INTRODUCTION:

In the world of computers, networking is the practice of linking

two or more computing devices together for the purpose of
sharing data. Networks are built with a mix of computer hardware
and computer software.

A computer network allows sharing of resources and information

among interconnected devices. In the 1960s, the Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA) started funding the design of
the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) for
the United States Department of Defense. It was the first
computer network in the world. Development of the network
began in 1969, based on designs developed during the 1960s.

Purpose
Computer networks can be used for a variety of purposes:

• Facilitating communications. Using a network, people can

communicate efficiently and easily via email, instant
messaging, chat rooms, telephone, video telephone calls,
and video conferencing.
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 • Sharing hardware. In a networked environment, each
computer on a network may access and use hardware
resources on the network, such as printing a document on a
shared network printer.
• Sharing files, data, and information. In a network
environment, authorized user may access data and
information stored on other computers on the network. The
capability of providing access to data and information on
shared storage devices is an important feature of many
networks.
• Sharing software. Users connected to a network may run
application programs on remote computers.
• Information preservation.
• Security.
• Speed up.

Types of networking:
Networking can be categorized in three different ways.
a> Internet
b> Intranet
c> Extranet

Internet:
Internet is nothing but the connection of two or more numbers of
computers having in two different network. Internet is a short
form of the technical term "internetwork",the result of
interconnecting computer networks with special gateways
(routers). The Internet is also often referred to as the Net.

The term the Internet, when referring to the entire global system
of IP networks, has traditionally been treated as a proper noun

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and written with an initial capital letter. In the media and popular
culture a trend has developed to regard it as a generic term or
common noun and thus write it as "the internet", without
capitalization.

Depiction of the Internet as a cloud in network diagrams

The terms Internet and World Wide Web are often used in
everyday speech without much distinction. However, the Internet
and the World Wide Web are not one and the same. The Internet
is a global data communications system. It is a hardware and
software infrastructure that provides connectivity between
computers. In contrast, the Web is one of the services
communicated via the Internet. It is a collection of interconnected
documents and other resources, linked by hyperlinks and URLs.

In many technical illustrations when the precise location or

interrelation of Internet resources is not important, extended
networks such as the Internet are often depicted as a cloud.[3] The

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verbal image has been formalized in the newer concept of cloud
computing.

Intranet:
An intranet is a private computer network that uses Internet
Protocol technologies to securely share any part of an
organization's information or network operating system within
that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a
network between organizations, and instead refers to a network
within an organization. Sometimes the term refers only to the
organization's internal website, but may be a more extensive part
of the organization's information technology infrastructure. It may
host multiple private websites and constitute an important
component and focal point of internal communication and
collaboration.

So simply we can say that intranet is nothing but the connection

of two or more than two computers having in a same network or
i.e. private network.

Extranet:
An extranet is a computer network that allows controlled access
from the outside, for specific business or educational purposes.
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An extranet can be viewed as an extension of a company's
intranet that is extended to users outside the company, usually
partners, vendors, and suppliers. It has also been described as a
"state of mind" in which the Internet is perceived as a way to do
business with a selected set of other companies (business-to-
business, B2B), in isolation from all other Internet users. In
contrast, business-to-consumer (B2C) models involve known
servers of one or more companies, communicating with
previously unknown consumer users. An intranet is like a DMZ in
that it provides access to needed services for channel partners,
without granting access to an organization's entire network.

[ Diagram of an Extranet ]

Classification of Network:
A network can be broadly classified in two ways.
a> Geographically
b> Topologically

Geographical:
Graphically the network is of three types.
1> LAN [ Local Area Network ]
2> MAN [ Metropolitan Area Network ]
3> WAN [ Wide Area Network ]
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Local Area Network:
A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that
connects computers and devices in a limited geographical area
such as home, school, computer laboratory or office building. The
defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to wide area networks
(WANs), include their usually higher data-transfer rates, smaller
geographic area, and lack of a need for leased telecommunication
lines.

ARCNET, Token Ring and other technologies have been used in

the past, but Ethernet over twisted pair cabling, and Wi-Fi are the
two most common technologies currently in use.

[ Network Diagram for Local Area Network ]

Switched Ethernet is the most common Data Link Layer and

Physical Layer implementation for local area networks. At the
higher layers, the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) has become the
standard. Smaller LANs generally consist of one or more switches
linked to each other, often at least one is connected to a router,
cable modem, or ADSL modem for Internet access.
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Larger LANs are characterized by their use of redundant links with
switches using the spanning tree protocol to prevent loops, their
ability to manage differing traffic types via quality of service
(QoS), and to segregate traffic with VLANs. Larger LANs also
contain a wide variety of network devices such as switches,
firewalls, routers, load balancers, and sensors.

LANs may have connections with other LANs via leased lines,
leased services, or by tunneling across the Internet using virtual
private network technologies.

