What Is a Network? Why It’s Important for Resource Sharing

While the name might sound simple, networking tends to be incredibly complex.

Modern businesses rarely run without a network, and enterprise-level corporations rely on the power that networks bring. Companies will either have their own dedicated internal networking team or contract network upkeep to a third party. The structure and technicality behind building, managing, and monitoring a network tend to be so involved that entire certification programs — not to mention the numerous dedicated network management software options available — are built solely for understanding those ins and outs.

Think of a spider web. A spider web transmits vibrations from one point on the web through the rest. Spiders then interpret that vibrational information and respond. (Usually, that means eating.)

The spider web is a network. It facilitates information transmission from one point to another. The spider represents a computing device connected to the network and looking for information to receive and respond to.

Types of networks

While not exhaustive, the following sections describe the most common networks that most end-users and businesses deal with on a day-to-day basis. They’re a little more complex than your average spider web.

LAN

Local area networks (LANs) connect computing devices within a short distance on a small network. You’re probably familiar with LANs in some sense already: You’re likely reading this on one. The majority of homes and businesses run on LANs. Typically, LANs come in two types: wired and wireless (WLAN).

• Wired LAN, or Ethernet, connections are the faster and more stable connectivity type. Wired connections connect computing devices directly to the network via Ethernet cables, which transmit data much more quickly than wireless connections. This faster data transmission makes wired connections ideal for data centers, servers, and other computing devices requiring both speed and stability for an optimal business function.

• Wireless LAN (WLAN) connections, the most typical being wireless fidelity or wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), use radio waves to transmit data from the network to computing devices. While not as fast as Ethernet, a Wi-Fi connection can be significantly more convenient for both homes and businesses because devices don’t need to be hardwired into a network to use it.
  
  A WLAN does have issues at times because of the short distance from a device to the network transmission source (a router, for example), so many businesses use access points to boost connectivity for users farther away from the source.

WAN

Wide area networks (WANs) are massive data transmission networks built to span regions, countries, or even the globe. They bring multiple LANs together, allowing data sharing between non-proximal locations. That may seem complex, but all it means is that WANs bring computing systems together that aren’t already in the same physical area.

You’re already more familiar with WANs than you think. For that matter, you’ve probably got an ax to grind about them. Your ISP (internet service provider) is nothing more than a WAN with a paywall.

A WAN isn’t just your internet connection, though. Private WANs for businesses or organizations can connect site LANs directly. Enterprise-level companies typically use private WANs due to the cost of constructing that extent of infrastructure.

MAN

A metropolitan area network (MAN) connects computer users within a metro area, a single large city, multiple cities, or buildings. A MAN exceeds the size of a LAN but is smaller than a WAN. This network connects geographically spread LAN nodes using fiber optic cables, routers, and switches. MAN networks cater to customers across a vast region and with high-speed internet connection needs.

PAN

Personal area networks (PANs) connect computers or other network devices within an individual’s immediate range. These networks connect devices within a range of 33 feet or 10 meters. Common examples include phones, printers, computers, personal digital assistant (PDA) software, and video game consoles. Devices connected via PANs exchange data but don’t directly connect to the internet.

SAN

A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated, high-speed network that interconnects storage devices to multiple servers. Enterprise applications use SANs and network-attached storage (NAS) to improve efficiency and manage data better. The communication infrastructure behind a SAN uses switches and directors to bridge any-to-any device across the network.

HAN

A home area network (HAN) enables communication and resource sharing among devices such as computers and mobiles within a small boundary, typically a house or an office. HAN connections may be wired or wireless.

CAN

A campus area network (CAN), also known as a corporate area network, interconnects LANs within a limited geographical area. For example, a university or corporate campus uses CAN to offer wireless or wired network access. CAN networks are more extensive than LANs but smaller than MANs. This network is also known as a residential network (ResNet), a network for residents inside a specific campus.

VPN

A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts a device-to-internet connection and hides user identity. This real-time encryption happens as the VPN software hides and redirects the user internet protocol (IP) address through a remote VPN host server. VPNs protect you from repression, targeting, or discrimination during Wi-Fi network access.

Public vs. private network

A public network resides outside an organization’s firewall and is accessible by the public. Users connecting to public networks expose their devices to the outside world and become subject to potential security threats. It’s wise to use anti-threat and malicious precautions to prevent infiltration.

A private network is an isolated network with security restrictions for user devices. Select devices can access a private network depending on the network router and access point settings. Organizations use private networks to ensure high security for critical information.

The only difference between these networks is that private networks have robust security, addressing, and authentication systems compared to public networks.

How does a network work?

A computer network uses cables, wireless signals, or fiber optics to enable devices or nodes to communicate and share resources. These devices follow network protocols (network rules for data transmission) to communicate. These devices use IP addresses to recognize each other. While routers find ways for data to travel between networks, switches manage node-to-node communication inside a network.

Computer network architecture

A computer network architecture defines the physical and logical design of software, hardware, network protocols, and data transmission media. Simply put, a computer network defines the mechanism behind device organization and task allocation.

There are two types of network architecture:

1) Peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture: Connects two or more computers as peers. Computers on a P2P network act as clients and servers, and make some resources available to the network.

2) Client/server architecture: Enables network clients to communicate through a central server or a group of servers. Clients in this network don’t share resources. Client/server architecture is also known as a tiered model because of having multiple levels.

