13 september 2017
Need to catch up on my feels! Here's what I have started to learn the past few days:
As stated, I am studying for my compTIA A+ certification. I started at the beginning of the book learning about computer hardware. And while I have learned a lot, it is also boring me to tears. So to break a bit of monotany, I have jumped to the networking section.
I started off with LANs, WANs, PANs, and MANs. LANs (local area network) mostly describe computers networked in the same physical building. Whereas WANs (wide area networks) can generally be used to describe multiple, disbursed LANs connected together. PANs (personal area networks) are more commonly associated with small bluetooth networks. MANs (metropolitian area network) are larger than LANs, but still cover a relatively small geographical areas like citys or large campuses.
I learned the differences (and similarities) between clients and servers. There could be no difference hardware wise between a client or server, and is safer to think at the software level here; PCs can host network resources too. These pcs can be termed a non-dedicated server. Dedicated servers provide specific services, and typically won't be used as a day-to-day workstation. Dedicated servers are typically the rack mounted hardware you see in dataclosets or server rooms. Resources can be printers, data storage and file access, or applications. This tilde server for example provides many resources and is most likely a dedicated machine.
There are different types of networks to access resources. Care must be given when setting up a network. Is it a large company or a home network? Does it need security and administration? Will it be expensive? Peer-to-peer networks have computers that act as both service requestors and providers. They are good for small and simple networks like in a home. Whereas Client-Server networks are better suited to large companies. These can be administered at a central location and is more secure. It is also easier to share resources. They are more expensive however.
There are sevral ways to physically network computers together. I won't go into much detail, but the most common way to wire a network is the star topology, where computers and printers are networked to a central location like a switch or hub. (Typically a switch.)
Currently, I am learning what is known as the OSI model. Things are starting to get a little comlex here, but basically it is a theoretical model governing computer communication. (Taken from my CompTIA book. This model is useful as a technician or administrator for diagnosing problems with a network. Since I'm still learning this, I'll write about this at a later date.
That was a mouthful! I also realised how nice it is to review what I have learned. Going to take a break now. Been studying for a couple hours now.
If you are still reading this I'm impressed. This is terribly boring. I'm boring. Go do something not boring! The implementation of this knowledge won't be boring though! Hopefully.