ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and application
types of communication technology:
- Personal web sites: Sites that anyone can make/design to post material, including writings, drawings, and pictures. They may allow users to post comments on them.Blogs (weblogs): Interactive personal online diaries or journals.
- Email: Communication sent to individual(s) or a discussion list.
- Discussion groups or bulletin boards: group communications around a topic.
- Chat: Real time group communication programs or websites, with ability to establish private chats as well.
- Instant Messaging (IM): instant, text based 'chat' programs through which users on a private contact or "buddy list" can communicate.
- SMS text/digital image messaging: Messages or images sent via mobile-phones.
- Social networking communities: Web sites like MySpace that combine the features of profiles, personal web sites, blogs, discussion groups/boards, chat, gaming, and messaging.
COMPUTER NETWORK
A computer network is a set of connected computers. Computers on a network are called nodes. The connection between computers can be done via cabling, most commonly the Ethernet cable, or wireless through radio waves. Connected computers can share resources like access to the Internet, printers, file servers, and others. A network is a multipurpose connection, which allows a single computer to do more.
There are several different types of computer networks. Computer networks can be characterized by their size as well as their purpose.
The size of a network can be expressed by the geographic area they occupy and the number of computers that are part of the network. Networks can cover anything from a handful of devices within a single room to millions of devices spread across the entire globe.
Some of the different networks based on size are:
Personal area network, or PAN
Local area network, or LAN
Metropolitan area network, or MAN
Wide area network, or WAN
In terms of purpose, many networks can be considered general purpose, which means they are used for everything from sending files to a printer to accessing the Internet. Some types of networks, however, serve a very particular purpose. Some of the different networks based on their main purpose are:
Storage area network, or SAN
Enterprise private network, or EPN
Virtual private network, or VPN
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LOCAL AREA NETWORK
A local area network, or LAN, consists of a computer network at a single site, typically an individual office building. A LAN is very useful for sharing resources, such as data storage and printers. LANs can be built with relatively inexpensive hardware, such as hubs, network adapters and Ethernet cables.
METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK
A metropolitan area network, or MAN, consists of a computer network across an entire city, college campus or small region. A MAN is larger than a LAN, which is typically limited to a single building or site. Depending on the configuration, this type of network can cover an area from several miles to tens of miles. A MAN is often used to connect several LANs together to form a bigger network. When this type of network is specifically designed for a college campus, it is sometimes referred to as a campus area network, or CAN.
WIDE AREA NERWORK
A wide area network, or WAN, occupies a very large area, such as an entire country or the entire world. A WAN can contain multiple smaller networks, such as LANs or MANs. The Internet is the best-known example of a public WAN.
WIRED
Making use of computers to transfer or receive information, especially by means of the Internet. There are some types of wired:
Twisted-pair wire -- standard phone wires, such as the wires that connect home telephones to the local telephone office.
Coaxial cable -- wire surrounded by a flexible metallic shielding such as in cable TV connections.
Fiber optic cable -- uses light instead of electricity; made of filaments of glass about the same diameter as a human hair.
WIRELESS
The word wireless is dictionary defined as "having no wires". In-networking terminology, wireless is the term used to describe any computer network where there is no physical wired connection between sender and receiver, but rather the network is connected by radio waves and/or microwaves to maintain communications.
WLANS: Wireless Local Area Networks
WLANS allow users in a local area, such as a university campus or library, to form a network or gain access to the internet. A temporary network can be formed by a small number of users without the need of an access point; given that they do not need access to network resources
WPANS: Wireless Personal Area Networks
he two current technologies for wireless personal area networks are Infra Red (IR) and Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15). These will allow the connectivity of personal devices within an area of about 30 feet. However, IR requires a direct line of site and the range is less.
WMANS: Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks
his technology allows the connection of multiple networks in a metropolitan area such as different buildings in a city, which can be an alternative or backup to laying copper or fiber cabling.
COMMUNICATION PROTOCAL
Hardware and software standards that govern data transmission between computers. The term "protocol" is very generic and is used for hundreds of different communications methods. A protocol may define the packet structure of the data transmitted or the control commands that manage the session, or both
TCP/IP
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and IP (Internet Protocol) are two different procedures that are often linked together. The linking of several protocols is common since the functions of different protocols can be complementary so that together they carry out some complete task.Internet Protocol (IP) is the method used to route information to the proper address.
SMTP
Email requires its own set of protocols and there are a variety, both for sending and for receiving mail. The most common protocol for sending mail is Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). When configuring email clients, an Internet address for an SMTP server must be entered
NETBEUI
In order to properly describe NetBEUI, the transport protocol sometimes used for Microsoft networking, it is necessary to describe Microsoft networking in some detail and the various protocols used and what network layers they support.
NetBIOS, NetBEUI, and SMB are Microsoft Protocols used to support Microsoft Networking. The NetBIOS stack includes SMB, NetBIOS, and NetBEUI which are described in the table below.
REFERENCE
http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/protocol.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_protocol
http://www.techonicals.com/2012/07/blog-post.html
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/wireless.html
http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-computer-network-types-definition-quiz.html
http://study.com/academy/lesson/types-of-networks-lan-wan-wlan-man-san-pan-epn-vpn.html
