Briefly describe the main functions of computer network.

The function of computer network is mainly manifested in three aspects: hardware resource sharing, software resource sharing and information exchange between users.

1, hardware resources * * *.

It can provide exclusive access to expensive equipment such as processing resources, storage resources, input and output resources and so on. In the whole network, users can save investment, and it is also convenient for centralized management and balanced load sharing.

2. Enjoy the software resources.

Users on the Internet are allowed to access all kinds of databases remotely, and they can obtain network file transfer service, remote process management service and remote file access service, which avoids repeated labor and data resources storage in software development and facilitates centralized management.

3. Information exchange between users.

Computer network provides powerful communication means for users distributed everywhere. Users can send emails, publish news messages and conduct e-commerce activities through computer networks.

Extended data

In the early days of network development or in other industries, the local area network (LAN) adopted due to industry characteristics is not necessarily Ethernet. The common LAN types are Ethernet, token ring, FDDI, asynchronous transfer mode network (ATM) and so on.

1, Ethernet

Ethernet was first founded by Xerox (Xerox) company, and was jointly developed as a standard by DEC, Intel and Xerox in 1980. Ethernet is the most widely used local area network, including standard Ethernet (10Mbps), fast Ethernet (100Mbps), gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps) and 10G Ethernet, all of which conform to the IEEE802.3 series standards and specifications.

2. Token Ring Network

Token ring network was developed by IBM in 1970s, which is relatively rare. The data transmission speed of the old token ring network is 4Mbps or 16Mbps, and the speed of the new fast token ring network can reach 100Mbps. The transmission mode of token ring network adopts star topology physically, but it is still ring topology logically.

Nodes are connected by a multi-station access unit (MAU). MAU is a special hub for transmitting the loop around the workstation computer. Since packets seem to be transmitted in a ring, there are no terminators in workstations and MAU.

3.FDDI network

FDDI is called "Optical Fiber Distributed Data Interface" in English and "Optical Fiber Distributed Data Interface" in Chinese. It is a local area network technology developed in the mid-1980s, and its high-speed data communication capability is higher than that of Ethernet (10Mbps) and token network (4 or 16Mbps).

FDDI standard is formulated by ANSI X3T9.5 standard committee, which provides an access method for large-capacity input and output on busy networks. FDDI technology is similar to IBM's Tokenring technology, which has management, control and reliability measures that LAN and Tokenring lack. FDDI supports multimode fiber with a length of 2KM.

4.ATM network

ATM is called "asynchronous transmission mode" in English and "asynchronous transmission mode" in Chinese. Its development began in the late 1970s. ATM is a relatively new cell switching technology, which is different from Ethernet, token ring network, FDDI network and other variable-length packet technologies. ATM uses 53-byte fixed-length cells for switching.

It is a switching technology, which does not enjoy the delay caused by transmitting media or data packets, and is very suitable for transmitting audio and video data.

5. Wireless local area network; ; Wireless local area network)

Wireless LAN is the latest and most popular LAN at present, especially since Intel introduced the first Centrino notebook processor with its own wireless network module. The main difference between WLAN and traditional LAN lies in the different transmission media. Traditional LAN is connected by tangible transmission media, such as coaxial cable, twisted pair and optical fiber.

Wireless LAN uses air as transmission medium. It is precisely because of getting rid of the shackles of tangible transmission media that the biggest feature of this LAN is freedom. As long as it is within the network coverage, you can connect servers and other workstations anywhere without laying cables.

This function is very suitable for those mobile office clusters, sometimes in airports, hotels, hotels and so on. (often referred to as "hot spots"). As long as the wireless network can cover them, they can connect to the wireless network and even the Internet anytime and anywhere.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-computer network