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{{Short description|Design of a communications network}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2024}}

'''Network architecture''' is the design of a [[computer network]]. It is a framework for the specification of a network's physical components and their functional organization and configuration, its operational principles and procedures, as well as [[communication protocol]]s used.

In [[telecommunications]], the specification of a network architecture may also include a detailed description of products and services delivered via a communications network, as well as detailed rate and billing structures under which services are compensated.

The network architecture of the [[Internet]] is predominantly expressed by its use of the [[Internet protocol suite]], rather than a specific model for interconnecting networks or nodes in the network, or the usage of specific types of hardware links.

== OSI model ==
{{OSI model}}

The [[Open Systems Interconnection model]] (OSI model) defines and codifies the concept of layered network architecture. [[Abstraction layer]]s are used to subdivide a [[communications system]] further into smaller manageable parts. A layer is a collection of similar functions that provide services to the layer above it and receives services from the layer below it. On each layer, an instance provides services to the instances at the layer above and requests services from the layer below.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/OSI|title=What is OSI model (Open Systems Interconnection)? - Definition from WhatIs.com|work=SearchNetworking|access-date=2018-10-09|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Distributed computing ==
In [[distributed computing]], the ''network architecture'' often describes the structure and classification of a distributed application architecture, as the participating nodes in a distributed application are often referred to as a ''network''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hwang |first=Kai |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1105790603 |title=Distributed and Cloud Computing |oclc=1105790603}}{{page needed|date=April 2021}}</ref> For example, the [[applications architecture]] of the [[public switched telephone network]] (PSTN) has been termed the [[Intelligent Network]]. There are a number of specific classifications but all lie on a continuum between the [[dumb network]] (e.g. the [[Internet]]) and the intelligent network (e.g. the PSTN).

A popular example of such usage of the term in distributed applications, as well as [[permanent virtual circuit]]s, is the organization of nodes in [[P2P network|peer-to-peer (P2P) services and networks]]. P2P networks usually implement [[overlay network]]s running over an underlying physical or logical network. These overlay networks may implement certain organizational structures of the nodes according to several distinct models, the network architecture of the system.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

== See also ==
* [[Network topology]]
* [[Spawning networks]]

== References ==
{{reflist}} 
* {{FS1037C MS188}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/computer-network-architects.htm Computer Network Architects] at the US Department of Labor

{{Computer science}}
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[[Category:Network architecture| ]]
[[Category:Telecommunications engineering]]