Identifying the Benefits of Networks

Ricky finds himself pondering the question, “What are networks used for?” He is the second person brought aboard SinkRSwim Pools to enhance its

network use. Remember, that’s where Lauren is creating a network to replace the company’s outdated computers. Ricky volunteered to help Lauren explain the benefits of networking to the company’s workers as part of his computer class project at school. The workers already have the new computers Lauren ordered and are happily doing more with them, but Ricky is helping Lauren network them and is encouraging the workers to use the network.

Ricky remembers Mike’s words at the opening of this chapter: “In the beginning there were no networks. Life was bad.” This may have meant one thing to Mike when he said it, but the beginning for these workers is right now. They haven’t had networks, and they don’t see why they should need them. Ricky decides to discuss the historical development of computers and show how they helped other businesses.

In the early days of the personal computer (PC), during the late ’70s and early ’80s, often a PC was used as a stand-alone computer and operated independently from other computers, as shown in Figure 1.3. When, over the span of just those few years, their use proliferated and more PCs were found relatively close to each other, users began sharing information. The information was either printed out or copied from one computer to another using backup or storage devices, such as tapes, disks, or other digital storage media.

The printout or the storage device was then physically carried to another computer where the information was re-entered or copied from the portable media into the next computer. This process was referred to as a sneaker net because users actually had to walk from computer to computer. It was

probably the cheapest type of network—unless the computers were large distances apart or the information needed to be shared among many computers. Other drawbacks to sneakernets were that printouts were often bulky, and the storage devices could hold a relatively small amount of data compared to the large amount of output users produced. Once computers were connected by networks, information sharing increased dramatically. People found that more data helped them make better decisions, and companies started saving money. Many original networks were designed to facilitate communication, but they were quickly expanded as businesses noticed increased productivity and reduced costs.