Key functions include creating and managing user accounts, controlling access to resources such as files and printers, and facilitating communication between devices.
[1] Packet switching networks were developed to share hardware resources, such as a mainframe computer, a printer or a large and expensive hard disk.
Operating systems with a network stack allowed personal computers to participate in a client-server architecture in which a server enables multiple clients to share resources, such as printers.
Partly because it allowed for multi-vendor interoperability, and could route packets globally rather than being restricted to a single building, the Internet protocol suite became almost universally adopted in network architectures.
Thereafter, computer operating systems and the firmware of network devices tended to support Internet protocols.