Basics of networking

Computer networks can be divided in various ways, taking into account different criteria. The basic standard for subdividing a network is by the area in which the network operates, so subdivision by network area (coverage) is as follows:

Local Area Network (LAN) - a network covering the smallest area, such as a studio, school or several school buildings. A LAN also appears in your home if you use more or one computer.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) - a network covering an area larger than a room or building. A MAN network is spread over a city or metropolitan area.

Wide Area Network (WAN) - a wide area network combining smaller networks.

In addition to regional standards, networks can also be divided according to their architecture. We distinguish between networks with a client-server and peer-to-peer architecture.

In a client-server architecture, there is at least one computer serving the users of the network (these are the servers) and many computers using the services of the server (these are the clients). We use client-server architecture when browsing the web, sending emails or working with databases.

The situation is different with peer-to-peer architecture, also known as Peer2Peer (P2P). In this case, the service is not provided by one or more computers, but by multiple computers with the same rights. Each computer on the network can simultaneously use and share resources. When using file-sharing services such as BitTorrent, we are using a peer-to-peer architecture.