Unit 4 Networks

• Advantages of networking


  • Users can share files
  • Users can share peripherals: printers and connections to other networks
  • Users can access thir files from any computer on the network.
  • Servers can control security
• What is a LAN?


  It covers a small geographical area located on a single site
• Who owns the hardware for the LAN?


  All the hardware for a LAN is owned by the organisation using it.
• What is a WAN?


  covers a large geographical areas, connecting LANs together.
• WAN

  • Infrastructure between the LANs us leased from telecommunication companies who own and manage it
  • WANs are connected with telephone lines, fibre optic cables or satelite links
• Disadvantages of networking


  • Increased security risks to data
  • Malware and viruses sporead very easily between computers
  • If a server fails, the computers connected to it may not work
  • The computer may run more slowly if there is a lot of data travelling on its own.