This document provides an introduction and overview of computer networks. It defines what a network is as two or more connected computers that can share resources. The main reasons for computer networks are resource sharing, high reliability, and cost savings. It then discusses data communications, the components of a data communication system including the message, sender, receiver, transmission medium and protocol. It also defines different types of network topologies including mesh, star, bus, and ring as well as categories of networks based on size such as LANs, WANs, and MANs. Finally, it discusses network bandwidth and how it is measured in bits per second.