Introduction - Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design - page 20

b. A device that coordinates the activities of a peripheral device.
c. Allows information to be sent and received.
d. This type of memory is usually volatile.
e. This type of memory is usually nonvolatile.
f. This term basically is interchangeable with the term “main memory.”
g. Where the fundamental processing of a computer takes place.

1.3 Networks

A single computer can accomplish a great deal, but connecting several computers
together into networks can dramatically increase productivity and facilitate the
sharing of information. A network consists of two or more computers connected
together so they can exchange information. Using networks has become the nor-
mal mode of commercial computer operation. New technologies are
emerging every day to capitalize on the connected environments of
modern computer systems.
Figure 1.15 shows a simple computer network. One of the devices
on the network is a printer, which allows any computer connected
to the network to print a document on that printer. One of the computers on
the network is designated as a

KEY CONCEPT
A network consists of two or more
computers connected together so
that they can exchange information.

file server, which is dedicated to storing programs
and data that are needed by many network users. A file server usually has a large
amount of secondary memory. When a network has a file server, each individual
computer doesn't need its own copy of a program.

Network Connections
If two computers are directly connected, they can communicate in basically the
same way that information moves across wires inside a single machine. When

File server

Shared printer

FIGURE 1.15 A simple computer network