A centralized network is a type of network in which one central server controls all other client nodes. The nodes can be computers, mobile devices or any other data-storing devices.
This type of network is easy to build i.e. only one database or file server is needed and other client computers connect to the central server.
The centralized network is difficult to scale up because there is a limit to how much storage or memory you can add to the central computer. You can have a limited number of ports attached to the server which makes it hard for the server to expand its capacity.
The maintenance of a centralized network is also difficult because all client computers depend upon the server. All requests go from the server to the client computer. If the server needs maintenance or upgradation then it should be shut down for some time.
If the centralized server gets hacked then all the client’s computer data can be accessed by the hacker.
Some features of a centralized network are:-
- Single point of control to the server
- If the central server fails then the network stops working
- All the decisions can be made through a central server
- All the data must go through a central computer i.e. server
- If more client computers are added to the network then the load on the central server becomes high and later the speed of data flow slows down
- The security on the central server should be high to make the network secured
Examples of centralized network
Some examples of centralized networks are:-
- Client-server network in home or office
- Online banking in which all the customer’s transactions and reports are managed by a central banking server
- Multi-player games are also managed by a centralized network. The multi-player profiles and scores are also managed by the central server
- Email servers
- Web hosting
- Cloud storage e.g. Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive etc.
- Social media platforms also use centralized networks to store images, videos and other data.