What is a network and why is it required?

A computer network is a group of computers and peripheral devices, connected through a data communication system to facilitate the sharing of hardware and software resources among different users working on different computers.

A computer network is required for the following reasons:

1. A computer network enables the sharing of hardware and software resources.
2. Data can be shared over a network by saving and storing it centrally reducing redundancy of the same data.
3. It helps in saving of paper and time by reducing the need for generating multiple hard copies of the same document.
4. It enables Internet sharing among the computers in the network thus, reducing internet usage cost.