Network is a term used to describe the exchange of data between two computers, or among computers. It can be a very simple concept where basically people just send what they want and receive what they required. However, it can also be as complex as involving protocols or different IP addresses. 

 

The way our computers transferring data is by using what is called internet. Internet is a structure where services of data exchanging are provided in different continent and people can access these services by paying for IP address from their internet provider. Physically, a computer connect to a wire and the wire is connected to modem where data are send to local internet provider.

 

So, how exactly people can be informed when they are using internet. The first thing is IP address. IP address is usually assigned by local internet provider (random IP address also works) and that IP address are specifically belonged to one Domain where people can be sure that the IP is come from a certain place.

 

The second concept of internet communication is protocols. Without protocols, your computer cannot access data or exchange information with other computers. Protocols ensure that two computers are connecting under certain type of algorithm which means under the same tunnel.

 

Internet is neither the start of the end of network and communication. On different geographical scale, we have different communication technique and the network is also different. For example, when two computers are directly connected by using shared Wi-Fi or cable, we can call that kind of network communication as LAN (Local Area Network), and what we used the most in recent days are call WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). By saying LAN, some of you may already have an idea about other network like WAN (World Area Network), CAN (internet we used in campus), or MAN (Metropolitan Area Network, which is mostly used for city-scaled geographic area).

 

Some people will wonder, since computer itself only hold a physical address which matters nothing, is it possible to pretend that the user is using IP from other places? VPN will be the answer that everyone should be familiar with. VPN is also called Virtual Private Network, it works in ways that computers are connected to open nodes instead of direct physical wires. However, IP address or network communication can still be detected since basically everyone need to use an IP that is distributed by local provider to connect to those open node. By connected multiple times between open nodes will increase the difficulty of tracing back your original IP, but it is still possible to just tell who is the using the network.