Florida Anesthesia Computer and Engineering Team
©
University of Florida, 1996
Why would you network your office or other place where there are a lot of computers together? This is a question that you should ask because it costs money to implement a network; sometimes lots of money.
Resource sharing (cost savings)
One good reason of networking is the sharing of resources. When a network is setup several computers can share the same huge hard disk or the same high resolution printer. This can give a significant cost savings.
Central data/management
Because all the computers on a network can potentially share a hard disk, they can also share the same information. If for example a patient database is stored on a central shared hard disk, all the computers on that network can access it (provided the correct username/password combination was used). This gives a lot of added functionality to a computer.
Connections to the outside world
Once a local network has been established, that network can be connected to other larger networks (like the Internet). Once that is done all the computers on the local network can access the wealth of information on the Internet, and also information about your own institution can be made available to the Internet.
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