purchasing of
routers, switches.
d) Troubleshooting problems: It covers a large area so fixing the problem is difficult.
Internetwork
o An internetwork is defined as two or more computer network LANs or WAN or computer network
segments are connected using devices, and they are configured by a local addressing scheme. This
process is known as internetworking.
o An interconnection between public, private, commercial, industrial, or government computer
networks can also be defined as internetworking.
o An internetworking uses the internet protocol.
o The reference model used for internetworking is Open System Interconnection (OSI).
Types Of Internetworks:
1. Extranet: An extranet is a communication network based on the internet protocol such as Transmission
Control protocol and internet protocol. It is used for information sharing. The access to the extranet is
restricted to only those users who have login credentials. An extranet is the lowest level of internetworking.
It can be categorized as MAN, WAN or other computer networks. An extranet cannot have a single LAN,
at least it must have one connection to the external network.
2. Intranet: An intranet is a private network based on the internet protocol such as Transmission Control
protocol and internet protocol. An intranet belongs to an organization which is only accessible by
the organization's employee or members. The main aim of the intranet is to share the information and
resources among the organization employees. An intranet provides the facility to work in groups and for
teleconferences.
Intranet advantages:
a) Communication: It provides a cheap and easy communication. An employee of the organization
can communicate with another employee through email, chat.
b) Time-saving: Information on the intranet is shared in real time, so it is time-saving.
c) Collaboration: Collaboration is one of the most important advantage of the intranet. The
information is distributed among the employees of the organization and can only be accessed by
the authorized user.
d) Platform independency: It is a neutral architecture as the computer can be connected to another
device with different architecture.
e) Cost effective: People can see the data and documents by using the browser and distributes the
duplicate copies over the intranet. This leads to a reduction in the cost.

Purpose and Limitations of Networking

Purpose of Networking
Computer networking has various purposes which include: resource sharing, remote communication,
distributed processing facilities, cost effectiveness and reliability.
a) Resource Sharing
Anything available on the same network environment is referred to as a resource this include: printers, fax
machines, data/information, modems, files etc.
Resource sharing is the idea of computers sharing resources in a common network. For example: in a
computer lab, all computers can be able to share the same printer or scanner. Also information can be
shared in all computers

b) Remote Communication
Remote communication refers to the transmission of data signals between two communication devices
located at different locations. A computer that tries to access resources from another computer on the
network is called a remote client while the computer being accessed is called a remote host.
Remote communication has been made possible by use of wireless transmission media such as radio
waves, microwave and satellite
 c) Distributed Processing Facilities
Distributed data processing is a computer-networking method in which multiple computers across different
locations share computer-processing capability. This is in contrast to a single, centralized server managing
and providing processing capability to all connected systems. Computers that comprise the distributed
data-processing network are located at different locations but interconnected by means of wireless or
satellite links.
Files reside on the user's computer rather than on a central computer. Branch offices in a large organization
have their own servers that store data, information and other resources required for the daily operations.
This servers would periodically update the central computer.

Advantages of Distributed Processing

1. The failure of the central computer does not affect the operations of the other terminals (reliability)
2. processing load is shared equally hence no time wastage (improved performance and reduced time
wasting)
3. Relatively cheap -Distributed data processing considerably lowers the cost of data sharing and
networking across an organization by comprising several minicomputers that cost significantly less
than mainframe machines.
4. The system is flexible in sharing of processing activities also in terms of increasing or decreasing
processing power. For example, adding more nodes or computers to the network increases
processing power and overall system capability, while reducing computers from the network
decreases processing power.
d) Cost Effectiveness
Even though the initial cost is higher, the savings experienced and the value added to service delivery make
them a ready choose for enterprising managers. Networks greatly increase the efficient use of scarce
resources thus saving operational costs
e) Reliability
A computer network is reliable because:
1. Data can be transferred with minimum error from source to destination
2. In case one computer breaks down, a user can still access data and information from other
computers on the same network.
Advantages of Computer Networking
a) Easy Communication It is very easy to communicate through a network. People can communicate
efficiently using a network with a group of people. They can enjoy the benefit of emails, instant
messaging, telephony, video conferencing, chat rooms, etc.
b) Ability to Share Files, Data and Information This is one of the major advantages of networking
computers. People can find and share information and data because of networking. This is beneficial
for large organizations to maintain their data in an organized manner and facilitate access for desired
people.
c) Sharing of Resources Another important advantage of networking is the ability to share
hardware/software. For an example, a printer can be shared among the users in a network so that
there’s no need to have individual printers for each and every computer in the company. This will
significantly reduce the cost of purchasing hardware.
d) Speed Sharing and transferring files within networks is very rapid, depending on the type of
network. This will save time while maintaining the integrity of files.

Limitations of Networking
a) Security Issues Data and information is more prone to illegal access than where there is no
networking. Computer crimes like tapping of information is common
b) High Initial Costs Initial costs of acquiring network resources like hardware and software is high
c) Moral and Cultural Effects Large networks like the internet have chat rooms and messaging
services that enable underage children to meet peers and adults on the net some of whom may have
bad intentions. e.g access to drugs information and pornographic contents
d) Spread of Terrorism and Drug Trafficking The easy flow of information keeps even those who
are on the wrong side of the law communicating easily. Terrorists and drug traffickers use
information networks for their business communications
e) Over - Reliance on networks All businesses these days is dependent on computer networks. And
if a network fails, businesses will halt to a standstill and bring enormous losses.
 f) Bandwidth Issues In a network there are users who consume a lot more bandwidth than others.
Because of this some other people may experience difficulties.

Advantages and disadvantages of networks

Advantages
a) Sharing devices such as printers saves money.
b) Site (software) licences are likely to be cheaper than buying several standalone licences.
c) Files can easily be shared between users.
d) Network users can communicate by email and instant messenger.
e) Security is good - users cannot see other users' files unlike on stand-alone machines.
f) Data is easy to backup as all the data is stored on the file server.

Disadvantages
a) Purchasing the network cabling and file servers can be expensive.
b) Managing a large network is complicated, requires training and a network manager usually needs
to be employed.
c) If the file server breaks down the files on the file server become inaccessible. Email might still
work if it is on a separate server. The computers can still be used but are isolated.
d) Viruses can spread to other computers throughout a computer network.
e) There is a danger of hacking, particularly with wide area networks. Security procedures are needed
to prevent such abuse, eg a firewall.