A Computer Network can make much easier one's technical capabilities if they have in their possession multiple computers and a number of various technical equipment for increasing the functioning of computers. When computers are in a network, tasks can be more effective enabling people to save both time and money. Computer networks are very comfortable not only for home or small businesses, but also for wide area networks (WAN). Another important factor is computer network security which operators should be aware of when looking at networking through a WAN.
Networking at home allows the system operator to share a single Internet connection between the whole set of computers at home. Today's wireless networking enables the computers to be connected to the network by using radio signals making wireless connections a really tempting option for many users.
Networking will also allow sharing different files, making it possible to access information from one desktop to another, sharing a printer, playing games that allow multiple users on different desktops, and sending output devices to other computers in the home.
So a computer network can be simply defined as a network, a collection of computers and devices interconnected by communications channels that facilitate communications and allows sharing of resources and information among interconnected devices. Computer networking or Data communications (Datacom) is the engineering discipline concerned with the computer networks.
The three types of networks are: the Internet, the intranet, and the extranet. Examples of different network methods are:
Local area network (LAN) is a small network limited to a small geographic area, for example, a computer network within a building.
Metropolitan area network (MAN) is used for medium size area, a city or a state.
Wide area network (WAN) is a larger network that covers a large geographic area.
Wireless LANs and WANs (WLAN & WWAN) are the wireless variants of the LAN and WAN.
Networks may be classified according to topology, connection method and scale.
Historically before the invention of computer networks previously based upon some type of telecommunications system, communication between calculation machines and early computers was realized by human users by providing certain activity “rules” between them. Many of the social behaviors seen in today's Internet were present in the 19th century and presumably in even earlier networks using visual signals.
Today, computer networks are the basis of modern communication. All modern aspects of the Public Networks (Telephone) are computer-controlled, and telephone increasingly runs over the Internet Protocol, although not necessarily the public Internet.
If you make use of Nsauditor Network Security Auditor which is representing a complete networking utilities package that includes a wide range of tools for network auditing, scanning, monitoring and more it may become a real obstacle in the way of hackers. It can also audit password and security policies as well as make a variety of network attack probes, such as stealth port scans, HTTP / CGI server auditing, registry auditing. The program can sniff and use brute-force and dictionary attacks on LM and NTLM password hashes and expose the insecure ones. All these advantages not only makes it easier to deal with different computing programs but also secures their functioning.
Computer networks can be used for a variety of purposes:
1. Facilitating communications
Using a network, people can communicate efficiently and easily via email, telephone, and video conferencing.
2. Sharing hardware
In a networked environment, each computer on a network may access and use hardware resources on the network, such as printing a document on a shared network printer.
3. Sharing files, data, and information
In a network environment, authorized user may access data and information stored on other computers on the network. The capability of providing access to data and information on shared storage devices is an important feature of many networks.
4. Sharing software
Users connected to a network may run application programs on remote computers.
The following list presents categories used for classifying networks:
- Connection method(according to the hardware and software),
- Wired technologies (Ordinary telephone wires, use of two wires twisted, etc.)
- Communications satellites(Earth-orbiting systems, satellites)
Common types of computer networks are :
A local area network (LAN) connecting computers and devices at home, school, computer laboratory, office building, etc.
A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for communication among computer and different information technological devices close to one person.
A wide area network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a large geographic area such as a city, country,etc.
A global area network (GAN) is a network used for supporting mobile communications across an indefinite number of wireless LANs, satellite coverage areas, etc.
Hackers are on alert to get access to your wireless network. Hackers have been creating a mess with many casesapplying differentmechanisms through wireless networks. So in order to prevent any kind of such unfortunate hack into your network first understand the nuances of your networking and follow measures for their security.

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Article Submited by Karine Iskandaryan