Defineclassification
Inbroadterms
Computernetworkisalsocalledcomputercommunicationnetwork.Thesimplestdefinitionofacomputernetworkis:acollectionofautonomouscomputersthatareconnectedtoeachotherforthepurposeofsharingresources.Accordingtothisdefinition,theearlyterminal-orientednetworkscannotberegardedascomputernetworks,butcanonlybecalledonlinesystems(becausemanyterminalsatthattimecannotberegardedasautonomouscomputers).However,withthedeclineinhardwareprices,manyterminalshaveacertaindegreeofintelligence,so"terminals"and"autonomouscomputers"graduallylosetheirstrictboundaries.Ifamicrocomputerisusedasaterminal,accordingtotheabovedefinition,theearlyterminal-orientednetworkcanalsobecalledacomputernetwork.
Inaddition,fromtheperspectiveoflogicalfunction,acomputernetworkisacollectionofcomputersystemsthatconnectmultiplecomputerswithcommunicationlinesforthebasicpurposeoftransmittinginformation.Acomputernetworkconsistsoftransmissionmediaandcommunicationequipment..
Fromtheperspectiveofusers,computernetworksaredefinedasfollows:Thereisanetworkoperatingsystemthatcanbeautomaticallymanagedforusers.Itcallsandcompletestheresourcescalledbytheuser,andtheentirenetwork,likealargecomputersystem,istransparenttotheuser.
Amoregeneraldefinitionis:theuseofcommunicationlinestoconnectgeographicallydispersedcomputersystemsandcommunicationequipmentwithindependentfunctionsindifferentforms,andrealizeresourcesharingwithcompletenetworksoftwareandprotocolsAndinformationtransmissionsystem.
Onthewhole,acomputernetworkisalarge-scaleandpowerfulsystemthatconnectscomputersdistributedindifferentgeographicalareaswithspecializedexternalequipmentusingcommunicationlines,sothatmanycomputerscaneasilycommunicatewitheachother.Transferinformationandshareresourcessuchashardware,software,dataandinformation.Simplyput,acomputernetworkisacollectionofmanyautonomouslyworkingcomputersconnectedtoeachotherbycommunicationlines.
Thesimplestcomputernetworkhasonlytwocomputersandonelinkconnectingthem,thatis,twonodesandonelink.
Connectbyconnection
Computernetworkisacollectionofautonomouscomputersinterconnectedbywires.Tobeprecise,itisacollectionofcomputerswithindependentworkingabilitydistributedindifferentgeographicallocations.Theterminalanditsancillaryequipmentareconnectedwithcommunicationequipmentandcommunicationlines,andnetworksoftwareisconfiguredtorealizeasystemofcomputerresourcesharing.
Ondemand
Computernetworkiscomposedofalargenumberofindependentbutinterconnectedcomputerstocompletecomputertaskstogether.Thesesystemsarecalledcomputernetworks.
DevelopmentHistory
Sincetheemergenceofcomputernetworks,thespeedofitsdevelopmentandtheextentofitsapplicationshavebeenamazing.Lookingatthedevelopmentofcomputernetworks,ithasroughlygonethroughthefollowingfourstages:
Birthstage
Thefirstgenerationofcomputernetworksbeforethemid-1960swascenteredonasinglecomputerThetypicalapplicationoftheremoteonlinesystemisanairplaneticketbookingsystemconsistingofacomputerandmorethan2,000terminalsacrosstheUnitedStates.Theterminalisacomputerperipheraldevice,includingamonitorandakeyboard,withoutCPUandmemory.Withtheincreaseofremoteterminals,afrontendmachine(FEP)isaddedinfrontofthehost.Atthattime,peopledefinedacomputernetworkas"asystemthatisconnectedforthepurposeoftransmittinginformationtorealizeremoteinformationprocessingorfurtherachieveresourcesharing."Suchacommunicationsystemhastheembryonicformofanetwork.
