ABSTRACT
Historically, organizations have perceived several advantages in centralizing computer operations. A major advantage relates to economies of scale. It was widely accepted that a large computer was more cost-eff ective than a small computer. Advances in processor technology and vendor pricing policies, however, have made this belief obsolete. It is now possible for a microcomputer to connect “seamlessly” through a local area network (LAN) to a host fi le server, mid-range, or mainframe computer, which, in turn, may be connected to other remote computers. Exhibit 23.1 illustrates the fi ve most common topologies for networked distributed processing systems. Most distributed or wide area networks (WANs) use a hierarchical or tree topology (although mesh topologies are becoming increasingly popular).
