A LAN is simply a group of computers connected to one another, so just how many ways are there to connect them together?
There is geometric arrangement of the nodes, or better known as topology, then there is the connecting medium, and finally the protocol.
- Topology includes the physical or logical/virtual arrangement of the network; star, bus, ring, tree, or mesh, each is a type of network topology designed for specific needs.
- Connecting medium includes the type of wire used to transmit information from one node to another, twisted-pair (shielded/unshielded), coaxial, fibre optic, each serves a specific bandwidth usage.
- Protocol is bit more complicated, it basically decides upon the set of rules used for sending and receiving of data over the network, it includes the following primary factors:
- error checking
- data encoding and decoding
- acknowledgement of the sent data
- acknowledgement of the received data
Depending on one's needs, there are several protocols available, some of most widely used protocols include Ethernet and TCP/IP.