Formationstage
Thesecond-generationcomputernetworkfromthemid-1960stothe1970swasinterconnectedbymultiplehoststhroughcommunicationlinestoprovideservicesforusers.Itemergedinthe1960sInthelaterperiod,thetypicalrepresentativewasARPANETdevelopedwiththeassistanceoftheAdvancedResearchProjectsAgencyoftheUSDepartmentofDefense.Thehostsarenotdirectlyconnectedbylines,butareinterconnectedafterbeingtransferredbytheInterfaceMessageProcessor(IMP).IMPandtheirinterconnectedcommunicationlinesareresponsibleforthecommunicationtasksbetweenhosts,formingacommunicationsubnet.Thehostsconnectedbythecommunicationsubnetareresponsibleforrunningprograms,providingresourcesharing,andformingaresourcesubnet.Duringthisperiod,thenetworkconceptwas"acollectionofcomputerswithindependentfunctionsinterconnectedforthepurposeofbeingabletoshareresourceswitheachother",formingthebasicconceptofcomputernetworks.
Interconnectionstage
Thethird-generationcomputernetworkfromthelate1970stothe1990swasanopenandstandardizednetworkwithaunifiednetworkarchitectureandcompliancewithinternationalstandards.AftertheriseofARPANET,computernetworkshavedevelopedrapidly,andmajorcomputercompanieshavesuccessivelyintroducedtheirownnetworkarchitecturesandsoftwareandhardwareproductsthatimplementthesestructures.Becausethereisnounifiedstandard,itisdifficulttointerconnectproductsofdifferentmanufacturers.Peopleurgentlyneedanopen,standardizedandpracticalnetworkenvironment.Thishasledtotheemergenceoftwomostimportantinternationalarchitectures,namelytheTCP/IPsystem.StructureandtheOSIsystemstructureoftheInternationalOrganizationforStandardization.
High-speednetworktechnologystage
Thefourth-generationcomputernetworkfromthe1990stothepresent,duetothematuredevelopmentoflocalareanetworktechnology,theemergenceofopticalfiberandhigh-speednetworktechnology,theentirenetworkislikeauserThelargetransparentcomputersystemdevelopedintotheInternetrepresentedbytheInternet.
Composition
Theclassificationofcomputernetworksisthesameasthegeneralclassificationofthings,whichcanbeclassifiedaccordingtothedifferentnatureandcharacteristicsofthings(thatis,theattributesofthings).Generallyspeaking,acomputernetworkiscomposedofmultiplecomputers(orothercomputernetworkdevices)thatarephysically(orlogically)connectedthroughtransmissionmediaandsoftware.Generallyspeaking,thecompositionofacomputernetworkbasicallyincludesfourparts:acomputer,anetworkoperatingsystem,atransmissionmedium(itcanbetangibleorintangible,suchasthetransmissionmediumofawirelessnetworkisspace)andcorrespondingapplicationsoftware.
Function
Datacommunication
Datacommunicationisoneofthemostimportantfunctionsofcomputernetworks.Datacommunicationisacommunicationmethodandcommunicationservicethatusesdatatransmissiontechnologytotransferdatainformationbetweentwoterminalsinaccordancewithacertaincommunicationprotocol.Itcanrealizethetransferofdataandinformationbetweencomputersandcomputers,computersandterminals,andterminalsandterminals.Itisthethirdlargestcommunicationserviceaftertelegraphandtelephoneservices.Theinformationtransmittedindatacommunicationisexpressedintheformofbinarydata.Anotherfeatureofdatacommunicationisthatitisalwaysconnectedwithremoteinformationprocessing,whichisabroadinformationprocessingincludingscientificcalculation,processcontrol,informationretrieval,andsoon.
Resourcesharing
Resourcesharingisoneofthemainpurposesforpeopletobuildcomputernetworks.Computerresourcesincludehardwareresources,softwareresourcesanddataresources.Thesharingofhardwareresourcescanimprovetheutilizationofequipmentandavoidrepeatedinvestmentinequipment,suchasusingcomputernetworkstobuildnetworkprinters;thesharingofsoftwareresourcesanddataresourcescanmakefulluseofexistinginformationresources,reducelaborinthesoftwaredevelopmentprocess,andavoidRepetitiveconstructionoflargedatabases.
Centralizedmanagement
Thedevelopmentandapplicationofcomputernetworktechnologyhascausedchangesinmodernofficemethodsandmanagement.Atpresent,therearemanymanagementinformationsystems,officeautomationsystems,etc.,throughwhichcentralizedmanagementofdailyworkcanberealized,workefficiencycanbeimproved,andeconomicbenefitscanbeincreased.
