Ø  Topology

The geometric arrangements of a computer system. Common topologies include bus, star and ring.

Ø  Protocol

The protocol defines a common set of rules and signals that computers on the network use to communicate. One of the most popular protocol for LANs is called ethernet. Another popular LAN protocol for PCs is the IBM token ring network.

Ø  Architecture

Networks can be broadly classified as using either peer-to-peer or client/server architecture.

Computers on a network are sometimes called nodes. Computer and devices that allocate resources for a network are called servers.