NETWORKING

This page is to provide information on LANs (Local Area Networks) and WANs (Wide Area Networks)
 

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LANs (Local Area Networks)
Local area Networks provide interconnection over short distances ( there is not normally more than 2000 feet between the extreme points). Therefore LANs are on a single-site for a one company, which suggests that there is private ownership and management of LANs. For a LAN, common topologies are star, bus and ring.

LANs are interconnected microcomputer workstations, network servers and computer peripherals. There is also micro- to mainframe links. Normally in a LAN, a very powerful microcomputer (known as a file server) runs the network operating system (NOS) and back-up functions. Shared network resources vary from CD-ROMs to image scanners and even Internet gateway.

LANs typically transmit at a rate of 256 kilobits per second to 100 megabits per second. LANs can are used, when applications require high transmission speeds and high volumes of data.
 
LANs can be connected to WANs (increasingly the Internet) to inter-organizational e-mail services, the World Wide Web, access to external databases and business-to-business electronic commerce. A LAN can be connected to a WAN by a communications processor called a gateway. Internet refers to the composite network infrastructure being used, which is often a LAN-WAN-LAN configuration. Each LAN and WAN which make up the Internet are called subnets.

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WANs (Wide Area Networks)
A Wide Area Network can span from many miles to across continents. Common carriers, who are companies, who are licensed by the government to provide communications services to the public like AT&T and MCI normally determine interconnections or transmission rates between the lines. However the customer is responsible for telecommunications management and content.

WANS can consist of switched lines, which are telephone lines that one person can access from a terminal to transmit data to another computer, with the call being switched or routed through paths to the designated destination, or they can consist of dedicated lines, which are lines that are continuously available for transmission, and the user normally pays a fee for total access to the line.

Switched lines are more appropriate for low-volume applications and are less expensive than dedicated lines, which are better for higher-volume transmissions.

 
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References

Management Information Systems - New Approaches to Organization and Technology
Fifth Edition, Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon, 1998, Prentice Hall, Inc.
www.prenhall.com/laudon

APR's BT1002 Lecture Notes: Telecommunications
BT1002 Webpage

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This page was created by Angela Batty on 9th May 2000.

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