Realizedistributedprocessing
Thedevelopmentofnetworktechnologymakesdistributedcomputingpossible.Forlarge-scaletopics,itcanbedividedintomanysmalltopics,whicharecompletedbydifferentcomputers,andthenconcentratedtosolvetheproblem.
Loadbalancing
Loadbalancingmeansthatworkisevenlydistributedtoeachcomputersystemonthenetwork.Thenetworkcontrolcenterisresponsiblefordistributionanddetection.Whenacomputerisoverloaded,thesystemwillautomaticallytransfertheloadtoalightercomputersystemforprocessing.
Itcanbeseenthatcomputernetworkscangreatlyexpandthefunctionsofcomputersystems,expandtheirapplicationscope,improvereliability,andprovideconvenienceforusers,whilealsoreducingcostsandimprovingperformance-priceratios.
Classification
Althoughtherearevariousstandardsfortheclassificationofnetworktypes,theclassificationofgeographicalareasisauniversalnetworkclassificationstandardthateveryonerecognizes.Accordingtothisstandard,variousnetworktypescanbedividedintofourtypes:localareanetwork,metropolitanareanetwork,wideareanetworkandInternet.Generallyspeaking,alocalareanetworkcanonlybeinasmallarea.Ametropolitanareanetworkisanetworkinterconnectionbetweendifferentareas.However,onepointtobeexplainedhereisthatthenetworkdivisionheredoesnothaveastrictgeographicaldistinction,butcanonlybeaqualitativeone.theconceptof.Thefollowingbrieflyintroducesthesekindsofcomputernetworks.
LocalAreaNetwork
(LocalAreaNetwork;LAN)Usuallyourcommon"LAN"referstothelocalareanetwork,whichisourmostcommonandwidelyusednetwork.Withthedevelopmentandimprovementoftheentirecomputernetworktechnology,thelocalareanetworkhasbeenfullyappliedandpopularized.Almosteveryunithasitsownlocalareanetwork,andsomeevenhavetheirownsmalllocalareanetworkinthefamily.Obviously,theso-calledlocalareanetworkisanetworkwithinalocalarea,anditcoversarelativelysmallarea.Therearenottoomanyrestrictionsonthenumberofcomputersinthelocalareanetwork.Generallyspeaking,intheenterpriseLAN,thenumberofworkstationsisabouttenstotwohundred.Generallyspeaking,thegeographicdistanceinvolvedinthenetworkcanbewithinafewmetersto10kilometers.Thelocalareanetworkisgenerallylocatedinabuildingoraunit,thereisnopathfindingproblem,anddoesnotincludetheapplicationofthenetworklayer.
Thecharacteristicsofthiskindofnetworkare:narrowconnectionrange,fewusers,easyconfiguration,andhighconnectionspeed.Atpresent,thefastestrateofLANisnow10GEthernet.IEEE’s802standardcommitteedefinesavarietyofmajorLANnetworks:Ethernet,TokenRing,FiberDistributedInterfaceNetwork(FDDI),AsynchronousTransferModeNetwork(ATM)andthelatestwirelessLAN(WLAN).Thesewillbedescribedindetaillater.
MetropolitanAreaNetwork
(MetropolitanAreaNetwork;MAN)Thiskindofnetworkisgenerallyconnectedtocomputersinacitybutnotinthesamegeographicarea.Theconnectiondistanceofthiskindofnetworkcanbe10~100kilometers,itadoptsIEEE802.6standard.ComparedwithLAN,MANhasalongerextensiondistanceandalargernumberofconnectedcomputers,whichcanbesaidtobeanextensionofLANnetworkintermsofgeographicscope.Inalargecityormetropolitanarea,aMANnetworkisusuallyconnectedtomultipleLANnetworks.SuchastheLANthatconnectsgovernmentagencies,theLANofhospitals,theLANoftelecommunications,theLANofcompaniesandenterprises,andsoon.Duetotheintroductionofopticalfiberconnection,high-speedLANinterconnectioninMANbecomespossible.
