Chapter2.A Network s Reason for Existence

Chapter 2. A Network's Reason for Existence

What You Will Learn

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

• List several general categories of network-based applications

• Compare and contrast applications based on how much knowledge about the network is required of the end user

• Explain the basic operation of the network-based applications in this chapter

• Explain the basic structure of the Internet, including the connection of enterprise networks to the Internet

These days, almost everything that a computer user wants to do makes use of a network. Certainly, some computers today do not need to communicate with others. However, most computers do. In fact, many people today have multiple computers in their homes, and even these computers need to communicate with each other.

The computer user, however, does not typically need to know anything about how the network works. In fact, most end users do not know when their computers need the network and when they do not. Most users who use computers at their jobs know that the computers can somehow talk over the network and know that many of their applications quit working when the network is down.

One of the best ways to start learning about networks is to learn about what an end user of the network does. Many of you use networks for work or school already. This chapter covers the basic features that an end user might want to get from his network. Throughout the rest of this book, I'll explain the basics of how a network supports these end user functions.