Hardware Components of a Network

Components of a network include: node, workstations, servers,

network interface cards, hubs, routers, bridges, gateways, shared
devices and modems.
Node
A node is any device such as a workstation or a printer, that is connected to
the LAN and is capable of communicating with other devices connected to
the LAN.

Workstations
An input or output device at which a user works. It can either be a personal
computer or a terminal attached to the LAN. Specialized network
workstations that resemble PCs but without the disk drives and limited
expansion capabilities can also be used at a lower cost. These diskless
workstation give added security in a network environment as they can
prevent users from copying data on floppies or other mediums and removing
them from the site.

Servers
The basic engine of a LAN is the server. A server is simply a computer that
provides services to other LAN users. It could be a personal computer,
minicomputer, mainframe, or specialized computer. Servers could be
configured in several ways: file server, database server, print server,
communication server, and fax server. Depending on the load requirements
of the LAN one server may perform all these tasks or there may be separate
servers for each.
File Server
This is a combination of hardware and software that permit users to share computer
programs and software. Many LANs have dedicated servers whose only purpose is

dealing with the sharing of files on the network. Dedicated servers are usually high
performance PCs or specialized devices designed for optimal file server speed and
flexibility. They have extensive hard drive capacity, large memory, and a powerful
processor(s) so they can handle the needs of many users. The hard disk of the file server
typically contain all the applications and user data as well as the network operating
system.
Some LANs configure peer-to-peer networks in which every PC acts as a server and
share its resources. This is used only when basic file and printer sharing is required.
When your PC is connected to the network you may notice an additional drive name even
though no additional disks where added to your machine. This is called a virtual drive or
network drive. It can be accessed from your PC although not physically attached to the
machine.
Three important considerations for a file server are its performance, capacity and
reliability (fault tolerance). Performance refers to how quickly a file server can find data
and get it back to the requesting user. Performance is affected by many factors: speed of
the hard disk, speed of the network interface card, type and length of the cable, amount of
RAM available, type of application, and the number of users on the network. Capacity
refers to the amount of storage space on the hard disk drive (s). Plan for growth when
installing a LAN by buying a hard disk with at least twice as much storage space as you
currently need or by ensuring that you can add additional hard disks to the file server as
your needs expand. Fault toleration is the ability of the network to save data from loss in
the event of a catastrophic event such as electrical power loss, hard disk crash, disk
controller failure, or electromagnetic interference. The simplest is for the file server to
read behind every write to ensure that it was correct. Another is to protect the FAT by
duplicating it and storing it in another location on the disk. Many file servers use disk
mirroring, which saves data to two different disks so if one crashes data can still be read
from the other one. However since both use the same disk controller this scheme does
not protect against a disk controller failure. Disk duplexing is another method that uses
to hard disks and two disk controllers. In situations where loss of a file server for even a
few minutes causes a devastating problem, shadowing is used. Shadowing allows using
duplicate file servers that are attached to the network and receive the same information.
If one file server fails the other one takes over.

Database Server
A database server is a computer that stores a database on one disk and makes the data
accessible by multiple users. Specialised database software using client/server
architecture makes best use of a database server. This will be discussed in detail when we
look at network software.

Print Server

A print server can be a computer or software that provides LAN user with access to a
centralized printer or a shared printer of a workstation. A LAN user sends output to the
print server where it is stored until printed. Print servers use a spool (Simultaneous
Peripheral Control Operation On Line), which is hardware, software, or a combination of
both that holds data until it is sent to the printer. Most often the buffer is a hard disk on
the print server. Here files are stored and placed in a queue in a first in, first out order
until its their turn to be printed. Most LANs give users the option to change or assign
specific priorities to print jobs so they can jump to the head of the queue. Print servers
also have a chunk of RAM as a buffer to hold data while the printer and server
communicate. This makes it faster as the printer accesses data quickly from RAM rather
than waiting while the disk is accessed.
With a print server users do not have to wait for a printer to be available before being
able to send output. Print servers help defray the cost of expensive printers over many
users. Additionally fewer printers can serve more users, reducing your investment in
hardware.
After you select the print command in an application, the print job is sent to the local
printer port. The network software captures these outputs and redirect it to the network.
The job is sent to the print server where software is ready to handle it. If no other job is
printing it is printed immediately. However if the printer is busy, the print job will be
spooled (stored in a file on the hard disk of the print server), where it joins the queue
waiting to be printed.

