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What is a Network LAN (Local Area Network) Communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. It is made up of servers, workstations, a network operating system and a communications link. Servers are high-speed machines that hold programs and data shared by all network users. The workstations, or clients, are the users' personal computers, which perform stand-alone processing and access the network servers as required. Diskless and floppy-only workstations are sometimes used, which retrieve all software and data from the server. A printer can be attached to a workstation or to a server and be shared by network users. Small LANs can allow each workstation to function as a server, allowing all users access to data on all machines. These peer-to-peer networks are often simpler to install and manage, but dedicated servers provide better performance and can handle higher transaction volume. Multiple servers are used in large networks. The controlling software in a LAN is the network operating system, such as NetWare, LANtastic and Appletalk, which resides in the server. A component part of the software resides in each workstation and allows the application to read and write data from the server as if it were on the local machine. The physical transfer of data is performed by the access method (Ethernet, Token Ring, etc.) which is implemented in the network adapters that plug into the workstations and servers. The actual communications path is the cable (twisted pair, coax, optical fiber) that interconnects each network adapter. MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) Communications network that covers a geographic area such as a city or suburb. WAN (Wide Area Network) Communications network that covers wide geographic areas, such as states and countries. |
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