What is Network?

• In General: Interact with others to exchange information.

• In Computer networks: A network is a group of two or more computer systems linked together to communicate each other.

There are many types of Computer Networks

Local-area networks (LAN) : The computers are geographically close together .

Wide-area networks (WAN) : The computers are farther apart and are connected by telephone lines or radio waves.

Metropolitan-area networks (MAN): A data network designed for a town or city.

Before we go into this detailed tutorial, we've to know few things here. They are:

Topology: The geometric arrangement of a computer system. Common topologies include a bus, star, and ring

Protocol: The protocol defines a common set of rules and signals that computers on the network use to communicate. One of the most popular protocols for LANs is called Ethernet. Another popular LAN protocol for PCs is the IBM token-ring network 

Architecture: Networks can be broadly classified as using either a peer-to-peer or client/server architecture.

Computers on a network are sometimes called nodes. Computers and devices that allocate resources for a network are called servers.