Network Components

A Simple Network Diagram (Symbols are used for networking components)

Throughout your networking career you'll see many topologies, many different networks with lots of different components but what we see on above image is just a basic sample of network with some of basic & important networking components & these are the components that you are likely to see a lot, like, routers & switches, clients & servers & links(connecting media) between them. We'll zoom inn on some of these components so that we have a basic understanding of each component & its functionality in a network. This is just a crash course or introductory course about these components, we'll discuss each of these components in detail in future.

We'll start with the very basic & first component that interacts in a network:

Client:

Some people mix up client with an end user, end user is not client, but the device used by end user is client, may be its a desktop computer, a laptop or may be its a smartphone or tablet.

"A client device is how the end user interfaces with the network".
Client interacts with network when it wants to use some resource like some file server or printer or any other resource.

Server:

Basically a server is a computer "program" (an OS), that provides services to other computer programs or other clients.e.g. A Web Server (Apache)
Server could be installed on a home PC(with suitable computer hardware), which could be used as a Home Server, Print Server or even a Web Server (depending on hardware capabilities.)
When a Server(OS/Program) is run on a powerful "dedicated" computer, then it is referred as "the server".
So,

The Server (Software + Hardware) is a system that responds to requests across a computer network to provide, or help to provide, a network service. -- Wikipedia

Servers operate within a client - server architecture. Which means client sends a request to the server, & the server, serves which means the server responds to clients request, thus the server may sometime perform tasks on behalf of client(s). There are different type's of server based on their functionality. e.g. print server, web server, file server etc.

Switch (Network Switch):

A switch or network switch is referred to as a "layer two device" (Data Link Layer in OSI Model).

"A network switch is a networking device that is used to connect devices together on a computer network."

A switch specifically an Ethernet Switch can make forwarding decision based on what it learns from the attached devices(e.g. client or server).

Network Interface Card(NIC):

NIC also known as Network Interface Card, Network Interface Controller, Network Adapter, LAN Adapter

Router:

Router is a networkign device.

Media:

Networking - An Introduction

When you hear the term Network or Networking, what do you think of ?

• Connecting out to the internet?
• Connecting your laptop or computer to your home router (wired or wireless) ?
• Sending or receiving email?
• Sharing resources like printer etc, or 
• Sharing Files & Folders?

Here we are going to define a Network & how can we use a Network. We'll discuss some categories of Network in future based on how widespread they are, based on their topology. We'll also take a look at reference models to see how we can subcategories the pieces & parts that make a Network. :)

So, the question remains unanswered, what is actually a network?

Simply saying, "A computer network is a way of communication b/w two or more than two computers".A computer network can be wired or wireless.

Wikipedia define's a Computer/Data Network as following:

A computer network or data network is a telecommunications network that allows computers to exchange data. --Wikipedia

Now, that we know what is a network, we'll learn how a network is made. There are always different pieces & parts that make up a network, things like routers & switches , media that interconnect these components. We'll discuss all the basic & important components of a network in future. These components may be hardware(things like Router etc) or software's & programs. We'll go through all the important components of a computer network, & then we'll learn how to combine these components in order to form a working computer network.
Then there are different ways of categorizing a network. Networks can be categorized based on its topology, or how widely dispersed they are.

Purpose of a Network

Why do we make networks? There's always a purpose behind things we do. Some common usages of network that we've seen are:

• File Sharing
• Printer Sharing
• Surfing The Web
• Gaming
• Audio & Video Calls
• Database Access
• Transfer Files
• Remotely accessing a computer 

There's a lot more to it. But for now it's enough, i'm tired & sleepy, next we'll discuss Components Of A Network. Do not forget to subscribe & like Fb page or join me on Google+ community. Stay in touch, there's a lot more coming.

If you've any question or query lemme know. Just drop a comment ;)