Networks Flashcards
What is LAN and what are some characteristics of it?
Local Area Network (e.g. school or office)
Computers connected over a small geographical area
Hardware is internally owned
What is WAN and what are some characteristics of it?
Wide Area Network (e.g. across country or the world)
Computers connected over a large geographical area
Hardware owned by 3rd parties
What are some factors that can affect the performance of a network?
The bandwidth available
Number of users connected
Number of data collisions
Interference (e.g. walls)
Applications being used
What is bandwidth?
The amount of data that can be transferred in a given time
Why does number of user affect the performance of a network?
Too many users may cause congestion and slow the network
What is a client-server network?
Clients make requests to the server in which the server responds to these request
Advantages of a client-server network:
Network controlled centrally - easy to backup and update software
Hardware, software and data can be shared across the network (e.g. printer)
Clients can easily be added to the server
Disadvantages of client-server network:
Traffic congestion causes network to slow down
If fault occurs the whole network will close
Malware can easily spread across the network
What is a peer-to-peer network?
Data is directly shared between systems without requiring a central server
Advantages of peer-to-peer network:
Simpler to set up than client-server network
Clients aren’t dependant on server
Perfect for quickly sharing files between systems
Disadvantages of peer-to-peer network:
No central device to manage back-ups or security
Performance decrease when more devices connect to network
What is the hardware is needed for a computer to connect to LAN?
Wireless Access Point
Routers
Switches
Network Interface Card
Transmission media
What tasks are performed by a Wireless Access Point?
Allows other devices to connect to a network using standards such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
What tasks are performed by a Router?
It receives data packets and uses the IP address in the packet header to determine the best route to transfer data
What tasks are performed by a Switch?
Receives a data packet from a node and reads the destination address in the packet header and forwards packet directly to destination