{"id":530,"date":"2012-03-02T20:14:57","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T20:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/?p=530"},"modified":"2012-03-02T20:14:57","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T20:14:57","slug":"the-differences-between-lans-mans-and-wans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/?p=530","title":{"rendered":"The Differences Between LANs, MANs and WANs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are several types of computer network  designs- you are more than likely familiar with the LAN, or local area  network. But the fun doesn\u2019t stop there- we have MANs, SANs, CANs, and  more \u201cANs\u201d than you can shake a stick at. But don\u2019t worry- if you can  remember what the first letter in each acronym means, you\u2019re set! (And  that much more prepared for your networking exams!)<\/p>\n<h3>What is a LAN?<\/h3>\n<p>If you aren\u2019t already familiar with a LAN, it is  defined as a local area network. From the term local, you\u2019d probably  guess that LAN network designs don\u2019t span a large region (and you\u2019d be  correct). The basic LAN is just a simple network of computers, although  LANs can often span multiple buildings. In the example below, you can  see a network divided by a router, which is being used to connect the  network to the internet.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.learn-networking.com\/wp-content\/oldimages\/LAN.jpg\" alt=\"local area network\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In general there are three things to remember about a LAN:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Three Things to Remember about LANs<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<hr \/>\n<li><strong>1.<\/strong> They operate within a limited geographical area<\/li>\n<li><strong>2.<\/strong> They allow a large amount of users to access media with high-bandwidth capability<\/li>\n<li><strong>3.<\/strong> They prove full-time connectivity with local services<\/li>\n<hr \/>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A LAN is a fairly easy concept to grasp- perhaps the simplest of all  networks. In fact, computer networking started out with a simple LAN  connection. Since the birth of the LAN, we have been graced with even  more advanced technologies- such as the WAN.<\/p>\n<h3>The Difference between a LAN and a WAN<\/h3>\n<p>WANs are networks that interconnect LANs. You can think  of it as a company who has offices in three separate states. If the  company wishes to have each office on the same network, they would need  to somehow connect the LANs together.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.learn-networking.com\/wp-content\/oldimages\/wide-area-network.jpg\" alt=\"wide area network\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Whereas a WAN enables you to send an instant message to someone  around the world, a LAN would be limited to a much smaller geographical  location. You are actually more familiar with WANs than you think-  you\u2019re using one right now! The internet is biggest WAN on Earth.  Looking at it from a global perspective, you can see a WAN as a  collective of networks run by many people- whereas a LAN is often ran by  a specific organization (and thus usually only has one administrator).<\/p>\n<p>In general, there are three things to remember about WANs:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Three Things to Remember about WANs<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<hr \/>\n<li><strong>1.<\/strong> They operate using serial interfaces<\/li>\n<li><strong>2.<\/strong> They generally provide lower bandwidth compared to LANs<\/li>\n<li><strong>3.<\/strong> They provide full-time remote resources that are connected to local services<\/li>\n<hr \/>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Generally speaking, we could stop there. But we can further classify network designs even further with MANs and CANs.<\/p>\n<h3>What are MANs and CANs?<\/h3>\n<p>A MAN is short for metropolitan area network. As the  name implies, it covers a metropolitan area- such as a city or the  suburbs of a city. You can think of them as between what a LAN and WAN  would be. They span a much larger geographical area than LANs, but do  not often surpass the limits of a metropolitan area.<\/p>\n<p>MANs are generally good for businesses and organizations that have  multiple locations around a city. A bank may also take advantage of a  MAN.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.learn-networking.com\/wp-content\/oldimages\/metropolitan-area-network.jpg\" alt=\"metropolitan area network\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So, far so good, right? Well now we\u2019ll introduce the CAN- the campus  area network. You\u2019ve probably guessed it- this type of network design  spans a university or campus. It acts a lot like a MAN would in some  cases, although it obviously has a much more specific purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Thus far the deciding factor on how we classify network designs has  been the area they cover. The black sheep of this convention is the SAN:  noted (and named) for its functionality- not its coverage area.<\/p>\n<h3>What is a SAN?<\/h3>\n<p>A SAN stands for a storage-area network. It is a  dedicated and high performance network that moves data between servers  or other resources. The SAN is used to connect storage machines in a  \u201cfarm\u201d so that other parts of the network can take advantage of the  storage space. You will commonly see a SAN connected to a LAN or WAN. In  the below example, we are using the SAN to store information the web  and email servers may need.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.learn-networking.com\/wp-content\/oldimages\/storage-area-network.jpg\" alt=\"storage area network\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you ever decide to start your own Fortune 500 business, your  network will need to be very large in size. To help alleviate the strain  on your network and stress from lack of disk space, a SAN will be all  but necessary. Most SANs offer great disaster tolerance and scalability  built in- something vital for keeping important company documents.<\/p>\n<h3>Other Types of Networks<\/h3>\n<p>Although you\u2019d think we\u2019ve just about covered it all, we can delve  even deeper into network design. You may have heard of a WLAN, or a  wireless local area network (which operates much like a LAN without  cables). You might have also heard of a PAN- or a personal area network.  These are usually used to describe small networks made between mobile  devices such as phones. In the below example, you can see two devices  connecting wirelessly- by Bluetooth, perhaps.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.learn-networking.com\/wp-content\/oldimages\/personal-area-network.jpg\" alt=\"personal area network\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Although you can be as specific as you\u2019d like, most  networking exams only require you know the basics of LANs, WANs, MANs,  and SANs. This may change in the future, so be sure to keep an open mind  about the upcoming network designs. We did, after all, only start  networking computers with simple LANs. Just years after, we have the  many \u201cAN\u201ds that we just covered- and there\u2019s no telling what we\u2019ll have  in the years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are several types of computer network designs- you are more than likely familiar with the LAN, or local area network. But the fun doesn\u2019t stop there- we have MANs, SANs, CANs, and more \u201cANs\u201d than you can shake a stick at. But don\u2019t worry- if you can remember what the first letter in each [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-networking-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":532,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions\/532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}