Metropolitan Area Network:

A MAN is optimized for a larger geographical area than a LAN,
ranging from several blocks of buildings to entire cities. MANs can
also depend on communications channels of moderate-to-high
data rates. A MAN might be owned and operated by a single
organization, but it usually will be used by many individuals and
organizations. MANs might also be owned and operated as public
utilities. They will often provide means for internetworking of local
networks

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 [ Diagram of Metropolitan Area Network ]

Wide Area Network:

A wide area network (WAN) is a computer network that covers
a broad area (i.e., any network whose communications links cross
metropolitan, regional, or national boundaries). This is in contrast
with personal area networks (PANs), local area networks (LANs),
campus area networks (CANs), or metropolitan area networks
(MANs) which are usually limited to a room, building, campus or
specific metropolitan area (e.g., a city) respectively.

WANs are used to connect LANs and other types of networks

together, so that users and computers in one location can
communicate with users and computers in other locations. Many
WANs are built for one particular organization and are private.
Others, built by Internet service providers, provide connections
from an organization's LAN to the Internet. WANs are often built
using leased lines. At each end of the leased line, a router
connects to the LAN on one side and a hub within the WAN on the
other. Leased lines can be very expensive.

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 [ Diagram of a Wide area network ]

Topologically:
Think of a topology as a network's virtual shape or structure. This
shape does not necessarily correspond to the actual physical
layout of the devices on the network. For example, the computers
on a home LAN may be arranged in a circle in a family room, but
it would be highly unlikely to find a ring topology there.

Network topologies are categorized into the following basic types:

• bus
• ring
• star
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 • tree
• mesh

More complex networks can be built as hybrids of two or more of

the above basic topologies.

Bus Topology:
Bus networks (not to be confused with the system bus of a
computer) use a common backbone to connect all devices. A
single cable, the backbone functions as a shared communication
medium that devices attach or tap into with an interface
connector. A device wanting to communicate with another device
on the network sends a broadcast message onto the wire that all
other devices see, but only the intended recipient actually
accepts and processes the message.

[ Diagram of Bus Topology ]

Ethernet bus topologies are relatively easy to install and don't

require much cabling compared to the alternatives. 10Base-2
("ThinNet") and 10Base-5 ("ThickNet") both were popular Ethernet
cabling options many years ago for bus topologies. However, bus
networks work best with a limited number of devices. If more than
a few dozen computers are added to a network bus, performance
problems will likely result. In addition, if the backbone cable fails,
the entire network effectively becomes unusable.

Ring Topology:
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In a ring network, every device has exactly two neighbors for
communication purposes. All messages travel through a ring in
the same direction (either "clockwise" or "counterclockwise"). A
failure in any cable or device breaks the loop and can take down
the entire network.

[ Diagram of Ring Topology]

To implement a ring network, one typically uses FDDI, SONET, or

Token Ring technology. Ring topologies are found in some office
buildings or school campuses.

Star Topology:
Many home networks use the star topology. A star network
features a central connection point called a "hub" that may be a
hub, switch or router. Devices typically connect to the hub with
Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Ethernet.

[ Diagram of Star topology ]

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Compared to the bus topology, a star network generally requires
more cable, but a failure in any star network cable will only take
down one computer's network access and not the entire LAN. (If
the hub fails, however, the entire network also fails.)

Tree Topology:
Tree topologies integrate multiple star topologies together onto a
bus. In its simplest form, only hub devices connect directly to the
tree bus, and each hub functions as the "root" of a tree of
devices. This bus/star hybrid approach supports future
expandability of the network much better than a bus (limited in
the number of devices due to the broadcast traffic it generates) or
a star (limited by the number of hub connection points) alone.

[ Diagram of Tree topology ]

Mesh Topology:
Mesh topologies involve the concept of routes. Unlike each of the
previous topologies, messages sent on a mesh network can take
any of several possible paths from source to destination. (Recall
that even in a ring, although two cable paths exist, messages can
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only travel in one direction.) Some WANs, most notably the
Internet, employ mesh routing.

[ Diagram of Mesh Topology ]

A mesh network in which every device connects to every other is

called a full mesh. As shown in the illustration below, partial mesh
networks also exist in which some devices connect only indirectly
to others.

Case Study of the Companies:

Computer networking or Data communications (Datacom) is
the engineering discipline concerned with the communication
between computer systems or devices. A computer network is
any set of computers or devices connected to each other with the
ability to exchange data. Computer networking is sometimes
considered a sub-discipline of telecommunications, computer
science, information technology and/or computer engineering
since it relies heavily upon the theoretical and practical
application of these scientific and engineering disciplines. The

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three types of networks are: the Internet, the intranet, and the
extranet.

Following are the ways how an organization can be benefited by

networking.

 File sharing
 Printer sharing
 Communication and collaboration
 Organization
 Remote access
 Data Protection

So it depends up on the organization that which

type of work they want to perform over their
network.

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