For example, a group of servers might be located in a secure area, away from humans, and only accessed through the network. Servers tend to be more powerful than workstations, although configurations are guided by needs. With the advent of the tablet computer, and the touch screen devices such as iPad and iPhone, our definition of workstation is quickly evolving to include those devices, because of their ability to interact with the network and utilize network services. Workstations were traditionally considered a desktop, consisting of a computer, keyboard, display, and mouse, or a laptop, with with integrated keyboard, display, and touchpad.

Workstations are called such because they typically do have a human user which interacts with the network through them.

Services provided can include printing and faxing, software hosting, file storage and sharing, messaging, data storage and retrieval, complete access control (security) for the network's resources, and many others. Servers are generally not used by humans directly, but rather run continuously to provide 'services' to the other computers (and their human users) on the network. It is generally limited to a geographic area such as a writing lab, school, or building.Ĭomputers connected to a network are broadly categorized as servers or workstations. You may also see references to a Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN), a Wireless LAN (WLAN), or a Wireless WAN (WWAN).Ī Local Area Network (LAN) is a network that is confined to a relatively small area. Two very common types of networks include: The computers on a network may be linked through cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.

A network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources (such as printers and CDs), exchange files, or allow electronic communications.

Types of network