Sharing Resources
A network allows users to share resources with others in the network. Files, programs, printers, and other devices can be shared among multiple users in a network. A disk drive can also be shared. For that, the disk drive must be setup as a shared resource to share the files stored in the disk drive with other users. Let’s take an example to understand this concept. Suppose, there are three computers named PC 1, PC 2, and PC 3 connected to each other within a network. Now, computer PC 3 wants to share a file with computer PC 1. Also, a shared disk drive has been set up on computer PC 2. To share the file, computer PC 3 has to first copy the file to the shared disk drive on computer PC 2 and then inform computer PC 1 about the location of the file. The computer PC 1 can access the shared disk drive of computer PC 2 and can copy the file from computer PC 2 to computer PC1.
You can share other resources too such as CD-ROM drives (useful for large clip art libraries and encyclopedias) and modems. The resources to be shared may be hardware-related, such as printer or modem, or software-related, such as database applications or programs.
