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| | Network (computer science) - MSN Encarta |
 | | Two important components are the transmission media that carry the computer's signals, typically on wires or fiber-optic cables, and the network adapter, which accesses the physical media that link computers, receives packets from network software, and transmits instructions and requests to other computers. |
 | | A network has two types of connections: physical connections that let computers directly transmit and receive signals and logical, or virtual, connections that allow computer applications, such as e-mail programs and the browsers used to explore the World Wide Web, to exchange information. |
 | | Common topologies used to arrange computers in a network are point-to-point, bus, star, ring, and mesh. |
| encarta.msn.com /encyclopedia_761567995/Network_(computer_science).html (950 words) |
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