NETWORKING

Networking is a Department under the School of Computer Science. Courses focus on the interconnection of computing systems to share resources, and ultimately should provide an ever-increasing level of complexity in subject material, much as advancing classes in a traditional university do.
Networking is the practice of enabling and harnessing the transmission of data from one computer system to another. A crude analogy of a data network is pictured at right: two tin cans connected by a simple string. Note that what this basic analogy suggests holds true for actual implementations of data networks:

• The network exists merely as a medium for communications of some kind, across it
• A protocol of some form is needed to initiate and carry on conversations (this is not intrinsic to the network itself)
• The same protocol (a spoken language) can also be used with different media for the same purpose; different networks have different advantages and uses

A network may require one engineer to design it, another engineer to build it, and another engineer entirely to administer it. The skills needed for each stage in the process are related but not necessarily dependent; hence, Networking is interdisciplinary. The distinction between Networking and Computer Science in general is difficult to precisely define; it is better perhaps to consider that Networking grew out of Computer Science, because of a need to extend the existing capabilities of a computer (which includes data transmission) across large distances and with other unlike systems. However, an extensive background in Computer Science is not necessary to study or even practice Networking. A Network Engineer is a qualified individual who works with networks of some form, but the scope of that work and the skills required may be as diverse - even from one job to the next - as those of any scientist.

Networking is the practice of enabling and harnessing the transmission of data from one computer system to another, and can be divided into three categories:

• Connectivity Concepts - The principles and methods devices use to communicate over a network
• Mediums - The actual, physical method used to communicate.
• Administration - The process of maintaining a network.