ManymetropolitanareanetworksuseATMtechnologyasthebackbonenetwork.ATMisahigh-speednetworktransmissionmethodfordata,voice,video,andmultimediaapplications.ATMincludesaninterfaceandaprotocol,whichcanswitchbetweentheconstantandvaryingtrafficvolumeofthebitrateonaconventionaltransmissionchannel.ATMalsoincludeshardware,software,andmediaconsistentwithATMprotocolstandards.ATMprovidesascalablebackboneinfrastructuretobeabletoadapttonetworksofdifferentsizes,speeds,andaddressingtechnologies.ThebiggestdisadvantageofATMisitshighcost,soitisgenerallyusedingovernmentmetropolitanareanetworks,suchaspostalservices,banks,andhospitals.
WideAreaNetwork
(WideAreaNetwork,WAN)Thistypeofnetworkisalsocalledalong-distancenetwork,anditcoversawiderareathanametropolitanareanetwork(MAN).TheLANorMANnetworkinterconnectionbetweencities,thegeographicalrangecanbefromhundredsofkilometerstothousandsofkilometers.Becausethedistanceisfar,theinformationattenuationismoreserious,sothiskindofnetworkgenerallyneedstoleaseadedicatedline,whichisconnectedthroughtheIMP(InterfaceInformationProcessing)protocolandthelinetoformameshstructuretosolvetheproblemofrouting.Thiskindofmetropolitanareanetworkisconnectedtomanyusersandthetotalexportbandwidthislimited,sotheuserterminalconnectionrateisgenerallylow,usually9.6Kbps-45Mbps,suchas:CHINANET,CHINAPAC,andCHINADDNoftheMinistryofPostsandTelecommunications.
Theabovementionedseveralclassificationsofnetworks.Infact,inreallife,theonewereallyencountermostisthelocalareanetwork,becauseitcanbelargeorsmall,anditisrelativelyeasytoimplementinboththeworkunitandthefamily.,Theapplicationisalsothemostextensivekindofnetwork,soweneedtomakeafurtherunderstandingofthelocalareanetworkandtheaccessequipmentinthelocalareanetworkbelow.
Wirelessnetwork
WiththeincreasingpopularityanddevelopmentofportablecomputerssuchasnotebookcomputersandPersonalDigitalAssistants(PDAs),peopleoftenhavetobeontheroadAnswercalls,sendfaxesande-mails,readonlineinformation,andlogintoremotemachines.However,itisimpossibletoconnecttotheunit'snetworkthroughawiredmediuminacaroranairplane.Atthistime,youmaybeinterestedinawirelessnetwork.Althoughwirelessnetworksandmobilecommunicationsareoftenlinkedtogether,thetwoconceptsarenotexactlythesame.Forexample,whenaportablecomputerisconnectedtoatelephonejackviaaPCMCIAcard,itbecomesapartofthewirednetwork.Ontheotherhand,thelocationofsomecomputersconnectedviaawirelessnetworkmaybefixed.Forexample,betweenbuildingsthatareinconvenienttoconnectviaawiredcable,thecomputersintwobuildingscanbeconnectedviaawirelessnetwork.
Wirelessnetworks,especiallywirelesslocalareanetworks,havemanyadvantages,suchaseasyinstallationanduse.However,wirelesslocalareanetworksalsohavemanyshortcomings:forexample,itsdatatransmissionrateisgenerallylower,muchlowerthanthatofwiredlocalareanetworks;inaddition,thebiterrorrateofwirelesslocalareanetworksisalsorelativelyhigh,andmutualinterferencebetweensitesisrelativelysevere.Therearedifferentwaystorealizetheuser'swirelessnetwork.Someuniversitiesabroadhaveinstalledmanyantennasontheircampuses,allowingstudentstositunderatreeandviewlibrarymaterials.Thissituationisachievedthroughdigitalcommunicationbetweentwocomputersdirectlythroughawirelesslocalareanetwork.Anotherpossiblewayistouseatraditionalanalogmodemtocommunicatethroughacellularphonesystem.Manycitiesabroadhavebeenabletoprovidecellulardigitalpacketdata(CellularDigitalPacketData,CDPD)services,soawirelesslocalareanetworkcanbeestablisheddirectlythroughtheCDPDsystem.Wirelessnetworkisthecurrentresearchhotspotathomeandabroad,andtheresearchofwirelessnetworkisdrivenbyhugemarketdemand.Thecharacteristicofthewirelessnetworkisthattheusercanaccessthecomputernetworkatanytimeandanyplace,andthischaracteristicmakesithaveastrongapplicationprospect.Manywirelessnetwork-basedproductshaveemerged,suchasPersonalCommunicationSystem(PCS)phones,wirelessdataterminals,portablevideophones,andpersonaldigitalassistants(PDAs).Thedevelopmentofwirelessnetworksdependsonthesupportofwirelesscommunicationtechnology.Wirelesscommunicationsystemsmainlyinclude:low-powercordlesstelephonesystems,analogcellularsystems,digitalcellularsystems,mobilesatellitesystems,wirelessLANandwirelessWAN,etc.
