ICT Flashcards
Network
2 or more computers connected together to communicate
Topology
The layout of the network and the physical arrangement of components
Bluetooth
A method of wireless data transmission
Internet
A global collection of networks connecting computers and other hardware together to provide the infrastructure needed to access the WWW
How many purposes can a network might have?
2 - single and multiple purpose
Personal area network (PAN)
A small network set up for a specific purpose
Local area network (LAN)
A network over a small geographical area using personally owned or business-owned hardware
Wide area network (WAN)
A network that connects computers and LANs over a large geographic area using cables, fibre optics or satellites and can span cities countries and even across the globe
Password
A series of characters are needed to gain access to a system and they should be complex. This usually means they:
- are more than 8 characters long
- include numbers
- include capital and lowercase letters
- include other symbols
World wide web (WWW)
The websites that can be accessed over the internet
What is MAN?
Metropolitan (2 cities) area network
An example of a PAN
Connecting a phone to a speaker, a connection between a laptop and printer
An example of a WAN
A nationwide bank
What are the 5 types of networks?
PAN, LAN, WAN, MAN and the internet
Components
The hardware devices that make up a system
Node
a device on a network (the computers that are connected to the network and all devices that are used to connect the computers in a network)
Cable
a physical connection between devices
What are the 2 types of cables?
Copper cables and fibre optic
Copper cable
a cable connection that can either be UTP or STP and data is transferred as electricity
Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
2 copper cables twisted together without any shielding
Shielded twisted pair (STP)
2 copper cables twisted together with shielding to reduce interference
Ethernet
A specific type of copper cable used in a network
What does the ethernet plug into?
A jack
Jack
A component an ethernet cable plugs into. Inside it is the NIC
Name 5 types of topology
Point-to-point, ring,star,bus,mesh
Fibre optic
A cable connection that transfers data as light and is faster than copper cables because it has a higher bandwidth
Bandwidth
The maximum amount of traffic that can be sent down a transmission media (a physical pathway) e.g. cable
Hub
A component that connects computers together. It send the data it receives to all devices connected. Since it wastes bandwidth, it is not considered as a smart device
Switch
A component that connects computers together and learns the identity of computers connected to it
Router
A component that connects computers and networks together and might have a modem inside it
Modem
Allows you to connect to the internet using telephone lines by converting sound waves from the telephone line into digital data that the computer understands
What does modem stand for?
Modulator-demodulator
Network interface card (NIC)
A component a computer that allows a cable to be plugged into it physically. It is built into devices.
Wireless
Sending data without cables, e.g. radio waves
Wireless access point (WAP)
A component that sends and receives data wirelessly. This is in hub, switches and routers
Wireless network interface card (WNIC)
A component in a computer that sends and receives data wirelessly
Server
A powerful central computer e.g. file,printer,email
File server
A computer that stores files (data) for other computers in the network to access
Print server
A computer that messages a printer. The data goes in the server then the server decides which order to print the documents
Email server
A computer that stores emails used to access in a business. If you want to read your emails you have to connect to the server
When do we need and not need a server?
A small network (LAN) shouldn’t need a server while a large organisation needs one to store all thier files etc
Why does a small network not need a server?
- Each computer can store its own data
- it’s expensive
- A hardware expert needs to maintain it
When do we use wires?
- When the devices has a NIC e.g. desktop computer
- when we need a high and faster bandwidth
When do we use wireless?
- When the devices have/use a WNIC e.g.phone
- when we have a small no. of devices in the network