Computer network

A computer network is two or more computers linked together using a telecommunication system for the purpose of communicating and sharing resources. Experts in the field of networking debate whether two computers that are associated together using some form of communications medium comprise a network. Therefore, some works state that a network requires three connected computers. For example, "Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms" states that a computer network is "A network of data processing nodes that are consistent for the purpose of data communication", the term "network" being defined in the same document as "An interconnection of three or more communicating entities". A computer connected to a non-computing device (e.g., networked to a printer via an Ethernet link) may also correspond to a computer network, although this article does not address this configuration.
This article uses the definition which requires two or more computers to be linked together to form a network. The same basic functions are normally present in this case as with larger numbers of connected computers.