Components of a Network
The 6 main components of a network.
Router
Switch
Hub
Client
Server
In the most common use, a server is a physical computer (a computer hardware system) dedicated to run one or more services (as a host)., to serve the needs of the users of other computers on a network. Depending on the computing service that it offers it could be a database server, file server, mail server, print server, web server, gaming server, or some other kind of server.
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the server performs some computational task on behalf of "clients." The clients either run on the same computer, or they connect through the network.
ring network
Ring networks are very inefficient as all the data must go one way around the ring creating a slow circle of data. Also if the first client wants to send data to the last one it will have go round the whole ring.
Star Network
These are very efficient as the data can travel straight to the server and then to another client. However if the server goes down the whole network will go down.
Bus network
A bus network topology is a network architecture in which a set of clients are connected via a shared communications line/cables, called a bus. There are several common instances of the bus architecture, including one in the motherboard of most computers.
These are easy to add computers to but they are very slow as only one piece of data can travel to another client at one time making the whole process very slow.