What do you call a network that covers a small geographical area such as homes offices and groups of buildings?

LAN, which stands for local area network, and WAN, which stands for wide area network, are two types of networks that allow for interconnectivity between computers. As the naming conventions suggest, LANs are for smaller, more localized networking — in a home, business, school, etc. — while WANs cover larger areas, such as cities, and even allow computers in different nations to connect. LANs are typically faster and more secure than WANs, but WANs enable more widespread connectivity. And while LANs tend to be owned, controlled and managed in-house by the organization where they are deployed, WANs typically require two or more of their constituent LANs to be connected over the public Internet or via a private connection established by a third-party telecommunications provider.

Local area networks (LANs) allow computers and devices that are near each other — and usually making use of the same switch or router — to connect to share files and complete tasks. Consisting only of everyday devices (e.g., desktops, laptops, tablets, printers), router and/or switch, and Ethernet cables or wireless cards, LANs are relatively inexpensive to set up and are commonly used in homes.

Ethernet cables, like the Cat5, Cat5e, and Cat6 and Cat6a, can be used to physically connect computers to the network. In the instances where fiber-to-the-home (or similar) is available, copper cabling may also be used at some point. Wi-Fi has become one of the most popular methods for wireless networking over a local network.

What is a WAN?

A wide area network (WAN) is used to connect computers that are not close to one another. It is possible — and almost always the case — that LANs are connected to WANs. This enables small home or office networks to connect to wider networks, such as those across state or country lines. Most WANs connect through public networks, like the telephone system, or via leased lines. The Internet, which connects computers all around the world, can be considered the largest WAN in existence.

Speed

How fast data can be transferred over a LAN or WAN depends on the quality and data transfer capabilities of one's hardware and cables.

Having all the computers in a LAN physically connected to a router (or sometimes a switch) is the fastest way to transfer data between computers on a LAN. Moreover, using modern cables — Cat5e and better — will ensure the best data transfer speeds.

WAN speeds are affected by a number of factors. The equipment used in LANs that are connected to WANs affects a user's experience, as does the type of cabling used in the wide area network itself. WANs are typically slower than LANs due to the distance data must travel. For example, data transfers between two different states in the U.S. are faster than data transfers between London and Los Angeles. High-quality, copper submarine cables are used to help speed up data transfers between nations.

Wired vs. Wireless Speeds

Wirelessly transferring data via Wi-Fi significantly slows down transfer speeds, as typical wireless technology has a theoretical maximum speed that is lower than a wired connection's theoretical maximum speed.[1] Wireless connections will also likely feel less reliable, as wireless signals may experience interference from other devices' signals, from separating walls, from radio waves, etc. If consistent high speeds are needed within a LAN or WAN, particularly for business or gaming purposes, one should be physically connected to the network.

It is worth noting, however, that wireless technology has begun to "catch up" to wired technology in recent years. While the most reliable, high-speed connection is still one that is wired, wireless technology will likely feel just as comfortable for the average user.

Security

The most secure computer is one that is not connected to any network. LANs are safer than WANs, just by the nature and scope of a wide area network. The more people involved in interconnectivity, the greater chance there is for foul play. Using proper router security settings can help protect computers that connect to a network.

References

• Wikipedia: Local area network
• Wikipedia: Wide area network

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A computer network is a system in which multiple computers are connected to share information and resources. Computer network varies with each other based on their functionality, geography, ownership, and communication media used.

So, in this blog, we are going to learn about various types of computer networks based on geographical areas they cover, functionality, ownership, and communication media used.

A computer network can be divided into the following types, based on the geographical area that they cover, they are:

1. LAN(Local Area Network)
2. MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)
3. WAN(Wide Area Network)

Now, let us study these networks one by one:

A local area network is a network, which is designed to operate over a very small geographical or physical area such as an office, building, a group of buildings, etc.

Generally, it is used to connect two or more personal computers through a communication medium such as coaxial, twisted-pair cables, etc. A LAN can use either wired or wireless mode of communication. The LAN which entirely uses wireless media for communication can be termed as WLAN(Wireless Local Area Network).

Local Area Networks came under existence in around 1970s. IEEE developed the specifications for LAN. The speed of this network varies from 10mbps(Ethernet network) to 1gbps(FDDI or Gigabit Ethernet).

In other words, a LAN connects a relatively small number of machines in a relatively close geographical area. Bus, Ring, and Star topology are generally used in a local area network. In LAN, one computer can become a server in a star topology, serving all other computers called clients. Two different buildings can be connected very easily in LAN using a 'Bridge'.

Ethernet LAN is the most commonly used LAN. The speed of a Local Area Network also depends on the topology used. For example, a LAN using bus topology has a speed of 10mbps to 100mbps, while in ring topology it is around 4mbps to 16mbps. LAN's are generally privately owned networks.

