Draft:Outline of computer networking Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Outline_of_computer_networking

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to computer networking:

A computer network is a collection of communicating computers and other devices, such as printers and smart phones. Today almost all computers are connected to a computer network, such as the global Internet or an embedded network such as those found in modern cars. Many applications have only limited functionality unless they are connected to a computer network. Early computers had very limited connections to other devices, but perhaps the first example of computer networking occurred in 1940 when George Stibitz connected a terminal at Dartmouth to his Complex Number Calculator at Bell Labs in New York.

Computer networking can be described as all of the following:

• Information theory

• Personal area network
• Local area network
• Campus network
• Metropolitan area network
• Wide area network
• Storage area network
• Virtual private network

History of computer networking

Data transmission

• Public switched telephone network
  • Modems and dialup
• Dedicated lines — leased lines
• ISDN
• DSL
• Time-division multiplexing(TDM)
• Packet switching
• Frame relay
• PDH
• Ethernet
• RS-232
• RS-485
• Optical fiber transmission
  • Synchronous optical networking(SONET)
  • Fiber distributed data interface

Wireless

Extreme Short range

• • ZigBee
• Short range
  • Bluetooth
  • InfraRed(IrDA)
• Medium range
  • WiFi(IEEE 802.11)
  • WiMax(IEEE 802.16)
• Long range
  • Satellite
  • MMDS
  • SMDS
  • Mobile phone data transmission (channel access methods)
    • CDMA
    • CDPD
    • GSM
    • TDMA
  • Paging networks
    • DataTAC
    • Mobitex
    • Motient

• Unsolved problems in computer science