Before the internet and cloud computing connected individual computers to the whole wide world, local networks were all the rage. However, most home users do not realize the value of networking computers today even though it can help business save thousands of dollars each year. We examine the top reasons for networking computers.
File sharing
The most common reason behind network sharing is to facilitate file sharing. Since files created in one computer are available and visible on others in the network, users do not need to share them via email or using portable storage devices. This enhances productivity greatly and also allows multiple users to work on a shared project simultaneously.
Hardware Sharing
Networked computers are able to share hardware like hard drives, DVD drives and printers easily which means that a single unit of these can be used to cater to an entire office or the whole household.
Program sharing
When many computers are put on a network, they don’t need to have applications and programs like word processors an spreadsheets installed on each of them to be able to use them. This represents huge savings for a large organization.
Easy communication
When computers are associated with a network, they are able to communicate using video conferencing, newsgroups, email and IM in a more secure way.
Shared data processing
If you work in a field that requires you to process very copious amounts of data, you could use a network of thousands of computers spread all over the globe instead of trying to acquire a few supercomputers to do the work. A good example of this is the way CERN has used networked computers to analyze the data from the Large Hadron Collider.