Categories of Networks
Local Area Network (LAN)
A LAN is a network that is used for communicating among computer devices, usually within an office building or home. LANs enable the sharing of resources such as files or hardware devices that may be needed by multiple users.
- Is limited in size, typically spanning a few hundred meters, and no more than a mile
- Is fast, with speeds from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps
- Requires little wiring, typically a single cable connecting to each device
- Has lower cost compared to MAN’s or WAN’s
LANs can be either wired or wireless. Twisted pair, coax or fibre optic cable can be used in wired LANs.
Advantages of LAN
- Speed
- Cost
- Security
- Resource Sharing
Personal Area Network (PAN)
A PAN is a network that is used for communicating among computer devices, usually home. PANs enable the sharing of resources such as files or hardware devices that may be needed by multiple users.
- Is limited in size, typically spanning a few hundred meters
- Is fast, with speeds from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps
- Requires little wiring, typically a single cable connecting to each device
- Has lower cost compared to MAN’s or WAN’s
PANs can be either wired or wireless. Twisted pair, coax or fibre optic cable can be used in wired PANs.
Advantages of PAN
- Speed
- Cost
- Security
- Resource Sharing
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a large computer network that usually spans a city or a large campus. A MAN is optimized for a larger geographical area than a LAN, ranging from several blocks of buildings to entire cities.
A MAN might be owned and operated by a single organization, but it usually will be used by many individuals and organizations. A MAN often acts as a high speed network to allow sharing of regional resources.
A MAN typically covers an area of between 5 and 50 km diameter. Examples of MAN: Telephone company network that provides a high speed DSL to customers and cableTV network.
Advantages of MAN
- Speed
- Cost
- Security
- Resource Sharing
Wide Area Network (WAN)
WAN covers a large geographic area such as country, continent or even whole of the world. A WAN is two or more LANs connected together. The LANs can be many miles apart.
To cover great distances, WANs may transmit data over leased high-speed phone lines or wireless links such as satellites. Multiple LANs can be connected together using devices such as bridges, routers, or gateways, which enable them to share data. The world's most popular WAN is the Internet.
Advantages of WAN
- Speed
- Cost
- Security
- Resource Sharing
Campus Area Network (CAN)
A campus area network (CAN) is a network of multiple interconnected local area networks (LAN) in a limited geographical area. A CAN is smaller than a wide area network (WAN) or metropolitan area network (MAN).
A CAN is also known as a corporate area network (CAN).
Advantages of CAN
- Cost-effective
- Wireless, versus cable
- Multidepartmental network access
- Speed
- Reliability
- Campus Interconnection
- Better for Every Consumer
Storage Area Network (SAN)
A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a specialized, high-speed network that provides block-level network access to storage. SANs are typically composed of hosts, switches, storage elements, and storage devices that are interconnected using a variety of technologies, topologies, and protocols.
This enables each server to access shared storage as if it were a drive directly attached to the server. When a host wants to access a storage device on the SAN, it sends out a block-based access request for the storage device.
Advantages of SAN
- Low Expense
- Fault Tolerance
- Disk Mirroring
- Real Time Update
- Administrator Control