Network transparency

The term network transparency refers to the property, to hide all network specific actions from the user, or invisible ( transparent) to make. The user of a protocol can not distinguish whether actions are triggered locally or over the network.

Graphical User Interfaces

Many modern graphical user interfaces, such as the X Window System, rio or Aqua, are network- transparent. In these environments, a graphical server on the computer you want to ring the surface, is started, by which all components of the user interface to connect: The window management, interprocess communication, font server, the individual application programs, etc. Whether or not these programs on the same computer are distributed or connected through a network all over the world, does not matter, since the communication is done via defined protocols.

Databases

In a centralized database, the actual data ( the storage system ) is shielded from the user. In a distributed database, the data are accordingly shielded from a further resource and abstracts of this: the network. In this way it does not matter whether an application is running on the same computer as the database, or whether the client over the network to access the database.

File Systems

While file systems on disks, on which direct access is, in general, can simultaneously read and write to be opened only by an operating system, there are numerous network and cluster file systems, network- transparent data storage can provide. Well-known and widespread is this about SMB / CIFS, NFS and CXFS. This abstract generally existing local file systems using various protocols. The client then binds this data transparently in its file system structures, so it makes for the user, ideally no difference whether the data it accesses, are on its local hard drive or server.

• Computer Networks