Introduction To Computer Network
2 min readJun 24, 2019
What is Computer Network?
A computer network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes) connected by communication links. A node can be a computer, printer, or any other device capable of sending or receiving data from the other node/device through the network.
Computer Network Criteria
1. Performance
2. Reliability
3. Security
Performance
It can be measured in many ways and depends on the number of factors
- No of users
- Type of transmission medium
- Response time
- Transit time
- Hardware
- Software
Reliability
This is measured by the following factors
- Frequency of failure
- The recovery time of a network after a failure.
- Catastrophe
Security
As data is being travelled from node to node through the network to reach its final destination, during that time it can be tampered or can be stolen so the security of information is the top priority.
Network security issues include protecting data from the following
- Unauthorized access
- Viruses
Advantages of Computer Network /
Uses of Computer Network
- File sharing: Fundamental goals of a computer network is to allow file sharing and remote file access.
- Server-Client model: Client-server model is a distributed application framework. The server is a master system which stores the data and provides the processing service. A client is a user system which accesses the data from the server and can perform processing in its system or in a server system.
- Resource sharing: All the resources such as printers, modems, scanners and fax machines etc can be shared by all the system in a computer network.
Disadvantages of Computer Network
- Lack of data security and privacy due to the huge number of the user accessing the internet from every corner of the earth, handling data is a challenging task and data can be stolen which violate the privacy of the user.
- Presence of computer viruses and the malware: A virus can easily spread through an interconnected workstation or over the internet which can damage or steal the data from the computer system in a computer network.
- Lack of Independence: In most cases, the client is dependent on the centralized server and client user lack any freedom whatsoever. the centralized server can make hinder in the decision making of the user system.
