What is Local Area Network(LAN), Wide Area Network(WAN), Metropolitan Area Network(MAN)?

 LAN  

  Local Area Network a group of computers connected within a 

building or a campus  (Example of LAN may consist of computers

located on a single floor or a building or it might link all the computers in a small company. 

            – Span office or building

            – Single hop (shared channel) (cheap!)

            –  User rates: 10 Mbps

            – 1 Gbps E.g., Ethernet, Token rings, Apple-talk

    MAN

Metropolitan Area Network is a network System that covers area of a single city.  Usually , MAN Connects more than one LANs in a city Town  that covers a small geographical area then a WAN .

               Example cable TV ,telephone companies . 

Fig:  Metropolitan Area Network

                                                                                                        

   WAN 

 A network consisting of computers of LAN's connected across a distance WAN can cover small to large distances, using different Topologies such as telephone lines, fiber optic cabling, satellite transmissions and microwave transmissions.

               – Span large areas (countries, continents, world)

            – Use leased phone lines (expensive!)

                       1980’s: 10 Kbps, 

                       2000’s: 2.5 Gbps 

                       User access rates: 56Kbps

             – 155 Mbps typical

             –  Shared comm links: switches and routers 

                  E.g, IBM SNA, X.25 networks, Internet

             

                                      Fig:  Wide Area Network



Difference between LAN and WAN?