Basic Networks

Introduction

Even the smallest of businesses can benefit from the implementation of a computer network. If you have a need to share files, your internet connection or printers and other peripherals, networking could be the solution you are looking for.

Types

For the majority of small to medium businesses the network would be confined to the one building. This type of network is known as a Local Area Network (LAN). The two most common types of LAN are peer-to-peer and client-server. A peer-to-peer solution is not really suitable for complex networks and is a lot slower than the client-server solution. For these reasons we recommend you go for a client-server solution.

Client-Server Network - One of the computers is used as the server and the other computers connect to it. The server is normally where the shared files and programs are stored.

Some advantages of this type of network are:

• more reliable
• more efficient
• easier to back up

Cable or Wireless

Traditional LAN networks were implemented with cables. Nowadays, because the cost of wireless solutions has come down so much, it is usually cheaper and easier to go wireless. But before you run out to buy your kit, remember there are advantages and disadvantages to both solutions.

Wireless LANs are ideal in locations where it is difficult to drill through walls and floors i.e. listed buildings and the users are more flexible and mobile because they are not physically attached to the network. If you have to move a user or, indeed, a whole department no re-wiring is necessary.

As we said before, wireless LANs tend to be cheaper than their wired counterparts but they tend to have problems with signal quality and in some buildings there are ‘black spots’ where there may be no signal at all. In general wireless networks are slower and larger companies tend to have a mixture of both for this reason. The backbone of their networks would be cabled and the users wireless.

Another disadvantage of wireless networks is that they are more vulnerable to attack because their transmissions can be intercepted. For this reason make sure that your provider assists you with the security of your network.