Computer Network Types

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:

o LAN(Local Area Network)

o PAN(Personal Area Network)
o MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)
o 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:

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

HOME NETWORK :

There are many reasons to establish a home network. Here are just a few of the things home
networking allows you to do:

 Connect to the Internet from multiple computers, game systems, mobile devices, and
more.
 Access files and folders on all devices connected to the network.
 Print from multiple computers on a single printer.
 Manage security settings for all networked devices in one place.
If you’re ready to try home networking, read below to find out what you’ll need to get started
and to see the options available for your network.

o 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:

Following are the advantages of the Wide Area Network:

o 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.
o Centralized data: In case of WAN network, data is centralized. Therefore, we do not need
to buy the emails, files or back up servers.
 o Get updated files: Software companies work on the live server. Therefore, the
programmers get the updated files within seconds.
o Exchange messages: In a WAN network, messages are transmitted fast. The web
application like Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype allows you to communicate with friends.
o Sharing of software and resources: In WAN network, we can share the software and
other resources like a hard drive, RAM.
o Global business: We can do the business over the internet globally.
o 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:

The following are the disadvantages of the Wide Area Network:

o 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.
o 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.
o High Setup cost: An installation cost of the WAN network is high as it involves the
purchasing of routers, switches.
o Troubleshooting problems: It covers a large area so fixing the problem is difficult.
NETWORK DEVICES
Definition:
Network devices, or networking hardware, are physical devices that are required for
communication and interaction between hardware on a computer network.

Types Of Network Devices:

Here is the common network device list:
Hub.
Switch.
Router.
Bridge.
Gateway.
Modem.
Repeater.
Access Point.

 Hub

Hubs connect multiple computer networking devices together. A hub also acts as a repeater in that it
amplifies signals that deteriorate after traveling long distances over connecting cables. A hub is the simplest
in the family of network connecting devices because it connects LAN components with identical protocols.
A hub can be used with both digital and analog data, provided its settings have been configured to prepare
for the formatting of the incoming data. For example, if the incoming data is in digital format, the hub must
pass it on as packets; however, if the incoming data is analog, then the hub passes it on in signal form.

Hubs do not perform packet filtering or addressing functions; they just send data packets to all connected
devices. Hubs operate at the Physical layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.

Types of Hubs
 Active Hub: - These are the hubs that have their own power supply and can clean, boost, and
relay the signal along with the network. It serves both as a repeater as well as a wiring center.
These are used to extend the maximum distance between nodes.
 Passive Hub: - These are the hubs that collect wiring from nodes and power supply from the
active hub. These hubs relay signals onto the network without cleaning and boosting them
and can’t be used to extend the distance between nodes.
 Intelligent Hub: - It works like active hubs and includes remote management capabilities.
They also provide flexible data rates to network devices. It also enables an administrator to
monitor the traffic passing through the hub and to configure each port in the hub.
3. Bridge – A bridge operates at the data link layer. A bridge is a repeater, with add on the functionality
of filtering content by reading the MAC addresses of source and destination. It is also used for
interconnecting two LANs working on the same protocol. It has a single input and single output port,
thus making it a 2-port device.

 Switch

Switches generally have a more intelligent role than hubs. A switch is a multiport device that improves
network efficiency. The switch maintains limited routing information about nodes in the internal network,
and it allows connections to systems like hubs or routers. Strands of LANs are usually connected using
switches. Generally, switches can read the hardware addresses of incoming packets to transmit them to the
appropriate destination.
Using switches improves network efficiency over hubs or routers because of the virtual circuit capability.
Switches also improve network security because the virtual circuits are more difficult to examine with
network monitors. You can think of a switch as a device that has some of the best capabilities of routers
and hubs combined. A switch can work at either the Data Link layer or the Network layer of the OSI model.
A multilayer switch is one that can operate at both layers, which means that it can operate as both a switch
and a router. A multilayer switch is a high-performance device that supports the same routing protocols as
routers.

Switches can be subject to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks; flood guards are used to prevent
malicious traffic from bringing the switch to a halt. Switch port security is important so be sure to secure
switches: Disable all unused ports and use DHCP snooping, ARP inspection and MAC address filtering.

 Router

Routers help transmit packets to their destinations by charting a path through the sea of interconnected
networking devices using different network topologies. Routers are intelligent devices, and they store
information about the networks they’re connected to. Most routers can be configured to operate as packet-
filtering firewalls and use access control lists (ACLs). Routers, in conjunction with a channel service
unit/data service unit (CSU/DSU), are also used to translate from LAN framing to WAN framing. This is
needed because LANs and WANs use different network protocols. Such routers are known as border
routers. They serve as the outside connection of a LAN to a WAN, and they operate at the border of your
network.

