Network: a group or system of interconnected people or things.
LAN: local area network – restricted network spanning a particular geographic location such as an office building.
Workgroup: set of devices with no security association with one another. (In the context of LANs, this means they are physically in the same network segment) – All computers work independently, no computer has control over other computers. (Peer to peer)
Domain: all computers are controlled by the network administrator. (Client server network) – Domain controller is the server that controls the computers.
Router: connects two LANs together. Allows various LAN workgroups/domains to exist for business segmentation.
Workstations: often computers that run more than one CPU and whose resources are available to other users on the network to access when needed. – client and workstation are used interchangeably, but not always true.
Host: Anything that takes an IP address.
Servers: powerful computers at the service of the network and run specialized software known as the network operation system to maintain and control the network.
- File Server
- Mail Server
- Print Server
- Web Server
- Fax Server
- Application Server
- Telephony Server
WAN: Wide area network. Networks that span large geographic areas and truly go the distance. Like the internet, WANs usually employ both routers and public links.
Multiprotocol Label Switching: define the actual layout of what is one of the most popular WAN protocols in use today. Key advantages: (First router determines path to take for packet destination, the intermediary routers just read the label and packet forward to the next router until destination)
- Physical layout flexibility
- Prioritizing of data
- Redundancy in case of link failure
- One-to-many connection
Network Topologies:
Bus: consists of 2 distinct and terminated ends, with each of its computers connecting to one unbroken cable running its entire length. (Single point of failure – cable)
Star: hub and spoke – connected to a central point with their own individual cables or wireless connections. (Central: hub or switch) – much more fault tolerant, but if switch breaks, network goes down.
Ring: each computer directly connected to each adjacent computer in network. Kind of like bus, as cable is single point of failure.
Mesh: path from every machine to every other machine – great fault tolerance, but expensive because so many cables.
Point to point: direct connection between 2 routers or switches, giving you one communication path.
Point to multi-point: consists of a succession of connections between an interface on one router and multiple destination routers
Hybrid: combination of 2 or more network topologies.
Service-Related Entry Points: clearly defined boundaries where one entity hands off a connection another. These are common when connecting to a service provider’s WAN circuit.
Virtual Networking: software-based networking. Companies such as VMware offer virtual switch tech that provides the ethernet switched and routing functions on the hypervisor, eliminating the need for external networking hardware.
Hypervisor: software that is installed directly on the bare metal server and allows for many VMs to run thinking they are using the server’s hardware directly. This allows for many servers and virtual network devices to run on a single piece of computing hardware.