Advantages and Disadvantages of Networks Essays

Advantages and Disadvantages of Networks Essays Advantages and Disadvantages of Networks Paper Advantages and Disadvantages of Networks Paper Advantages and disadvantages of networks I’ll start by saying that setting up a network is a serious job and should be done only by a person that is already familiar with the process of networking. The variety of options for setting up a home network can influence on a decision regarding the equipment needed to be purchase. Before deciding what hardware to buy you must first find out which type of network technology to use (by type of network technology I mean the way computers connect to the network and communicate with each other). I personally have a home Local Area Network (LAN) connected through a cable modem router to my D-LINK DSL modem. Besides LAN I have two computers (notebook and PC) and they are both connected to a printer and scanner, so that I can print or scan anything in a second just with one click. In my opinion the best thing about having a network is to be able to play multiplayer games with my husband or the fact that I don’t need a separate Internet Connection for every computer (although there is a downside to this, because when I’m downloading something from internet, websites take too long to open if my husband is working on the other computer). I can share the one I have on all of them. There are some disadvantages as well. Sometimes it happens that the network simply gets lost and it takes hours to figure out what the problem is. But, when I sum everything up, I really can`t understand how I lived without network before, because now I am able to do almost everything without leaving my home. What is your opinion on this subject? You can write about some of your experiences that can be useful for showing the advantages and disadvantages of networks or about what is already known on this topic. In this essay we will talk about networks and the various ways in which they can be used. While talking about networks we will also discuss various advantages and disadvantages related to them. There are several ways you can connect your computers: cables through the house or office, wireless – by radio waves or by telephone lines. Each of these methods requires configuration of the connected computers so that they are able to share files, printers and internet connection. Setting up a computer to operate in a network is not difficult. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages and we pay attention to them. Advantage of wireless network is that you have the freedom to use the internet from any room in your house or office and more people can use the internet at the same time. The disadvantages are that sometimes a router can’t cover the area needed and it can become difficult to reach a signal. But the biggest disadvantage of wireless Internet is that your network will be available to everyone who is using a wireless router and can use your network to access the internet at any time. This is why this kind of network needs to be protected with a security password in order to prevent it. Advantages of computer networks are numerous, while disadvantages are almost minimal if the networking is done properly. With a small investment in computer network, a person or organization can get the most of computers and accessories they already own or plan to purchase. Division of all resources in a network is possible (internet connection, printers, scanners, fax modems, plotters, etc. ). This means that from each of the computers in the network, you can print anything on a printer that is connected to the network through one of the computers located in another room or in another table. With implementation of network you do not need to get internet connection for each computer separately. It is enough that one has it in order to share it with others. Any user on network will have access to the Internet. This means that this person can read and send letters and surf Internet (surfing is just an option; the system can be set for every user separately, so that users do not have direct access to the Internet). When you have multiple computers at home or at work, and you want to share among them Internet connection, files or playing games, the best thing is to connect them by network. If a network file server develops a fault on the other hand, then users may not be able to run application programs or a fault on the network can cause users to loose data (if the files aren’t saved). Sometimes it can happen that if the network stops operating, it may not be possible to access various resources. Users become dependent upon network and the skills of the systems manager and it is difficult to make the system secure from hackers. Networks that have grown with little thought can be inefficient in the long term; as traffic increases on a network, the performance degrades unless it is designed properly; resources may be located too far away from some users; the larger the network becomes, the more difficult it is to manage. But still setting up an office network it is actually worth a while because the benefits from the fact that it can save you money to the fact that you can this way improve business as well as the quality of services a firm has to offer. And all of the security issues and costs and staff skills, a person can, with combination of proper training and by setting up a proper security system, reduce all of this issues to minimum and you definitely have more advantages then disadvantages. You can use your network to share files, a printer or another peripheral device and Internet connection. In peer-to-peernetwork you can exchange files or informations directly user to user possible. All clients provide resources, bandwidth, storage space, and computing power to the system. This increases the total capacity of the system and enables faster files sharing in peer to peer network. Disadvantage of P2P network is that with ityou can easily catch viruses, spyware or some other kind of malware andmost files shared this way are in breach of copy right. It also eats up a lot of bandwidth and affects anything else you plan on doing on internet. The thing I appreciate the most when it comes to network is if you have to work on another computer that is sharing a network with your computer and you need to access some data on your computer, you can do it easily, provided that your computer is turned on. I would like to discuss more about office networks too. The advantages and disadvantages of using network in office can influence on our decision whether it is a good or bad for our business. If you, for example have multiple computers in an office and you dont have a network, it can end up being too expensive. With implementation of network you could simply network printer and share it. Response times is the most important thing is the hardware you are running, so you have to be sure to run a server on a good hardware, so you can assure improvement in quality and speed up the amount of daily work. Single points of failure could be reduced with a properly implemented backup system for example. This way the problem with lost data when server crashes will be minimized or completely eliminated. In today’s society, it is practically impossible not to use some kind of network. The great advantages such as shared printers or possibility of computers being managed centrally with the same software installed on each one (although looking from Bill Gates prospective this would probably be a disadvantage)or the fact that communication across the network is cheap and fast are making a lot of jobs easier nowadays. There are unfortunately a few disadvantages too. If the person that is implementing the network is not skilled, compatibility issues with different types of software running on the network could be a threat. Sometimes the maintenance can be expensive, or as you’ve mentioned a fault with the server can prevent the whole network from working. A lot of work must be put into security measures so that we can prevent access to our network, especially from crackers and viruses. I hope to hear soon from our two colleagues and I’m looking forward to hear their point of view.