Network topology

Network topology is a network’s topological structure, which defines the arrangement of nodes and links in a network. Network links connect nodes that send, receive, or store data. There are four types of network topologies:

1. Bus network topology: Connects every network node to the main cable directly
2. Ring topology: Creates a circular path among nodes so that each node has two neighbors
3. Star network topology: Connects every node to a central hub or switch
4. Star network topology: Connects every node to a central hub or switch

Advantages of a network

A fast and reliable network enables businesses to share resources through a secure path. Here’re the advantages of creating a high-performing computer network.

• Resource sharing: Eases resource and file sharing among users
• Inexpensive: Allows devices to share a single internet connection, which adds to cost-efficiency
• Storage capacity: Enables users to store files and multimedia on remote or network-attached storage devices
• Easy collaboration: Allows teams to connect or meet up over a secure connection
• Reliability: Ensures smooth functioning even when a node suffers from data loss

Disadvantages of a network

Computer networks suffer from common issues such as security issues, lack of robustness, and independence. These disadvantages are as follows.

• Security: Requires users to use a firewall and other security tools to prevent data theft
• Maintenance: Needs an experienced network manager to do advanced configurations and complicated installations
• Lack of robustness: Relies on the network central file server to smoothly run
• Lack of independence: Hinders dependent clients with centralized decision making

Network management software

Choosing the right network management software is crucial for administering, provisioning, and controlling information technology (IT) systems. Let network management software do the heavy lifting if you’re looking for robust features that make administrative control, network discovery, and device provisioning easier.

To be included in this category, the software must:

• Provide administrative control over computer networks
• Provision devices connected to a network
• Map and discover new network connections

*Below are the top five leading network management software solutions from G2’s Winter 2022 Grid® Report. Some reviews may be edited for clarity.

1. Auvik

Auvik is a cloud-based network management software that automates and simplifies network management. This software comes with automated configuration backup, network monitoring, troubleshooting, and real-time network mapping.

What users like:

“Auvik offers real-time notifications of network issues before they become widespread. It enables us to get ahead of an issue and lessen the impact on our environment.”

- Auvik Review, Kevin M.

What users dislike:

“Our primary focus is on security. If Auvik could provide alerts when new devices connect on the network, that’d give us something additional we don't have available for small clients/small networks.”

- Auvik Review, Dave T.

2. Entuity

Entuity is an all-in-one network performance and analytics software solution that delivers scalability, visibility, customization, and automation for fast deployment.

What users like:

“The Surepath and custom service monitoring options provide great insight to network availability. Also, the system is the quickest and most responsive network monitoring tool we've used to date.”

- Entuity Review, Jeremy H.

What users dislike:

“The biggest challenge is lack of name recognition as we leverage elastic network adapter (ENA) as part of services that we provide to our client base.”

- Entuity Review, Sean O.

3. Ubiquiti Network Management System

Ubiquiti Network Management System is a multi-application network operating system that identifies devices, recognizes traffic, and protects users from threats.

What users like:

“UNMS, now UISP, is an excellent tool for managing multiple Ubiquiti products in a single place. Air Fiber or Edgeswitch backs up configuration changes while connected with the management system. The software also shows you statistics on anything you could want to see. It is removing the need for tools that do SNMP monitoring for Ubiquiti devices.”

- Ubiquiti Network Management System Review, Dylan S.

What users dislike:

“The tool goes to a zero-handoff situation when connected to a UBNT device registered under the same registry and you can’t connect again. Additionally, if the tool suddenly disconnects without registering any error in the log, the rest of the tool continues to work correctly.”

- Ubiquiti Network Management System Review, Gabriel R.

4. Progress WhatsUp Gold

Progress WhatsUp Gold is a networking monitoring software that enables you to visualize device dependencies, optimize network traffic, fix network problems with actionable dashboards.

What users like:

“I like the active directory integration and reporting features. This was by far one of the more easy implementation software packages for monitoring I've used. We switched from SolarWinds because of the Supply Chain Attack and breach. We tested PRTG and Manage Engine as well. Only Progress WhatsUpGold was able to provide the features we were using in SolarWinds. The licensing is very straightforward and easy to understand.”

- Progress WhatsUp Gold Review, Eric J.

What users dislike:

“The system still has a client application which is mostly useless in addition to the web interface. I've not figured out how to set up default alerts anytime I add a device. So, I've been in a situation where I realized I didn’t get an alert that something was down and it was because I didn’t add an alert to the device.”

- Progress WhatsUp Gold Review, Marc S.

5. Nmap

Network mapper (Nmap) is a free and open-source network discovery and security auditing utility for network administrators. You can use this tool to monitor both single hosts and vast networks.

What users like:

“Nmap is the best scanning tool used for reconnaissance and network scanning purposes. It’ll help you to identify open/closed ports, OS detection, fingerprinting, and many other things useful for exploitation. One of the biggest advantages is that it's free and open-source.”

- Nmap Review, Swapnil R.

What users dislike:
“The steep learning curve of the Nmap scripting engine makes it difficult for newbies to learn the structure and capabilities.”

- Nmap Review, Dhananjay B.

Keep your network safe with network configuration

Organizations handling critical data must streamline their operations and keep business networks secure. Using the right network management and configuration software is key to managing devices, protecting users from threats, managing device dependencies, and optimizing network traffic.

Learn more about how to manage network configuration better for improved organizational security.