A computer network is a communication system where a group of computers and other devices like printers are connected by cables and other hardware. The data is shared between the computers. A network, besides facilitating data communication, allows resources to be shared among all the systems connected to the network (refer Figure 1.3). Thus, users on the second floor of a building can use the printer on the eleventh floor if their computer and the printer are connected to the network. This concept of connected computers sharing resources is called networking.
Computers that are connected in a network can share:
- Data
- Messages
- Printers
- Hard Disks
- CD-ROMs
- Modems
- Other hardware resources