About Network

At a fundamental level, a network is a collection of devices connected to each other to share resources and communicate. These are can be typically classified by size, type, and topology, and can be wired or wireless.

Local vs Large

Generally, one common distinction is that between a local area network (also known as LAN), which connects devices within a small area (say an office space or your house), and a wide area network (also known as WAN) which connect devices across a larger geographic area (such as your state or county).

Characteristics

In order to facilitate communication between devices, networks use protocols such as TCP/IP, HTTP, and FTP. Hence, security is essential to protect against unauthorized access, malware, and other threats. For that reason, firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection systems are commonly deployed security measures.

Networks are a critical component of the delivery services over the internet, without which software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) would look dramatically different.

Common forms of networking

Virtual private networks (VPNs) enable secure remote access to a network over the internet.  In recent years, they’ve become an integral part of how people consume content, enabling users to access resources from virtually anywhere.

Another common type of networking is called software-defined networking (SDN) which uses virtualization to simplify management and improve scalability.

We cover all of the above and more under our hardware section. Here’s an example of an article, where we explain what Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E are.