A network is nothing more than two or more computers connected by a cable (or in some cases, by a wireless connection) so that they can exchange information.
Of course, computers can exchange information in other ways besides networks. Most of us have used what computer nerds call the sneakernet. That’s where you copy a file to a diskette and then walk the disk over to someone else’s computer. (The term sneakernet is typical of computer nerds’ feeble attempts at humor, and why not? As a way to transfer information, sneakernet was pretty feeble.)
The whole problem with the sneakernet is that it’s slow — plus, it wears a trail in your carpet. One day, some penny-pinching computer geeks discovered that connecting computers together with cables was actually cheaper than replacing the carpet every six months. Thus the modern computer network was born.
You can create a computer network by hooking all the computers in your office together with cables and installing a special network interface card (an electronic circuit card that goes inside your computer — ouch!) in each computer so you have a place to plug in the cable. Then you set up your computer’s operating-system software to make the network work, and — voilà — you have a working network. That’s all there is to it.
If you don’t want to mess with cables, you can create a wireless network instead. In a wireless network, each computer is equipped with a special wireless network adapter that has little rabbit-ear antennas. Thus, the computers can communicate with each other without the need for cables.
You can see that all four computers are connected with a network cable to a central network device called a hub. You can also see that Ward’s computer has a fancy laser printer attached to it. Because of the network, June, Wally, and the Beaver can also use this laser printer. (Also, you can see that the Beaver has stuck yesterday’s bubble gum to the back of his computer. Although not recommended, the bubble gum shouldn’t adversely affect the network.)
Computer networking has its own strange vocabulary. Fortunately, you don’t have to know every esoteric networking term. Here are a few basic buzzwords to get you by:
+ Networks are often called LANs. LAN is an acronym that stands for localarea network.
+ You may guess that a four-letter acronym is called an FLA. Wrong! A fourletter acronym is called an ETLA, which stands for extended three-letter acronym. (After all, it just wouldn’t be right if the acronym for four-letter acronym had only three letters.)
+ Every computer connected to the network is said to be on the network. The technical term (which you can forget) for a computer that’s on the network is a node.
+ When a computer is turned on and can access the network, the computer is said to be online. When a computer can’t access the network, it’s offline. A computer can be offline for several reasons. The computer can be turned off, the user may have disabled the network connection, the computer may be broken, the cable that connects it to the network can be unplugged, or a wad of gum can be jammed into the disk drive.
+ When a computer is turned on and working properly, it’s said to be up. When a computer is turned off, broken, or being serviced, it’s said to be down. Turning off a computer is sometimes called taking it down. Turning it back on is sometimes called bringing it up.
+ Don’t confuse local-area networks with the Internet. The Internet is a huge amalgamation of computer networks strewn about the entire planet. Networking the computers in your home or office so they can share information with one another and connecting your computer to the worldwide Internet are two entirely separate things.
