Network - A network is a group of computers connected together in a way that allows

information to be exchanged between the computers.

Local Area Network (LAN) - A LAN is a network of computers that are in the same

general physical location, usually within a building or a campus. If the computers are far

apart (such as across town or in different cities), then a Wide Area Network (WAN) is

typically used.

Packet - A piece of a message transmitted over a packet-switching network.

Wide area network (WAN) - technologies connect a smaller number of devices that can

be many kilometers apart.

Node - A node is anything that is connected to the network. While a node is typically a

computer, it can also be something like a printer or CD-ROM tower.

Media access control (MAC) - is a sublayer of the data link layer (DLL) in the seven-layer OSI network reference model. MAC is responsible for the transmission of data packets to and from the network-interface card, and to and from another remotely shared

channel.

IP address - Is short for Internet Protocol ( IP ) address. An IP address is an identifier for a

computer or device on a TCP/IP network. Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route

messages based on the IP address of the destination.

Bus - Each node is daisy-chained (connected one right after the other) along the same

backbone, similar to Christmas lights

Ring - Like a bus network, rings have the nodes daisy-chained. The difference is that

the end of the network comes back around to the first node, creating a complete circuit.

In a ring network, each node takes a turn sending and receiving information through the

use of a token.

Token - In programming languages , a single element of a programming language. For

example, a token could be a keyword , an operator , or a punctuation mark.

Star - In a star network, each node is connected to a central device called a hub. The

hub takes a signal that comes from any node and passes it along to all the other nodes

in the network.

Star bus - Probably the most common network topology in use today, star bus

combines elements of the star and bus topologies to create a versatile network

environment. Nodes in particular areas are connected to hubs (creating stars), and the

hubs are connected together along the network backbone (like a bus network). Quite

often, stars are nested within stars

Tree topology - A tree topology combines characteristics of linear bus and star

topologies. It consists of groups of star-configured workstations connected to a linear

bus backbone cable.

Protocol - An agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices .

Peer-to-Peer - Often referred to simply as peer-to-peer , or abbreviated P2P, a type of network in which each workstation has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities