Today is the end of the week, so Happy Friday! This unit is gonna be a little longer than the last two, so I think I'll split it into three posts. We're going to cover network operations, and web servers. Thankfully, I already know a lot about that, so it will not be difficult to explain.
The Local Area Network (LAN), deals with the internal side of your network. You are able to connect to other devices within the network. If you're a gamer, you may be familiar with the term "LAN parties" --- that's when people bring their laptops to their friend's house, or use a spare computer, and they are all connected to the same network, then play video games --- the main benefit of doing this, is that the connection within the network is stellar, unlike an external connection. In contrast, the Wide Area Network (WAN) transfers data between computers at a much larger distance. Your internet service provider (ISP), provides access to a WAN network, through the use of a modem. The differences between LAN and WAN bring forth another contrast, Internet vs. Intranet. The Intranet, a term many are not familiar with, is a private network that can only be accessed by a select few. An example of a time when this is used, would be an office building with sensitive information. Data exchanges between co-workers at the same building, will be sent through the LAN, however, if there is a file that you need to send to an individual working for another division, you would use the WAN. The Internet, is different, as it is open to the public; anyone can connect to it, and contribute to it. We all know how it works, so there's no point in my expanding on that point.
Next, let's talk about other networks. Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) is a way of communicating with others through speech, over the internet. There are many services that offer this, such as Google, Skype, Steam, and other services. You can even call phone numbers with VoIP, as you can call people from Google Hangouts and Skype. There's also Broadband, which is a type of internet connection offered by most ISPs. It's a very broad term that covers any type of bandwidth data transmission that does better than Dial-Up and DSL, it's basically high-speed internet. If you have a cable modem on a stable Cable TV structure, you likely have Broadband. When people say "I have cable" this likely refers to either Cable TV or Cable internet access. There's also Bluetooth, which is a widely used technology. What Bluetooth does is essentially exchange data over short distances. For example, if I have a phone running Spotify, and I want to play that music in my car, I would plug a Bluetooth receiver into the car's computer, and then connect my device to that receiver. Speaking about cars, who could forget about the Global Positioning System (GPS)? This one's a bit special, since you're connecting to satellites. The government freely allows anyone in the US to connect to GPS as long as they have a device with a GPS receiver. It's like Bluetooth, except in space... maybe not so much?
Finally, let's talk about about the Client/Server architecture. If you are a on any device connected to a router or wireless-access-point (WAP) attached to a server, that device is a Client. The server is the structure maintaining and administrating the network. A network/system administrator such as myself, would be the one dictating what happens to the server, which in turn effects the entire network. Whereas the client could be a co-worker or a family member who is enraged that the internet connection is down. In any case, it's important to make this distinction, as the client are all the devices connected to your server; ergo the server is not a client, or vice versa. Thanks for reading, and have a good weekend!
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