Performance
Theperformanceofacomputernetworkgenerallyreferstoseveralimportantperformanceindicators.Butinadditiontotheseimportantperformanceindicators,therearesomenon-performancefeatures,whichalsohaveagreatimpactontheperformanceofcomputernetworks.
1.Performanceindicatorsofcomputernetworks
Performanceindicatorsmeasuretheperformanceofcomputernetworksfromdifferentaspects.
(1)Rate
Thesignalssentbythecomputerareindigitalform.Bitistheunitofdatavolumeincomputers,anditisalsotheunitofinformationvolumeusedininformationtheory.TheEnglishwordbitcomesfrombinarydigit,whichmeansa"binarydigit",soabitisa1or0inabinarydigit.Therateinnetworktechnologyreferstotherateatwhichahostconnectedtoacomputernetworktransmitsdataonadigitalchannel.Itisalsocalleddatarateorbitrate.Speedisoneofthemostimportantperformanceindicatorsincomputernetworks.Theunitofrateisbit/s(bitpersecond)(iebitpersecond).
(2)Bandwidth
"Bandwidth"hasthefollowingtwodifferentmeanings.
①Bandwidthoriginallyreferstothebandwidthofacertainsignal.Thebandwidthofasignalreferstothefrequencyrangeoccupiedbythevariousfrequencycomponentscontainedinthesignal.Forexample,thestandardbandwidthofatelephonesignaltransmittedonatraditionalcommunicationlineis3.1kHz(from300Hzto3.4kHz,thatis,thefrequencyrangeofthemaincomponentofvoice).Theunitofbandwidthinthissenseishertz(orkilohertz,megahertz,gigahertz,etc.).
②Inacomputernetwork,bandwidthisusedtoindicatetheabilityofthenetwork'scommunicationlinestotransmitdata.Therefore,thenetworkbandwidthindicatestheamountoftimethatcanbepassedfromonepointtoanotherpointinthenetworkinaunitoftime.Highestdatarate".The"bandwidth"generallymentionedherereferstothis.Theunitofbandwidthinthissenseis"bitspersecond",whichisrecordedasbit/s.
(3)Throughput
Throughputmeanstheamountofdatapassingthroughacertainnetwork(orchannelorinterface)inaunittime.Throughputismoreoftenusedasameasureofthenetworkintherealworldinordertoknowhowmuchdataactuallycanpassthroughthenetwork.Obviously,throughputislimitedbythebandwidthofthenetworkortheratedrateofthenetwork.Forexample,fora100Mbit/sEthernet,itsratedrateis100Mbit/s,thenthisvalueisalsotheabsoluteupperlimitoftheEthernetthroughput.Therefore,for100Mbit/sEthernet,itstypicalthroughputmaybeonly70Mbit/s.Sometimesthroughputcanalsobeexpressedbythenumberofbytesorframestransmittedpersecond.
(4)Delay
Latencyreferstothedata(amessageorpacket,orevenabit)requiredtobetransmittedfromoneendofthenetwork(orlink)totheotherendtime.Latencyisaveryimportantperformanceindicator,itissometimescalleddelayordelay.Thedelayinthenetworkiscomposedofthefollowingdifferentparts.
①Delayinsending.
Senddelayisthetimerequiredforthehostorroutertosendadataframe,thatis,thetimefromwhenthefirstbitofthedataframeissenttotheendofthelastbitoftheframe.
Sosendingdelayisalsocalledtransmissiondelay.Thecalculationformulaforsendingdelayis:
Sendingdelay=dataframelength(bit/s)/channelbandwidth(bit/s)
Itcanbeseenthatforacertainnetwork,Thetransmissiondelayisnotfixed,butisproportionaltothetransmittedframelength(inbits)andinverselyproportionaltothechannelbandwidth.
