Data:
Data is the pieces of information, such as files, audio, phone calls and video shared across the network.

A data network consists of:
Devices that communicate with each other
A means of connecting these devices together—a medium that can transport messages from one device to another
The digital messages or units of information that will travel from one device to another
Rules or agreements to govern how the messages are sent, directed, and received

Converged networks:
Traditionally telephone, data communications between computers, radio, and television each had separate networks and each required a different technology to carry its particular communication signal. Additionally, each service had its own set of rules and standards to ensure the successful communication of its service across a specific medium.

Technology can now consolidate these disparate networks into one platform—a platform we define as the converged network. The flow of voice, radio, video, and data traveling over the same network eliminates the need to create and maintain separate networks. As converged networks become more common, businesses and individual users can use a single network for its services, instead of managing and using separate physical networks for each type of service. We will still have many points of contact and many devices—for example, personal computers, phones, TVs, personal assistants, and retail point-of-sale registers—but one common network. One network now carries multiple types of messages and information.