What Is a Network?2-3Overview of NetworkingWhat Is a Network?Simply put, a Local Area Network, or LAN, is a number of related computers andelectronic devices which share information over a transmission media. This canbe as simple as a series of electronic cash registers which send updates ofproducts sold during the course of the day to an inventory computer or ascomplex as a network spanning an entire corporate facility or University campus,providing high-powered communication services for hundreds of applicationsand the swapping of thousands of files each day.The Classification of NetworksWhile all networks are different, they all have a number of common definingcharacteristics which serve to illustrate the type of network being discussed orexamined. The most important characteristics for the purposes of this guide aretopology, technology, media, and devices.For the purposes of explanation, this chapter of the Networking Guide uses onecohesive metaphor to describe the portions of a network, the “meetingmetaphor.” In the sections which follow, the topologies, technologies, and devicesof networks will be viewed as aspects of a business or public meeting. By viewingthe various facets of a network as parts of one common process, we can describethe distinct concepts as parts of a larger overall system.
