NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

DEFINITION

• The design of computers, devices, and media on a network is sometimes called the network architecture.
• There are two categories of network architecture :
• Peer-to-peer
• Client-server

PEER-TO-PEER

• Is a simple, inexpensive network, typically connects fewer than 10 computers.
• Each computer, called a peer, has equal responsibility and capabilities in sharing hardware.
• Each computer on a peer-to-peer network shares its hardware and software with other computers on the network.
• It describes an Internet network on which users access each other's hard disks and exchange files directly over the Internet.
• Each peer, stores files on its own storage devices.

CLIENT-SERVER

• A network in which the shared files applications are stored in the server and network that request services from the server.
• One or more computers act as a server and the clients access the server ; highly capable computer on the network.
• A server controls access to the hardware, software and other resources on the network.
• The other computers on the network, called clients request services from the server.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

	ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
PEER-TO-PEER	Low cost. Simple to configure. User has full accessibility of the computer.	May have duplication in resources. Difficult to uphold security policy. Difficult to handle uneven loading.
CLIENT-SERVER	Centralized security & backups. Faster access. Single password. Better password security.	Central point of failure. Administrator required. Server and server software required.