Following are the functionalities of a Local Area Network:

1. File Serving: In LAN, a large storage disk acts as a central storage repository.
2. Print Serving: Printers can be shared very easily in a LAN by various computers.
3. Academic Support: A LAN can be used in the classroom, labs, etc. for educational purposes.
4. Manufacturing Support: LAN can support the manufacturing and industrial environment.
5. High Reliability: Individual workstations might survive the network in case of failures.

Following are the advantages of a LAN:

1. File transfer and file access
2. Resource or peripherals sharing
3. Personal computing
4. Document distribution
5. Easy to design and troubleshoot
6. Minimum propagation delay
7. High data rate transfer
8. Low error rate
9. Easily scalable(devices can be added or removed very easily)

Following are the disadvantages of a LAN:

1. Equipment and support may be costly
2. Some hardware devices may not inter-operate properly

A Metropolitan Area Network is a bigger version of LAN that uses similar technology as LAN. It spans over a larger geographical area such as a town or an entire city.

It can be connected using an optical fiber cable as a communication medium. Two or more LAN's can also be connected using routers to create a MAN. When this type of network is created for a specific campus, then it is termed as CAN(Campus Area Network).

The MAN spans over a geographical area of about 50km. The best example of MAN is the cable television network that spans over the whole city.

A MAN can be either a public or privately owned network. Generally, a telephone exchange line is most commonly used as a communication medium in MAN. The protocols that are used in MAN are RS-232, Frame Relay, ISDN, etc.

Uses of MAN are as follows:

1. MAN can be used for connecting the various offices of the same organization, spread over the whole city.
2. It can be used for communication in various governmental departments.

Following are the advantages of using MAN:

1. Large geographical area cover as compared to LAN
2. High-speed data connectivity
3. The Propagation delay of MAN is moderate

Following are the disadvantages of MAN:

1. It is hard to design and maintain a MAN
2. MAN is less fault-tolerant
3. It is costlier to implement
4. Congestions are more in a MAN

A Wide Area Network is the largest spread network. It spans over very large-distances such as a country, continent or even the whole globe. Two widely separated computers can be connected very easily using WAN. For Example, the Internet.

A WAN may include various Local and Metropolitan Area Network. The mode of communication in a WAN can either be wired or wireless. Telephone lines for wired and satellite links for wireless communication can be used in a wide area network.

In other words, WAN provides long distance transmission of data, voice, image, and video, over a large geographical area. A WAN may span beyond 100km range. It may be privately or publicly owned.

The protocols used in WAN are ISDN(Integrated Service Digital Network), SMDS(Switched Multi-Megabit Data Service), SONET(Synchronous Optical Network), HDLC(High Data Link Control), SDLC(Synchronous Data Link Control), etc.

The advantage of WAN is that it spans over a very large geographical area, and connects a huge mass of people.

Following are the disadvantages of WAN:

1. The propagation delay is more in a WAN
2. The data rate is low
3. The error rate is high
4. It is very complex to design a WAN

These are the types of network according to geographical area.

Following are the types of network, based on functionality:

• Client-Server Network: Client-Server network is a network in which a client runs the program and access data that are stored on the server. In this kind of network, one computer becomes the server, serving all other computers called clients.
• Peer-to-Peer Network: Peer-to-Peer network facilitates the flow of information from one peer to another without any central server. In other words, each node on a server acts as both client and server.

Following are the types of network, based on Ownership:

• Private Network: A private network is a network in which various restrictions are imposed to secure the network, to restrict unauthorized access. This type of network is privately owned by a single or group of people for their personal use. Local Area Network(LAN) can be used as a private network.
• Public Network: A public network is a network that has the least or no restrictions on it. It can be freely accessed by anyone, without any restrictions. This type of network is publicly owned by the government or NGOs. Metropolitan Area Network(MAN) and Wide Area Network(WAN) can be used as a public network.

Following are the types of network, based on Transmission Media:

• Bound/Guided Media Network: Bounded/Guided media can also be referred to as wired media. This kind of networks provides a physical link between two nodes connected in a network. The physical links are directed towards a particular direction in the network. Co-axial, twisted pair, optical fiber cable, etc. can be used in such networks for connectivity. Local Area Network(LAN) and Metropolitan Area Network(MAN) can be used as a Bound/Guided media network.
• Unbound/Unguided Media Network: Unbounded/Unguided media can also be referred to as wireless media. This kind of network does not need any physical link for electromagnetic transmission. Radio waves, Microwaves, Infrared, etc. can be used in such networks for connectivity. Metropolitan Area Network(MAN) and Wide Area Network(WAN) can be used as an Unbound/Unguided media network.

This is all about the various types of computer networks. Hope you learned something new today.

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