②Propagationdelay.
Propagationdelayisthetimeittakesforelectromagneticwavestotravelacertaindistanceinthechannel.Thecalculationformulaofpropagationdelayis:
Propagationdelay=channellength(m)/propagationrateofelectromagneticwaveonthechannel(m/s)
PropagationofelectromagneticwaveinfreespaceThespeedisthespeedoflight,whichis300000km/s.Thepropagationrateofelectromagneticwavesinnetworktransmissionmediaisslightlylowerthaninfreespace.
③Processingtimedelay.
Whenthehostorrouterreceivesthepacket,ittakesacertainamountoftimetoprocess,suchasanalyzingtheheaderofthepacket,extractingthedatapartfromthepacket,performingerrorcheckingorfindinganappropriateroute,etc.,whichproducesProcessingtimedelay.
④Queuingdelay.
Whenthepacketistransmittedthroughthenetwork,ithastopassthroughmanyrouters.However,afterthepacketenterstherouter,itmustbequeuedintheinputqueueforprocessing.Aftertherouterdeterminestheforwardinginterface,italsoqueuesupintheoutputqueueforforwarding.Thiscreatesqueuingdelay.
Inthisway,thetotaldelayexperiencedbythedatainthenetworkisthesumoftheabovefourkindsofdelays:
Totaldelay=transmissiondelay+propagationdelay+processingdelay+Queuingdelay
(5)Delay-bandwidthproduct
Multiplythetwomeasuresofnetworkperformancediscussedabove—propagationdelayandbandwidth,andgetanotherusefulMetric:Propagationdelaybandwidthproduct,immediatedelaybandwidthproduct=propagationdelay×bandwidth.
(6)Round-triptime(RTT)
Incomputernetworks,theround-triptimeisalsoanimportantperformanceindicator,whichmeansthatthedataissentfromthesendertothesenderreceivesThetotalelapsedtimefortheconfirmationfromthereceiver(thereceiversendstheconfirmationimmediatelyafterreceivingthedata).
Whenusingsatellitecommunications,theroundtriptime(RTT)isrelativelylong.
(7)Utilizationrate
Therearetwotypesofutilizationrate:channelutilizationrateandnetworkutilizationrate.Thechannelutilizationratereferstoafewpercentofthetimethatachannelisused(thereisdatapassing),andtheutilizationrateofacompletelyidlechanneliszero.Thenetworkutilizationistheweightedaverageofthechannelutilizationoftheentirenetwork.
2.Thenon-performancecharacteristicsofcomputernetworks
Thesenon-performancecharacteristicshaveagreatrelationshipwiththeperformanceindicatorsintroducedabove.
(1)Cost
Thepriceofthenetwork(includingthecostofdesignandimplementation).Theperformanceofthenetworkiscloselyrelatedtoitsprice.Generallyspeaking,thehigherthenetworkspeed,thehighertheprice.
(2)Quality
Thequalityofthenetworkdependsonthequalityofallthecomponentsinthenetworkandhowthesecomponentsmakeupthenetwork.Thequalityofthenetworkaffectsmanyaspects,suchasthereliabilityofthenetwork,theeaseofnetworkmanagement,andsomeoftheperformanceofthenetwork.However,theperformanceofthenetworkisnotthesameasthequalityofthenetwork.Forexample,somenetworkswithacceptableperformancewillfailafterrunningforaperiodoftimeandbecomeunabletocontinueworking,indicatingthattheirqualityisnotgood.High-qualitynetworkstendtobemoreexpensive.
(3)Standardization
Thedesignofnetworkhardwareandsoftwarecaneitherfollowgeneralinternationalstandardsorfollowspecificdedicatednetworkstandards.Itisbesttoadopttheinternationalstandarddesign,sothatyoucangetbetterinteroperability,easiertoupgradeandrepair,andeasiertogettechnicalsupport.
(4)Reliability
Reliabilityiscloselyrelatedtothequalityandperformanceofthenetwork.Networkswithhigherspeedsarenotnecessarilylessreliable.However,itisoftenmoredifficultforahigher-speednetworktooperatereliably,andatthesametime,thecostwillbehigher.
