We looked at the basics of a home network previously but networking is a lot more complex than what has been already looked at the hardware and the software can get a bit complex.
The hardware.
Your network can consist of multiple elements these are.
- Firewall(Hardware)
The first line of defense in your network, A hardware Firewall filters data packets through the correct ports and “destroys” any packets that are seen as malicious. With a hardware firewall you can set up layers of defense as you can have multiple firewalls between different elements of your network and the closer you get to say your main database the firewall would only allow for certain users to access the database. - Modem/Router
The modem/router is the main part of the network as it gets the packets from the Web decides where all network traffic goes as. For example as client one is requesting the necessary packets to load you tube, client 2 is requesting the necessary packets to load google and its the routers job to make sure they get to the right destination. - A Switch.
in some instances but not all a network switch or switching hub can be used. This is used to forward data to clients using their physical address(MAC address) it also allows for multiple devices to connect to a network via ethernet for example 16 computers on the floor of an office will be connected through a switch. - Proxy(Used for traffic filtering).
There are many types of proxy but usually within a large scale network the proxy is used as a block on the web, when a user requests access to what we will call “rude” sites the proxy re routes the data and denies the request of the user and usually gives a message saying the site is blocked. - Server.
on a office network or a college network the web server is used to process and deliver web pages to the client upon their request using the HTTP protocol or HTTPS protocol - Administrator System.
The administrator system is used to add users to the network assign correct permission and maintain the entire networks integrity. - User System/Systems.
These are what they say on the tin, user systems. They are for your workers to access your databases web server etc’ and cannot be used without a log in to the network. - NIC/Ethernet cards.
The main connection for any network, typically The Ethernet port/NIC card is embedded into the motherboard but they are still relevant in larger networks as they allow users to log in to multiple different networks.
an example of a network containing these elements will look like this
The software
There are certain software elements which are coded into the hardware of the network and some that are optional. Some of these elements are.
- Software Firewall
The software firewall is for your singular user system and is what allows certain files to be saved or software to be installed on the system - DHCP(dynamic host configuration protocol)
DHCP is built in to your router, It detects that a system has booted and is requesting an IP address to allow for internet access. The DHCP assigns the device a “random” IP and allows the system to log in unless the user has assigned their MAC address a static IP.
Arrans network 