How Does a Computer Network Work

The first computer network was setup by ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) known as ARPANET in the late 1960s. A computer network is an interconnection of many computers with the help of some network components. There are many types of networks, classified as per the geographical location of the computers and the network components. The type of connection used for connecting the computers and the network components used, decides the type of the computer network. Let us understand how does a computer network work.

Network Components in Computer Network
The network components used to connect the computers together are as follows:

• Network Interface Cards (NIC)
• Hubs
• Bridges
• Repeaters
• Switches

Types and Working of Computer Networking
Let us take a brief account of how does a computer network work, according to the classification of computer network types.

Geographical Location

LAN (Local Area Network)
A local area network LAN has computers interconnected along with some other resources, like, printers, modems, floppy disks and hard disks. LAN is restricted to a building or an office or can be a residential network connecting the computers and resources to each other. With the help of computer network in LAN, the above stated resources can be accessed and shared by all the computers in the network. The computer that manages and offers these resources is called a server computer.

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network
The metropolitan area network is spread over an area with a diameter varying from 5 to 50 km. MAN is not owned by a single organization, instead it is an interconnection of many LANs. The metropolitan area network has many applications and can form many networks, like, the banking network, military network, stock brokers network and airline reservation network. These networks require a lease line that is to be taken from a telephone company. The speed of the data line varies from 2 Mbps to 600 Mbps. Some MAN networks support the Internet Protocol (IP) and are called Network Service Providers (NSP). The network service provider is the backbone of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) as it connects all the ISPs. Usually, the internet is accessed from an internet service provider.

WAN (Wide Area Network)
The wide area network connects all the metropolitan area networks (MAN). The wide area network is a larger version of the local area network (LAN). Internet is an example of the wide area network.

GAN (Global Area Network)
The global area network comprises all the wireless LANs and satellite communication. The example of global area network is broadband global area network (BGAN) which connects all the broadband wireless voice and data communication on the earth.

Connection Types

Wired Computer Network
Twisted pair wires, coaxial cables and fiber optic cables are used to connect the computers and other network components together. Twisted pair wire is a telephone wire which is used to connect the computers. Coaxial cables are the wires of the cable TV network used to connect the internet and in turn to the computer network. In fiber optic technology, voice and data is transmitted in the form of light.

Wireless Computer Network
The wireless computer network uses the wireless technologies, like, satellite communication, wireless LAN and bluetooth. The satellite uses microwaves to communicate the data and information over the network. Wireless LAN requires a router and a network adapter. To know more about the working of wireless LAN, you can refer to 'How does a wireless network work'.

These were the types of computer networks and the answer to your query of how does a computer network work. The working of the computer network depends on the size of the network and the type of connection used.