Network operating system

Network

It is a group of devices and computers that can communicate with each other and share resources like printer, storage etc. 

Network operating system (NOS)
It is a system software that controls various devices on a computer network and how they communicate with each other these operating systems used in servers. 

Network operating system provide following functions:

  • File sharing
  • Print sharing
  • System administration
  • Data backup etc.
Some examples of network operating systems are:
  • Linux
  • windows server
  • Mac OSX server

Important Terms

Network interface card (NIC)- NIC is a device inside a computer or network device that enables communication with a network 

Hardware address/MAC(media access control)- It is a unique address associated with a particular network device

Server- Server is a computer that handles request for data, email, files and other network services from other computers(clients)

LAN(local area network)- It is a computer network that is located in a limited geographical area and it refers to a network that is not publicly accessible.

WAN (wide area network)- It is a computer network located in other geographical areas that means this type of network is more extensive(wide) than a Local Area Network(LAN).

Bandwidth- Bandwidth describes maximum data transfer rate of a network or internet connection it measures how much data sent for a specific connection in given specific time.
e.g. Gigabit Ethernet connection has a bandwidth of 1000 Mbps (Megabits per second)

Operating System- An operating system is a software that manages a computer. Operating system enables computer hardware resources accessible to a consistent set of interfaces and also interacts with users.