Application of ICT
GE-161
Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Computing and IT, University of the Punjab, Gujranwala Campus
Agenda for Today
• What is a Computer Network?
• Types of Computer Network
• Advantages of Computer Network
• Disadvantages of Computer Network
Computer Network
It is a set of two or more computing devices connected
together
To share the information and resources
Information: text, numeric data, audio, video, and images
Resources: printers, scanners, and hard drive disks
The computing devices in a network are connected through
transmission medium
Wired
Wireless
Types of Computer Network
Local Area Network (LAN)
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
Wide Area Network (WAN)
Personal Area Network (PAN)
Types of Computer Network
Local Area Network (LAN)
It is the most common type of network
It covers a small area
It usually connects the computing devices and other
devices within one office, or a building
It can transmit data at a very high speed
Data transmission speeds are typically from 10 Mbps to
1000 Mbps
It has less possibility of data transmission error
In LAN, problems normally occur due to the cable
disturbance by end user
Types of Computer Network
Local Area Network (LAN)
Example: The network in a computer lab of college or
university
Types of Computer Network
Local Area Network (LAN)
Types of Computer Network
Local Area Network (LAN) using HUB
The purpose of a hub is to connect all of your network
devices together on an internal network
It is a device that has multiple ports that accepts Ethernet
connections from network devices
Hub is considered not intelligent, because it does not filter
any data nor it has any knowledge as to where the data is
supposed to be sent
Types of Computer Network
Local Area Network (LAN)
Types of Computer Network
Local Area Network (LAN) using SWITCH
Switch is similar to a hub since it that has multiple ports
that accepts Ethernet connections from network devices,
but unlike a hub, a switch is intelligent
It can learn the physical addresses (MAC addresses) of
the devices that are connected to it and it store them in a
table
When a data packet is sent to a switch, it is only directed
to the intended destination port, while a hub would just
rebroadcast the data to every port
Types of Computer Network
Local Area Network (LAN)
Types of Computer Network
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
This type of network covers an area of a city
It is larger than LAN but smaller than WAN
It is usually used to connect two or more LANs in a city
Types of Computer Network
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
Example: The network connecting different branches of a
company in same city is an example of metropolitan area
network
Types of Computer Network
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
Types of Computer Network
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
Types of Computer Network
Wide Area Network (WAN)
This type of network covers a large area
It connects computing devices in different cities and
countries
Computing devices in WAN are often connected through
telephone lines
It can reach the parts of the world which are not
accessible with LAN and MAN
The transmission rate of WAN is typically from 56kbps to
50Mbps
It is expensive than LAN
It is not fast as LAN
It has high possibility of data transmission error
Types of Computer Network
Wide Area Network (WAN)
Example: The Internet is the largest WAN in the world
Types of Computer Network
Personal Area Network (PAN)
It is smallest network
It connects personal devices using wired and wireless
technologies
Personal computing devices that are used to develop the
PAN are the laptops, mobile phones, media players, and
play stations etc.
It has connectivity range up to 10 meters
This may include Bluetooth enabled devices or infra-red
enabled devices
Advantages of Computer Network
Communication
Resource Sharing
Cost Savings
Centralized Data Management
Disadvantages of Computer Network
Technical Expertise
Security and Privacy Risks
Reliance of Technology
