Stand alone network

A computer network with a stand alone network Network topology, in its simplest form, consists of one computer and one Ethernet hub or Router.

=Comparing stand-alone networks to other types of network=

==Advantages==

*Easy to implement & setup *Well suited for very, very, very small networks *Cheap price, considering only one network cable & one workstation needed *If the Hub Fails then the network still runs.

==Disadvantages==

*No communication with other computers *Unable to share resources *You may become lonely with no-one on your network to talk to

Note: Some networks are moving towards replacing the hub with a switch to improve the handling of the network traffic.

A current trend is to remove the hub/switch/router altogher. This new technology is known as a stand-alone computer.

=Connecting stand-alone networks to other networks=

To connect your stand-alone network to another network of any type, whilst preserving it s stand-alone nature, a firewall must be placed between the hub and the second network. This firewall s rules must be set to Block all traffic . Indeed, the advantage of the stand-alone network in this instance is if the network fails, your browsing experience does not suffer.