Networking

 

Networks, wired or wireless, are used by businesses to share resources, whether they be data or hardware. As businesses grow, the need for networking increases. In the absence of networks, information may be difficult and cumbersome to share among users. In this case, data may be shared using disks and other media. Unfortunately, such sharing quickly leads to multiple copies of documents, and confusion on part of users as to which version of a document is the most recent one and who has it! Another consequence of this means of data sharing relates to information security. Quite often, information of a strategic nature may be stored on disks being exchanged. First, such data may be available to users who are not authorized to view it. Second, multiple copies of such disks "lying around" could easily lead to their theft and revelation to outsiders. The latter reason underscores the need to implement security and privacy measures to guard critical information.

 

Another reason for deploying networks is to share hardware peripheral devices, such as printers, among users. In the absence of networks, a printer may need to be purchased for every user, leading to increased initial and ongoing expenses, first to purchase printers and then to maintain them for continued operation. Using a network reduces the need to purchase separate printers for each user; fewer printers can be installed and networked for maximum utilization. Networking computers does not necessarily involve purchasing and maintaining expensive hardware and software. The current versions of the popular operating systems software, Microsoft Windows, have networking capabilities built-in to allow users to share information and peripheral devices.