What Is Networking?

Networking is a term used for the process of connecting printers, computers and other nodes in a manner that would allow the individuals using the computers to communicate with one another easily. In this age of growing technology, the individuals need to communicate with one another from different locations and this is why there is a need for the development of networks. Networking allows the individuals to communicate, transfer files, share printers, fax machines and many other nodes on a network.

A network is meant to be a design of a number of computers connected together in a manner where the essence of sharing resources would be available and the computers would also be able to communicate and interact with one another as any human would do with another. What Is A Network? “In its simplest form, a network is at least two computers — desktops, laptops or one of each — connected together with wireless or wired technologies. That's it. ” (Motorola, Inc.

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, 2009 ) This means that any two computers when connected together are known to be a network.

The connection of course should allow the computers to communicate and share each others resources in an effective manner. This is the basic concept of a network and this is why a network is built in many companies and businesses. A network allows the businesses to save on the resources required and would just need to hire one resource for a number of people. For example, in any company there would be several computers, each for one employee, however, all these employees would be connected to a single printer and this would allow a lower cost.

Why Do We Need A Network? “Proponents view this trend toward in-network computing as the ultimate form of convergence: the network function is more holistically integrated with the application, particularly where QoS requirements exist. Others see this trend as a mechanism to move to a service-oriented architecture, where applications are expressed in terms of functional catalogs and network functions are seen as addressable, executable blocks.

” (Minoli, 2006 ) A network is required for the need of effective and efficient communication and this can be achieved only if various employees or individuals work together in a manner that would allow the quality to be achieved in the work being completed and this would mean that networks are important for any company to satisfy its customers. The only way customer can be satisfied is by being served faster and with the correct information. There are three aspects of differentiating a network from another. The three aspects could be: 1. Topology: The geometric arrangement of a computer system.

Common topologies include a bus, star, and ring. 2. Protocol: The protocol defines a common set of rules and signals that computers on the network use to communicate. One of the most popular protocols for LANs is called Ethernet. Another popular LAN protocol for PCs is the IBM token-ring network. 3. Architecture: Networks can be broadly classified as using either a peer-to-peer or client/server architecture. What Are The Components Of A Network? The best way of understanding the components of a network is by the following picture: (RUPP, 2008 )

The basic components of any network include computers, switches, hubs, routers and servers. Every network must have computers which would be connected to a centralized location which would be the server. The server would handle all the computing and the message handling of various kinds. The servers would involve the daily transactions or the heavy load transactions of any company. Then there is the concept of switches and hubs that act as connectors between networks and this is the main concept of a router as well. These connectors allow the computers to communicate across networks.

What Are The Basic Terminologies Of A Network? There are several terminologies of a network, however, the basic ones are: 1. Ping – Ping is an acronym for Packet Internet Groper and it is used to check if a host exists on the TCP/IP network. When you ping a host you are actually sending out a message asking for a reply. A successful reply from the host will be acknowledged on the sending computer. 2. Ipconfig – Ipconfig is an acronym for IP Configuration and is primarily used to display local TCP/IP configuration data for a client machine.

It also has additional features like the ability to Release or Renew a DHCP server obtained address. 3. Tracert – Tracert is an acronym for Trace Route. It allows you to trace the connectivity path a packet uses to go from the source computer to the destination computer. 4. Nslookup – “Nslookup is the name of a program that lets an Internet server administrator or any computer user enter a host name (for example, "whatis. com") and find out the corresponding IP address. It will also do reverse name lookup and find the host name for an IP address you specify.

” (Whatis, 2009 ) Demonstrate and Explain the Concepts within Nslookup The basic concept of nslookup is to allow any computer across any network to find a computer on another network by typing in the domain name and then the result would show a corresponding IP address. However, the one distinguishing factor of nslookup is that when it is used, the option would first try to look for the domain name within the internal network of the user. If the results would not be found, then the search would be conducted for the external network.

The results from the external network are given as a non-authoritative answer while the internal network search is given before it with the fields of server and address. An example has been given below. Do “Nslookup” On DWC’s And Etisalat’s Network. What Are The Results? What Is “Reverse IP Lookup”? Just as the nslookup allows the user to search for the IP address of another by using the domain name, the same can be done in a reverse manner. This is known as the reverse IP lookup. The reverse IP lookup allows the user to know which domain is currently using a particular IP address.