THE BEGINNING

OF NETWORK

OF NETWORKS

By:

Group 2

WHAT IS NETWORK?

A collection of computers, servers, mainframes, network devices, peripherals, or other devices connected to one another allowing for data to be shared and used. A great example of a network is the Internet, connecting millions of people all over the world together.

HISTORY OF NETWORK

A computer network, or simply a network, is a collection of computers and other hardware components interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information. Today, computer networks are the core of modern communication. All modern aspects of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) are computer-controlled. Telephony increasingly runs over the Internet Protocol, although not necessarily the public Internet.

The scope of communication has increased significantly in the past decade. This boom in communications would not have been possible without the progressively advancing computer network. Computer networks, and the technologies that make communication between networked computers possible, continue to drive computer hardware, software, and peripherals industries. The expansion of related industries is mirrored by growth in the numbers and types of people using networks, from the researcher to the home user.

THE FOLLOWING IS A CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT COMPUTER NETWORK DEVELOPMENTS:

In the late 1950s, early networks of communicating computers included the military radar system Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE).

In 1960, the commercial airline reservation system semi-automatic business research environment (SABRE) went online with two connected mainframes.

In 1962, J.C.R. Licklider developed a working group he called the "Intergalactic Computer Network", a precursor to the ARPANET, at the Advanced Research Projects Agency(ARPA).

In 1964, researchers at Dartmouth developed the Dartmouth Time Sharing System for distributed users of large computer systems. The same year, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a research group supported by General Electric and Bell Labs used a computer to route and manage telephone connections.

Throughout the 1960s, Leonard Kleinrock, Paul Baran, and Donald Davies independently developed network systems that used packets to transfer information between computers over a network.

In 1965, Thomas Marill and Lawrence G. Roberts created the first wide area network (WAN). This was an immediate precursor to the ARPANET, of which Roberts became program manager.

Also in 1965, the first widely used telephone switch that implemented true computer control was introduced by Western Electric.

In 1969, the University of California at Los Angeles, the Stanford Research Institute, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah were connected as the beginning of the ARPANET network using 50 kbit/s circuits.[2]

In 1972, commercial services using X.25 were deployed, and later used as an underlying infrastructure for expanding TCP/IP networks.

In 1973, Robert Metcalfe wrote a formal memo at Xerox PARC describing Ethernet, a networking system that was based on the Aloha network, developed in the 1960s byNorman Abramson and colleagues at the University of Hawaii. In July 1976, Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs published their paper "Ethernet: Distributed Packet Switching for Local Computer Networks"[3] and collaborated on several patents received in 1977 and 1978. In 1979, Robert Metcalfe pursued making Ethernet an open standard.[4]

In 1976, John Murphy of Datapoint Corporation created ARCNET, a token-passing network first used to share storage devices.

In 1995, the transmission speed capacity for Ethernet was increased from 10 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s. By 1998, Ethernet supported transmission speeds of a Gigabit. The ability of Ethernet to scale easily (such as quickly adapting to support new fiber optic cable speeds) is a contributing factor to its continued use today.

USE OF NETWORKS

All networks offer advantages relative to using a standalone computer—that is, a computer that is not connected to other computers and that uses programs and data stored on its local disks. Most importantly, networks enable multiple users to share devices (for example, printers) and data (for example, spreadsheet programs and files), which are collectively known as the network’s resources. Sharing devices saves money. Another advantage to networks is that they allow you to manage, or administer, resources on multiple computers from a central location.

TYPES OF NETWORKS

Computers can be positioned on a network in different ways relative to each other. They can have different levels of control over shared resources.

PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS

The simplest form of a network is a peer-to-peer network. In a peer-to-peer network, every computer can communicate directly with every other computer. By default, no computer on a peer-to-peer network has more authority than another.

The primary advantage to peer-to-peer networks is that they can be simple to configure. However, peer-to-peer networks are not very flexible. As a peer-to-peer network grows larger, adding or changing significant elements of the network may be difficult. Peer-to-peer networks are also not necessarily secure. A common way to share resources on a peer-to-peer network is by modifying the file-sharing controls via the computer’s operating system. The general consensus is that peer-to-peer networks are practical for up to 10 users.

CLIENT/SERVER NETWORKS

Another way of designing a network is to use a central computer, known as a server, to facilitate communication and resource sharing between other computers on the network, which are known as clients. Clients usually take the form of desktop computers, also known as workstations. A network that uses a server to enable clients to share data, data storage space, and devices is known as a client/server network.

To function as a server, a computer must be running a network operating system (NOS), a special type of software designed to manage data and other resources for a number of clients.

LANS, MANS, AND WAN NETWORKS

A local area network (LAN) is a network of computers and other devices that is confined to a relatively small space, such as one building or even one office. Small LANs first became popular in the early 1980s. Networks may extend beyond the boundaries of a building. A network that is larger than a LAN and connects clients and servers from multiple buildings—for example, a handful of government offices surrounding a state capitol—is known as a metropolitan area network (MAN).

A network that connects two or more geographically distinct LANs or MANs is called a wide area network (WAN). WANs commonly connect separate offices in the same organization, whether they are across town or across the world from each other. The largest and most varied WAN in the world is the Internet.

ELEMENTS COMMON TO ALL CLIENT/SERVER NETWORKS

The following list provides a more complete rundown of basic elements common to all client/server networks.

Client Server

Workstation Network interface card (NIC)

Network operating system (NOS) Host

Node Topology

Connectivity device Protocol

Data packet Addressing

Transmission media

HOW NETWORKS ARE USED

The functions provided by a network are usually referred to as network services. Printer sharing, file sharing, Internet access, remote access capabilities, and management services are all critical business functions provided through networks.

FILE AND PRINT SERVICES

File services refer to the capability of a server to share data files, applications and disk storage space. A server that provides file services is called a file server. Using print services to share printers across a network also saves time and money. A high-capacity printer can cost thousands of dollars, but can handle the printing tasks of an entire department, thereby eliminating the need to buy a desktop printer for each worker.

COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES

A network’s communications services allow remote users to connect to the network. (The term remote user refers to a person working on a computer in a different geographical location from the LAN’s server.) Network operating systems such as Windows Server 2003 and NetWare include built-in communications services. These services enable users to dial into an access server, or the server running these communications services, log on to the network and take advantage of any network features, just as if they were logged via a workstation on the office LAN. An access server may also be known as a communications server or a remote access server.

MAIL SERVICES

Mail services coordinate the storage and transfer of e-mail between users on a network. The computer responsible for mail services is called a mail server.

INTERNET SERVICES

A web server is a computer installed with the appropriate software to supply Web pages to many different clients upon demand. Supplying Web pages is only one type of Internet service. Other Internet services include file transfer capabilities, Internet addressing schemes, security filters, and a means for directly logging on to other computers on the Internet.

MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Network management services centrally administer management tasks on the network, such as making sure that no more than 20 workstations are using Adobe Photoshop at one time in an organization that purchased a 20-user license for the software. Numerous services fall under the category of network management. Some of the more important ones are listed in the text.

REFERENCES

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/n/netw

ork.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_networ

k#History

http://network-communications.blogspot.com

/2011/05/use-of-networks.html

THAT’S THE ENDOF OURREPORT!

Thank You&

God Bless!!!