Friday, November 6, 2009

Computer network

Networking hardware typically refers to equipment facilitating the use of a computer network. Typically, this includes routers, switches, hubs, gateways, access points, network interface cards, Networking cables, network bridges, modems, ISDN adapters, firewalls and other related hardware.

The most common kind of networking hardware today is copper-based Ethernet adapters, helped largely by its standard inclusion on most modern computer systems. Wireless networking has become increasingly popular, however, especially for portable and handheld devices.

Other hardware prevalent within computer networking is datacenter equipment (such as file servers, database servers and storage areas), network services (such as DNS, DHCP, email etc) as well as other specific network devices such as content delivery.

Other diverse devices which may be considered Networking hardware include mobile phones, PDAs and even modern coffee machines. As technology grows and IP-based networks are integrated into building infrastructure and household utilities, network hardware becomes an ambiguous statement owing to the increasing number of 'network capable' endpoints

A computer network is a group of computers that are connected to each other for the purpose of communication. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics. This article provides a general overview of some types and categories and also presents the basic components of a network.