Computer Networks III

BENEFITS OF NETWORKS

Networks can allow businesses to reduce expenses and improve efficiency by sharing data and common equipment, such as printers, among many different computers. While printers can be shared in other ways, such as by carrying information on floppy disks from one PC to another, or using manual or electronic data switches, networks have the capacity to accommodate more users with less frustration. The power of mainframes or minicomputers can be used in harmony with personal computers. The larger machines can process larger and more complex jobs, such as maintaining the millions of records needed by a national company, while individual PCs manned by individual users handle smaller jobs such as word processing. And older equipment can be rotated to less demanding jobs as workstations are upgraded. Many software programs also offer license agreements for networks, which can be more cost effective than purchasing individual copies for each machine. The costs of implementing a network depend on issues of performance, compatibility, and whether value must be added to a turnkey system through additional programming or the addition of special components.

By coordinating all data and applications through a single network, backup copies of data for all systems can be made more consistently than could be expected if left to individual users. Additional, updated software for all machines on a network can be installed through a single PC. A centralized system simplifies other aspects of administration, too. With the proper software, computer security can also be implemented more effectively in a network than among many individual hard drives. Access to files can be restricted to password holders or it can be limited to inquiry-only access for public users. Generally, security measures are more vulnerable at machines with single user operating systems than those with network security precautions.