Computer Networks - Describing Point to Point WAN

Not very long ago, school assignments were submitted on paper. Since the birth of the Internet,
everything changed. It quickly became widely used from homes to offices, but what’s even
better is that you could even have your job on the internet. With just an Internet connection, you
and your family could offer a world of possibilities on the World Wide Web. Today, many homes
have more than one computer making everyone happy through home networks. But what is the
internet and how do the World Wide Web and home networks work?

Computer Networks - Point to Point WAN

If you take a look at a map, it seems nothing but a chaotic collection of lines. But if you look
closer, it appears that the lines connect to each other, connecting towns and cities. From that,
we can look at a country as something that is an inter-urban network of highways. When it is our
first time to visit a city, we usually get a map so that we know our way around the city streets. It
is the local network with the inter-urban network connected with it.

Computer networks are based on the same idea. A business, university, school, etc. are
all a local network of computers. Such a network is a LAN, which is an abbreviation of the
English "Local Area Network" (local network). LANs are connected to larger networks called
the "Wide Area Networks" or WANs.

WANs are in turn connected to other WANs and directly or indirectly to a network of computers
around and eventually the world. It is the Internet. As the network of streets and highways are
designed to carry vehicles, such a computer network is designed for data transport. Therefore,
the internet is often the "information highway" (Information Highway).

The Internet Network

The internet has a unique structure. The reason for this design is similar to a network of roads
along which information from one computer to another move. Any computer connected to the
internet, is a "web hosting" (web host) and is called a node on the network. The information from
one node to the other is a way through several other nodes running. As one of the nodes in a
specified path breaks down, the unique structure of the Internet leading to a different path is
chosen.

Different computers are distinguished by different information that it provides and is targeted
to achieve an Internet Protocol address, usually an IP number called to every internet-linked
computer-assigned. This is a group of four numbers, each from 0 to 255 range and that points
is separated. Computers with good storage numbers are easily remembered by most people
remember. Hence, a system for computer acronyms is developed publicly accessible for home
computers which information is often downloaded. These acronyms are based on Internet host
names and the names of networks, which are referred as domains, where the computers are
connected. The acronyms are domain addresses listed. Large institutions such as universities
and Internet Service Providers have computers that have domain addresses converted to IP numbers. Such a computer is a domain server named as a "Domain Name Server" or more commonly, a DNS.

The path through the Internet through which information from one computer to another is sent is
a router. Routers are usually used for LANs to a WAN or other LAN or WANs with another WAN
to connect with. Cables of optical fibers are usually applied to the routers of different WANs or
LANs, linking computers via point to point WAN router to each other. Internet hosts are the routers connected to their LANs using wires or radio signals (a wireless connection). Copper wires (telephone wire)
are usually used in some older networks.

The routers used for connecting large LANs and WANs are used with software that is task-
oriented and specialized software for routing. However, routers may also be smaller hardware
devices especially designed for routing. For smaller networks, a computer mainly uses a router,
for other tasks it uses the appropriate software installed. A router can also serve as a server. A
large organization like a university may have several LANS connected by a router to a WAN.

In order to expedite the process of a LAN computer to find an IP number of a LAN-based
computer to identify whom it belongs to, it used English "subnetting", which is the LAN as a
subnetwork. A number, called the "subnet mask" is used by the router to identify which LAN the
data belongs to. If a router does not have an internet host or its own LAN or WAN, it can still be
traced through the address of another router. The IP numbers are arranged so that a router can
quickly determine if a computer is on its own network or not.

Connecting a computer to the Internet

In an organization, like a large corporation or university, with an existing LAN and a WAN link,
usually have two ways of leased lines by ether cable or wireless. A router that is of a wireless
connections management is also a wireless network base station. Wireless connections are
slower and the trend is for mobile computers such as laptops. Most new laptops have wireless
capability and are available through wireless networks when locating its wireless network
function. If the wireless network is protected by a password, it is not an open network and the
connection does not connect automatically.