Networking

Computer communication may occur through wires, optical fibres, or radio transmissions. Wired networks may use shielded coaxial cable, similar to the wire connecting a television to a videocassette recorder or an antenna. They can also use simpler unshielded wiring with modular connectors similar to telephone wires. Optical fibres can carry more signals than wires; they are often used for linking buildings on a college campus or corporate site and increasingly for longer distances as telephone companies update their networks. Microwave radio also carries computer network signals, generally as part of long-distance telephone systems. Low-power microwave radio is becoming common for wireless networks within a building.

Local area networks

• Local area networks (LANs)

Local area networks (LANs) connect computers within a building or small group of buildings. A LAN, as shown in the figure, may be configured as (1) a bus, a main channel to which nodes or secondary channels are connected in a branching structure, (2) a ring, in which each computer is connected to two neighbouring computers to form a closed circuit, or (3) a star, in which each computer is linked directly to a central computer and only indirectly to one another. Each of these has advantages, though the bus configuration has become the most common.
Even if only two computers are connected, they must follow rules, or protocols, to communicate. For example, one might signal “ready to send” and wait for the other to signal “ready to receive.” When many computers share a network, the protocol might include a rule “talk only when it is your turn” or “do not talk when anyone else is talking.” Protocols must also be designed to handle network errors.
The most common LAN design since the mid-1970s has been the bus-connected Ethernet, originally developed at Xerox PARC. Every computer or other device on an Ethernet has a unique 48-bit address. Any computer that wants to transmit listens for a carrier signal that indicates that a transmission is under way. If it detects none, it starts transmitting, sending the address of the recipient at the start of its transmission. Every system on the network receives each message but ignores those not addressed to it. While a system is transmitting, it also listens, and if it detects a simultaneous transmission, it stops, waits for a random time, and retries. The random time delay before retrying reduces the probability that they will collide again. This scheme is known as carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD). It works very well until a network is moderately heavily loaded, and then it degrades as collisions become more frequent.
The first Ethernet had a capacity of about 2 megabits per second, and today 10- and 100-megabit-per-second Ethernet is common, with gigabit-per-second Ethernet also in use. Ethernet transceivers (transmitter-receivers) for PCs are inexpensive and easily installed.
A recent standard for wireless Ethernet, known as WiFi, is becoming common for small office and home networks. Using frequencies from 2.4 to 5 gigahertz (GHz), such networks can transfer data at rates from 11 to 54 megabits per second. Early in 2002 another Ethernet-like standard was released. Known as HomePlug, the first version could transmit data at about 8 megabits per second through a building's existing electrical power infrastructure.

Wide area networks

Wide area networks (WANs) span cities, countries, and the globe, generally using telephone lines and satellite links. The Internet connects multiple WANs; as its name suggests, it is a network of networks. Its success stems from early support by the U.S. Department of Defense, which developed its precursor, ARPANET, to let researchers communicate readily and share computer resources. Its success is also due to its flexible communication technique. The emergence of the Internet in the 1990s as not only a communication medium but also one of the principal focuses of computer use may be the most significant development in computing in the past several decades. For more on the history and technical details of Internet communication protocols, see Internet.