Overview
Inanareabeyondthedistanceofthehubconnection,itmustbeconnectedthrougharouter.Thistypeofnetworkiscalledawideareanetwork.IftherearebranchesinNorth,CentralandSouth,orevenoverseasbranches,thesebranchesareconnectedbydedicatedlines,whichiscalleda"wideareanetwork."
ThetransmissionmediumoftheWANismainlytheuseoftelephonelinesoropticalfibers.TheISPoperatorsconnecttheenterprises.TheselinesarethelinesthattheISPoperatorshaveburiedundertheroadinadvance.Becausetheprojectishuge,themaintenanceisnoteasy,andBandwidthcanbeguaranteed,soitwillbemoreexpensiveintermsofcost.
TheInternetgenerallyreferstoapublicwideareanetwork.Thecostofapublicwideareanetworkwillbelower,whichisacheaperonlineenvironment,butcomparedwithawideareanetwork,thereisnoway.Tomanagebandwidthandusepubliconlinesystems,thebandwidthofanysegmentcannotbeguaranteed.
LocalAreaNetwork
LocalAreaNetwork(LocalAreaNetwork(LAN))isaconnectiontohouses,schools,laboratories,universitiesAcomputernetworkofcomputersinalimitedareasuchasacampusorofficebuilding.Incontrast,wideareanetworks(WAN)notonlycoverlargegeographicdistances,butalsousuallyinvolvefixeddedicatedlinesandlinkstotheInternet.Incontrast,theInternetismoreexpansive,anditisasystemthatconnectsglobalbusinessesandpersonalcomputers.
Afterusingchainedlocalareanetwork,tokenring,andAppleTalktechnology,EthernetandWi-Fi(wirelessnetworkconnection)arethetwomostcommonlyusedtechnologiesinlocalareanetworkstoday.
See
LocalAreaNetwork
CircuitSwitching
Packetswitching