CompTIA Network+ N10-009: Introduction to Networking

Vocabulary flashcards covering core networking fundamentals, network types, physical and logical topologies, hierarchical models, data center traffic flows, and IP transmission methods from the CompTIA Network+ N10-009 course notes.

Computer Network

A system of interconnected computers and other devices that communicate and share resources and information, with the main purpose of sharing data, devices, and applications.

Host

A device or system on a network that uses, provides, or shares resources and services; generally any device configured with an IP address.

Server

A computer or system that provides resources, data, services, or programs to other computers (known as clients) over a network.

Workstation

A high-performance computer designed for technical or scientific applications, typically used by one person at a time.

Client Machine

A computer or device that accesses services, applications, or resources provided by a server over a network.

Network Devices

Hardware components that allow servers, workstations, and client computers to connect and share resources, including routers, switches, wireless access points (APs), and firewalls.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A network covering a small geographic area like a home, office, or building, typically utilized for sharing local resources such as files and printers.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

A network that spans a large geographic area, such as an entire country or continent, with the internet being the largest example.

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

A network covering a geographic area larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN, typically spanning a city.

Campus Area Network (CAN)

A network that interconnects multiple local area networks (LANs) within a limited geographical area, such as a university campus, corporate campus, or industrial complex.

Storage Area Network (SAN)

A high-speed, specialized network providing access to consolidated data storage, enabling storage devices like disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes to appear to servers as locally attached storage.

Personal Area Network (PAN)

A network covering a very small area, typically within a single room, such as a Bluetooth connection between a smartphone and a headset.

Peer-to-Peer Network

A decentralized network architecture where each connected device (peer) can act as both a client and a server, directly sharing resources, data, and services without a central server.

Client-Server Network

A centralized network architecture where multiple client devices connect to a central server that manages, hosts, and serves requested resources and services.

Network Backbone

The central infrastructure pathway that interconnects various network segments, typically composed of high-speed, high-capacity links and core routers or switches handling the bulk of network traffic.

Network Segment

A smaller subnetwork or cluster of networked devices (often representing different organizational departments or areas) that connects to the backbone to communicate and share services.

Network Topology

The structural layout or arrangement of elements (links, nodes, devices) within a computer network that influences performance, reliability, and scalability.

Point-to-Point Topology

A network arrangement involving a direct, dedicated connection between two networking devices using a single physical cable or wireless link (e.g., site-to-site WAN links or host-to-host PAN links).

Mesh Topology

A network topology where each host connects to every other host with no central point; it provides maximum fault tolerance and redundancy, but is the most expensive, complex, and difficult to expand.

Star Topology (Hub-and-Spoke)

A network layout where all nodes connect to a single central device (such as a switch, hub, or WAP); easy to manage and troubleshoot, but introduces a single point of failure at the central node.

Hybrid Topology

A network configuration that combines two or more different topologies to leverage the distinct advantages and mitigate the disadvantages of each.

Three-Tier Hierarchical Model

A structured network design framework dividing the network into three distinct layers (Core, Distribution, and Access) to optimize performance, scalability, and maintainability.

Core Layer

The high-speed backbone layer of the hierarchical network model responsible for fast, reliable packet switching across the network, designed with high redundancy and fault tolerance.

Distribution Layer

The intermediary tier in the three-tier model that manages routing, filtering, and WAN access while aggregating traffic from access switches before sending it to the core.

Access Layer

The network's point of entry that directly connects end-user devices (such as desktop PCs and laptops) to the network via switches and wireless access points.

Spine and Leaf Architecture

A two-layer data center network topology where every access leaf switch connects to every backbone spine switch (without spine switches connecting to each other), minimizing latency such that no leaf switch is separated by more than two switches.

Collapsed Core Architecture

A two-tier network design that merges the core and distribution layers into a single layer to simplify administration and reduce equipment costs in small-to-medium networks.

North-South Traffic

Inbound and outbound network traffic flowing between a data center and the outside world (e.g., internet clients accessing servers hosted inside the data center).

East-West Traffic

Internal network traffic flowing entirely within the data center, such as server-to-server, server-to-storage, and VM-to-VM communication.

Unicast

A one-to-one communication method where data packets are sent from a single sender to one specific recipient identified by a unique IP address.

Multicast

A communication method where data is transmitted from one or more senders to multiple subscribed recipients simultaneously using a specific group address, optimizing bandwidth consumption.

Anycast

A network routing method where data sent to a single address is routed to the topologically closest or best destination among multiple servers sharing that same address (commonly used in DNS and CDNs).

Broadcast

A communication method where a single transmission is delivered to all devices within a local network segment simultaneously; supported in IPv4, but omitted in IPv6 in favor of multicast.