Talk:Computer network

Computer network vs internetworking

Once interesting thing that came out of this- it looks like people like Vint Cerf think that the Internet isn't a computer network, it's a network of networks.

I found that confusing, but it looks like 'computer network' early on generally meant something more like 'local area network'. If you think of it that way, an internetwork *isn't* a computer network, it's a whole other magic thing covering multiple campuses etc.

However, with the advent of the concept of layering- because the internet is just another layer, it's clearer to look at computer networks as encompassing internetworking as well.

So, really that's just terminology. However, I can't find a really good referencing to any of that, it seems to be more implicit. Tanenbaum does however mention that terms like 'computer network' has multiple meanings. We could probably do with a nomenclature section. If anyone can find some solid references that would be a big help. GliderMaven (talk) 17:15, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

What once was cleanly divided into "LAN" and "WAN" has long since been completely blurred. Traditional WAN technology is considered legacy or even outdated. Ethernet, conceived as a LAN technology, has evolved to natively span hundreds of kilometers and has become very popular for WAN. Does it really matter so much if a network is held together by switches or routers? Does it matter if the components are managed by a single entity or by multiple ones? There are many views on this and we should – carefully – try to represent the major ones here, but please let's not overdo this. --Zac67 (talk) 19:34, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

Very notable authors distinguish computer networks from internetworks. This should be more clearly distinguished and defined in this article, rather than just lumped together in a blur. Glidenmaven claims that this blur is critically important, in his recent reverts. It is not. Clarity is important, not just in the lede. Kbrose (talk) 16:47, 17 May 2020 (UTC)

If internetworks are not computer networks, then they need to be completely removed from the article. That is what you are calling for yes? Removal of the Internet and all internetworking from this article??? GliderMaven (talk) 21:27, 17 May 2020 (UTC)

Gone. I wouldn't like you to think I'd 'blurred it completely'. GliderMaven (talk) 21:44, 17 May 2020 (UTC)

IMHO, the distinction between network and internetwork may be an important one in very specific contextes, but it isn't here. Joe Average connects his computer "to the Internet" – but actually he doesn't? In the tight interpretation of network he connects his computer with his ISP's network (which is interconnected to the rest of the world). As per WP:SURPRISE, let's consider what an average reader expects to find here instead of drifting off into academic hairsplitting. Leaving out the Internet altogether goes the same way. --Zac67 (talk) 06:24, 18 May 2020 (UTC)

It is fine if we want to make a distinction between a network and an internetwork. That doesn't mean that an an internetwork is not a network. A network of networks is still a network; It is not a local-area network but it is a computer network. ~Kvng (talk) 14:21, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

The question has been distorted by confusion, and somehow that seemed intentional from the beginning, IMHO. It was never, whether an internetwork is a network, but whether or not it is a computer network. That depends on the meaning of computer for this purpose. On a minimal level, of course, a router is also a computer, but this does not appear sufficient to some notable sources. Kbrose (talk) 18:28, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

Network (computing) or computer network and are what I am referring to when I say network above. Of course, outside computing there are other meanings for network. Local area network and internetwork are, in my mind, specific types of computer network. But there are reports here that some sources see things differently. If computer network is some specific type of network for comuters, what would be a good umbrella term for describing the whole discipline? ~Kvng (talk) 13:07, 26 May 2020 (UTC)

Satellites do not use computers, they are build using pasive elements such as this one, since no computer can work at 13 GHz. And they can operate with signals to switch, supress or amplify them as in any Telecommunication network; the satellites networks are part of Internet. Internet was designed and is still manteined as a network of networks, and not every network in the Internet works with computers. --Albertojuanse (talk) 09:22, 6 July 2020 (UTC)

History-Section: Network OSes

This is a question folks. Do not get me wrong.

The development of computer networks was – in my memory of exchanges about the topic a long time ago – closely connected to that of operating systems, which I will not name as I do know only one of them. Looking at the landscape of current operating systems, this relation – if it is real – should merit coverage in the article, as it can partly explain things which are felt as “odd” by some computer users, and natural by others... My English is not good enough to do that. And I am still questioning.

TY anyway. Psycho Chicken (talk) 08:42, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

"Solomon system" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Solomon system and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 December 12 § Solomon system until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Steel1943 (talk) 18:28, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

"Workgroup or domain" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Workgroup or domain and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 December 12 § Workgroup or domain until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Steel1943 (talk) 18:46, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

"List of suggested topics for computer networking research" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect List of suggested topics for computer networking research and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 December 12 § List of suggested topics for computer networking research until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Steel1943 (talk) 18:51, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

Computer network

Girls voice 2402:3A80:B48:C779:0:42:40B7:4201 (talk) 00:54, 8 March 2023 (UTC)