Router are also used to divide internal networks into two or more subnetworks. Routers can also be
connected internally to other routers, creating zones that operate independently. Routers establish
communication by maintaining tables about destinations and local connections. A router contains
information about the systems connected to it and where to send requests if the destination isn’t known.
Routers usually communicate routing and other information using one of three standard protocols: Routing
Information Protocol (RIP), Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) or Open Shortest Path First (OSPF).
Routers are your first line of defense, and they must be configured to pass only traffic that is authorized by
network administrators. The routes themselves can be configured as static or dynamic. If they are static,
they can only be configured manually and stay that way until changed. If they are dynamic, they learn of
other routers around them and use information about those routers to build their routing tables. Routers
normally work at the Network layer of the OSI model.

 Bridge

Bridges are used to connect two or more hosts or network segments together. The basic role of bridges in
network architecture is storing and forwarding frames between the different segments that the bridge
connects. They use hardware Media Access Control (MAC) addresses for transferring frames. By looking
at the MAC address of the devices connected to each segment, bridges can forward the data or block it from
crossing. Bridges can also be used to connect two physical LANs into a larger logical LAN.

Bridges work only at the Physical and Data Link layers of the OSI model. Bridges are used to divide larger
networks into smaller sections by sitting between two physical network segments and managing the flow
of data between the two.

Types of Bridges
 Transparent Bridges: - These are the bridge in which the stations are completely unaware
of the bridge’s existence i.e., whether or not a bridge is added or deleted from the network,
reconfiguration of the stations is unnecessary. These bridges make use of two processes i.e.
bridge forwarding and bridge learning.
 Source Routing Bridges: - In these bridges, routing operation is performed by the source
station and the frame specifies which route to follow. The host can discover the frame by
sending a special frame called the discovery frame, which spreads through the entire network
using all possible paths to the destination.

 Gateway

Gateways normally work at the Transport and Session layers of the OSI model. At the Transport layer and
above, there are numerous protocols and standards from different vendors; gateways are used to deal with
them. Gateways provide translation between networking technologies such as Open System Interconnection
(OSI) and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Because of this, gateways connect
two or more autonomous networks, each with its own routing algorithms, protocols, topology, domain name
service, and network administration procedures and policies.
Gateways perform all of the functions of routers and more. In fact, a router with added translation
functionality is a gateway. The function that does the translation between different network technologies is
called a protocol converter.

 Modem

Modems (modulators-demodulators) are used to transmit digital signals over analog telephone lines. Thus,
digital signals are converted by the modem into analog signals of different frequencies and transmitted to a
modem at the receiving location. The receiving modem performs the reverse transformation and provides
a digital output to a device connected to a modem, usually a computer. The digital data is usually transferred
to or from the modem over a serial line through an industry standard interface, RS-232. Many telephone
companies offer DSL services, and many cable operators use modems as end terminals for identification

and recognition of home and personal users.

 Repeater

A repeater is an electronic device that amplifies the signal it receives. You can think of repeater as a device
which receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power so that the signal can cover
longer distances, more than 100 meters for standard LAN cables. Repeaters work on the Physical layer.
  Access Point

While an access point (AP) can technically involve either a wired or wireless connection, it commonly
means a wireless device. An AP works at the second OSI layer, the Data Link layer, and it can operate
either as a bridge connecting a standard wired network to wireless devices or as a router passing data
transmissions from one access point to another.

Wireless access points (WAPs) consist of a transmitter and receiver (transceiver) device used to create a
wireless LAN (WLAN). Access points typically are separate network devices with a built-in antenna,
transmitter and adapter. APs use the wireless infrastructure network mode to provide a connection point
between WLANs and a wired Ethernet LAN. They also have several ports, giving you a way to expand the
network to support additional clients. Depending on the size of the network, one or more APs might be
required to provide full coverage. Additional APs are used to allow access to more wireless clients and to
expand the range of the wireless network. Each AP is limited by its transmission range — the distance a
client can be from an AP and still obtain a usable signal and data process speed. The actual distance depends
on the wireless standard, the obstructions and environmental conditions between the client and the AP.
Higher end APs have high-powered antennas, enabling them to extend how far the wireless signal can
travel.

Conclusion

Having a solid understanding of the types of network devices available can help you design and built a
network that is secure and serves your organization well. However, to ensure the ongoing security and
availability of your network, you should carefully monitor your network devices and activity around them,
so you can quickly spot hardware issues, configuration issues and attacks.
REFERENCE

 www.geeksforgeeks.com
 www.elprocus.com
 www.tutorial.com
 JAVA POINT ( WEBSITE )
https://www.javatpoint.com/types-of-computer-network
 HOWSTUFFWORKS (WEBSITE)
https://computer.howstuffworks.com/home-network.htm