Week 11: Clear/Networking

This week in class we talked about communications and networks. I thought learning about networks was easy but also very helpful and useful. We learned about the different types of networks:

1. PAN-Personal Area Network-your own computer, mobile phone
2. LAN-Local Area Network-single, local buildings, about a mile across
3. MAN-Metropolitan Area Network-up to 50 mile span-facilitate economic growth
4. WAN-Wide Area Network-statewide, nationwide, etc.

We also learned about the benefits and disadvantages of networking. The number 1 benefit is that networks facilitate communication and give us greater productivity as consumers. Networking is efficient and less expensive for us, while also allowing us to work with software. Another benefit of networking is the ability to share data and information, as well as being able to transfer funds. The disadvantages of networking are cost, security threats and privacy. However, the users lack of privacy just comes down to trusting the other people working with your information.

Networking is a very important concept to learn for future work in the business world because you will interact with it everyday. Using your computer or e-mail on your phone is all considered networking and is increasingly becoming more important in our lives today. A website that answers questions and help with problems you have with your computer or networking can be found here.