Communication Server
A communication server gives all nodes on a LAN access to its modems or RS-232-C
connections. It provides links to external data networks and to corporate minicomputers
and mainframes. The communication server translates packets on a LAN into
asynchronous signals that are sent over telephone lines or RS-232-C serial
communications. A packet is a unit of information transmitted as a whole form one
device to another on a network.

Fax Server
A fax server is a personal computer or a self contained unit that holds a fax board and the
software that gives all the users access to it. This permits any user on the network to send
a fax from his or her workstation.

Network Interface Cards

A network interface card is a circuit board that fits in an expansion slot of a
workstation and makes a physical connection to the LAN cable. Its function
is moving data both from the workstation to the network and vice versa.

Hubs
In a star network where you have a computer in the centre acting as a
message processor, this computer is referred to as a hub. It is usually
connected to other computers using Ethernet network cards as they are low
priced and when used do not suffer from collision.

Routers
A large organisation may very well need many computing devices to be
connected to a network. This may generate a lot of traffic. A common
solution to this problem is to implement a high-speed backbone network.
This background may be a ring using optical fibre. The devices attached to
this backbone are called routers, since they route the messages to carry
around the network or they divert them to one of the devices attached to
router, such as a hub.

Bridges
Bridges and gateways perform similar tasks in that they enable data to be
passed from one network to another. However a bridge is used to connect
two LANs to make it appear as if the two networks are one, allowing
communication between devices on each. Using a bridge can reduce the
number of collisions, but maintain a large logical network. A bridge simply
passes packets back and forth between two networks regardless of the
protocols of the individual networks. When a network is organised into subnetworks using bridges, the sub-networks are called segments. A protocol is
the set of rules that enables computers to connect with one another and to
exchange data with as few errors as possible. Since bridges does no
translations, computers on each network must use the same protocol.
Bridges permits the creation of numerous small manageable networks that
can be connected together to form a larger network. This might be
preferable to a large, unwieldly network. It reduces traffic for individual
computers and improves the performance of the network. It also enable the
change of one type of cable to another.

Gateways

A gateway is an interface that converts the protocol of one network into a

form that can be used by another network that uses a different protocol.
Since the data will have a different format for each network, the gateway
converts the data from one format to another. This allows LANs to be
connected to WANs or other minicomputers or mainframes in the
organisation.

Modems
Data in a computer is in a digital form. Telephone lines were intended to
transmit the human voice, thus they format data as analog. A modem is an
device that converts signals from analog to digital from and from digital
form to analog form. Modem is an acronym for modulator-demodulator.
Modems are used especially when communication takes place using a
telephone line. The process of converting a digital signal to analog is called
modulation, while the process of converting an analog signal to a digital
signal is called demodulation. Three types of modems are acoustic, external
direct-connect and internal direct-connect.
An acoustic modem or acoustic coupler as it is sometimes called has two
cups into which the handset of a telephone is placed. This type of modem
sends data through the mouthpiece and receives data through the ear piece.
These are not used very often as their signals are much more susceptible to
interference. Also the carbon microphones used in the earpiece limit the rate
of data transmission.
An external direct-connect modem is external to the computer and connects
directly to the telephone line with a modular phone jack. The direct
connections greatly reduces the distortion of the signals and permits faster
data transfer rates. Most have features not found in the acoustic modems
such as checks of the operating status using lights and speakers; changes of
the speeds that data is transmitted