Ben Bradbury

P1 Explain how networks communicate.

Network Fact Sheet

Network sizes identified and explained.

PAN PAN stands for personal are network. This means how documents are transmitted
between devices, such as computers, mobile devices and personal digital
assistants. These can be transmitted through a wireless connection and a wired
connection.
LAN LAN stands for local area network. LAN is a computer network that most people
have within their homes, it is also used within schools and most work places such
as offices. It is used in these places as it interconnects computers and other
devices within the limited area. LAN is the use of Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
MAN MAN stands for metropolitan area network. A MAN is a network that is bigger
than a LAN but not as big as WAN, it covers a couple of streets or up to the size
of a city or town. Metropolitan area networks provide LANs the internet
connectivity that they need and they are responsible for connecting them with
WAN such as the internet.
WAN WAN stands for wide area network. This means that it is a network that covers a
large area such as; national, regional, metropolitan or international. This type of
network is mainly used by the government and businesses to get information out
to the employees across the country or the world. The internet can also be
considered as a wide area network.

5 Network topologies – drawn and explained

Topology diagram Explanation

1. This type of topology is known as star topology.
This is the most common of all types of
topology of networks. As each device is isolated
and links to the central hub individually, when
connecting devices or removing them, it does
not disrupt the services. However this is limited
to the amount that can be connected at any
one point in time. Star topology has one of the
best performances of any type of network as
each device is linked separately and does not
affect other devices.

PAN
This type of topology is known as bus typology,
this is used within local area networking (LAN).
Each node within this topology is linked with an
individual cable. This is the most common as it
is also the simplest to set up. To prevent signals
bouncing back and forth, the cable has a
terminator on each end. This is the best choice
for people that set up temporary networks as it
is very easy to install. Even though it has many
positives, it also has many negatives, such as if
the central cable gets damaged, the whole
network will stop working. If the cable is linked
with many pieces of hardware, it could cause
the connection to be very slow.
LAN
Ben Bradbury
This type of topology is known as fully
connected network topology. Every pair of
nodes is connected with every other pair of
nodes within this network, this is similar to
mesh network topology but everything is
connected. This can be very expensive to install
and set up. However this will make it very
reliable as it covers a large area and therefore
M can sustain high traffic.
AN

This type of topology is known as Mesh network

topology. Each node within a network is linked
with at least two other nodes, however they
can be linked with a minimum of two but there
is no maximum. This means that there is no
real pattern to mesh network topology and can
seem to be any shape. Fully connected mesh
network topology is also known as fully
connected network topology.

WAN
This type of network topology is known as ring
network topology. This type of topology is
where each node connects to exactly two other
nodes, no more, no less. This forms a
“continuous pathway” for the signals to pass
through. Any information that is sent out, it will
be handled by each node that it passes through
individually. This is used within LAN when it is
connected with a closed loop configuration.

LAN

What is…? And what does it do…?

A A workstation is simply a desktop computer terminal in which it

workstation is a lot more powerful than a personal computer due to the way
that it is typically networked.
A Network A network card or network interface card (NIC) is a circuit board
Card that allows a computer to be connected to a network. This will
allow the use of internet and allowing the possible transmission
of any data through a network.
Ethernet Ethernet is a system that connects computers or other devices,
such as game consoles. This forms a LAN (Local Area Network)
that helps control the information that is being transmitted
efficiently and effectively.
Ben Bradbury

Interconnection devices…what are they and what do they do?

Device Image What it does

A A repeater is a device that receives
Repeate a transmission and then
r retransmits it at a higher level,
and therefore allowing it to travel
across longer distances. For
example “telephone pole” or
pylons transmits phone calls.
Broadcast relay stations are
responsible for retransmitting
radio and television.
A Hub A hub is a common network
connection point within a LAN
network. These are usually
connected with Ethernet cables
and data is transmitted and seen
through all ports.

A This device connects different

Network devices together within a
Switch computer network. It uses a type
of packet switching to transmit the
data between devices.
A A network router is a very common
Network piece of hardware and is use
Router within most households. It
transmits packets of data between
computer networks and is
responsible for a household having
an internet connection.

A A network bridge is responsible for

Network connecting networks to allow
Bridge communication. This can be either
software or hardware. When a
business or a household had
separate networks but wishes to
share files across them, they
usually have a network bridge to
allow them to do this.