(5)ScalabilityandUpgradability
Whenconstructingthenetwork,itshouldbeconsideredthatitmayneedtobeexpandedinthefuture(thatis,scaleexpansion)andupgrade(thatis,theperformanceandversionoftheimprove).Thehighertheperformanceofthenetwork,thehigheritsexpansioncostisoften,andthedifficultywillincreaseaccordingly.
(6)Easytomanageandmaintain
Ifthenetworkisnotwellmanagedandmaintained,itisdifficulttoachieveandmaintainthedesignedperformance.
Relatedapplications
Inthe21stcentury,mankindwillfullyentertheinformationage.Theimportantcharacteristicsoftheinformationagearedigitization,networkingandinformationization.Torealizeinformatization,wemustrelyonacompletenetwork,becausethenetworkcantransmitinformationveryquickly.Therefore,thenetworkhasnowbecomethelifebloodoftheinformationsocietyandanimportantfoundationforthedevelopmentoftheknowledgeeconomy.TheInternethasexertedanimmeasurableinfluenceonmanyaspectsofsociallifeandonthedevelopmentofsocialeconomy.
Thenetworkmentionedherereferstothe"threenetworks",thatis,telecommunicationnetwork,cableTVnetworkandcomputernetwork.Thesethreetypesofnetworksprovidedifferentservicestousers.Usersoftelecommunicationsnetworkscangetservicessuchastelephone,telegraph,andfax;usersofcableTVnetworkscanwatchvariousTVprograms;computernetworkscanenableuserstoquicklytransmitdatafiles,andfindandobtainvarioususefulinformationfromthenetwork.Includingimageandvideofiles.Thesethreekindsofnetworksallplayaveryimportantroleintheprocessofinformatization,butthefastestgrowingandcoreroleisthecomputernetwork.Withthedevelopmentoftechnology,telecommunicationsnetworksandcabletelevisionnetworkshavegraduallymergedintothetechnologyofmoderncomputernetworks(alsoknownascomputercommunicationnetworks),whichgaverisetotheconceptof"networkintegration".
Sincethe1990s,thecomputernetworkrepresentedbytheInternethasdevelopedrapidly.Ithasgraduallydevelopedfromtheinitialeducationandscientificresearchnetworktoacommercialnetwork,andhasbecomesecondonlytotheglobalThesecondlargesttelephonenetworkintheworld.TheInternetischangingallaspectsofourworkandlife.Ithasbroughthugebenefitstomanycountriesandacceleratedtheprocessoftheglobalinformationrevolution.TheInternetisthebiggestchangeincommunicationsincetheinventionofprinting.Now,people'slife,work,studyandcommunicationareallinseparablefromtheInternet.
Therearetwomostimportantfunctionsprovidedbycomputernetworkstousers,namely,connectivityandsharing.
Themainreasonwhysomanycomputernetworksareestablishedisthattheuseofcomputernetworksisfavoredbyindividualsandcompanies.
First,commercialapplication.
1.Themainpurposeistorealizeresourcesharingandfinallybreakthetyrannyofgeography,andmainlyusetheclient-servermodel.
2.Provideapowerfulcommunicationmedium.Suchas:e-mail(E-mail),videoconference.
3.E-commerceactivities.Forexample,varioussupplierspurchasesubsystemsandthenassemblethesecomponents.
4.ConductvarioustransactionswithcustomersthroughtheInternet.Suchas:bookstores,audio-visualpurchasesofgoodsorservicesathome.
2.Familyuse
1.Accessremoteinformation.Forexample:browseWebpagestogetinformationaboutart,business,cooking,government,health,history,hobbies,entertainment,science,sports,travel,etc.
2.Communicationbetweenindividuals.Suchas:instantmessaging(instantmessaging)use,chatrooms,peer-to-communication(peer-to-communication).
3.Interactiveentertainment.Suchas:videoondemand,instantcommentandparticipationinactivities,onlinegames.
4.E-commerceinabroadsense.Suchas:payingbillselectronically,managingbankaccounts,andprocessinginvestments.
3.Mobileusers
Basedonwirelessnetworks.
1.Removablecomputers:notebookcomputers,PDAs,3Gmobilephones.
2.Military:AwarcannotrelyonLANequipmenttocommunicate.
3.Applicationssuchastruckfleets,taxis,andexpressvehicles.
Four.SocialIssues
ThewidespreaduseoftheInternethasledtonewsocial,ethicalandpoliticalissues.