LAN: What is the local network and what WAN, MAN and CAN

Simply put, a local network (LAN from Local Area Network) is a group of computers and other devices connected to and located in a network – usually inside a building (office or even home).LAN

What is LAN?

The name of the network tells us two different properties: We talk about a local network connecting multiple devices. Local on some impacts may change, as we will see below, to distinguish other types of networks. There are, say, Wide Area Networks or WAN and metropolitan area networks (MAN from Metropolitan Area Networks).

Networks are usually limited to a small area, usually a building, but it is not necessary. This site may be your home or business, but it will be a much larger area, such as an entire office building containing hundreds or thousands of devices.

But regardless of size, the main feature of a LAN is that it connects devices that are in a limited area.

The advantages of using a local LAN are known: devices can share a single Internet connection, share files with each other, print to shared printers, and more.

On larger LANs, there are dedicated servers for email services, storage and access to others e.g of a business.

What kind of are they used on a local network?

The technologies used in a LAN network depend on the number of devices that exist and the services provided on the network. The two main types of connection used in modern LAN networks (regardless of size) are Ethernet cables and Wi-Fi.

In a typical LAN at home or in the office, you will find a modem that gives you an internet connection, and a router that allows other devices to share and connect to each other. There is also a Wi-Fi access point that allows devices to have wireless access to the network.
Sometimes, operations are performed by a single device. Many providers, for example, provide free of charge with each new connection, a device that includes the modem and the router, which can be used as a firewall, but also function as a Wi-Fi access point. There are also switches that allow you to make one Ethernet connection available to many connection.

In larger LAN networks, there are approximately the same devices but they are much more powerful. Professional routers and switches can serve many more simultaneous than the corresponding devices do in our home. They also provide more security and monitoring options.

What are WAN and MAN networks?

Wide Area Networks (WANs) and metropolitan networks from Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) are very similar. There are Campus Area Networks (CANs) networks, but they are not often reported. All of these networks are essentially networks that connect multiple LANs together.

A MAN network, for example, consists of too many LANs connected to each other over high-speed networks and located in the same city. A WAN network also consists of many LAN networks, but extends to an area larger than an individual city and can be connected to different types of technologies. The CAN network also consists of too many LANs within a campus.

Let's give a classic WAN example: consider a company that has branch offices in three different places across the country (or the world). Each sub has its own local network. These LANs are connected together in a network through dedicated, private connections, or perhaps over the Internet. It should be noted here that connections between LANs are not as fast, reliable or secure as connections between devices on the same (local) network.

We can call the internet as the world's largest WAN, since it connects thousands of LANs around the world.

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Written by giorgos

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