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Lesson 3 LANs and WANs
Objective Describe the function of LANs and WANs.

Functional Description of LANs and WANs

Certainly. Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs) play a pivotal role in facilitating e-business operations, ensuring seamless connectivity, data exchange, and application accessibility across geographically dispersed locations.

Local Area Networks (LANs):

  1. High-Speed Connectivity: LANs provide high-speed network connectivity within a limited geographical area such as an office building or campus. This ensures rapid data exchange and communication between devices, which is crucial for time-sensitive e-business transactions.
  2. Resource Sharing: They enable the sharing of resources such as printers, files, and applications within the network, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing costs for e-businesses.
  3. Collaboration and Communication: LANs facilitate internal communication and collaboration through instant messaging, video conferencing, and shared workspaces, thereby increasing productivity and speeding up decision-making processes.
  4. Network Security and Control: With LANs, network administrators have greater control over network access and security settings. This is vital for protecting sensitive business data and ensuring the integrity of e-business transactions.
  5. Scalability: LANs can be easily expanded to accommodate growing business needs, ensuring that the network infrastructure evolves in tandem with the e-business.

Wide Area Networks (WANs):

  1. Global Connectivity: WANs provide long-distance network connectivity, linking LANs across cities, countries, and continents. This is essential for e-businesses operating in multiple locations, ensuring that employees, partners, and customers have consistent access to the company’s network resources.
  2. Data Synchronization: They enable data synchronization across dispersed locations, ensuring that all stakeholders have access to up-to-date information, which is critical for maintaining data integrity and consistency in e-business operations.
  3. Application Accessibility: WANs facilitate access to centralized applications and databases, enabling remote workers and branch offices to utilize the same tools and resources as the headquarters, thereby ensuring uniformity and consistency in business operations.
  4. Network Resilience and Redundancy: WANs can be configured to provide network resilience and redundancy, ensuring continuous network availability even in the event of hardware failures or network outages. This is crucial for maintaining uninterrupted e-business operations.
  5. Optimized Bandwidth Utilization: Advanced WAN optimization techniques can be employed to maximize bandwidth utilization, reduce latency, and improve the performance of networked applications, enhancing the user experience for customers and employees alike.
  6. Cost-Efficiency: By leveraging virtual private network (VPN) technologies and the internet for connectivity, e-businesses can reduce the costs associated with leasing dedicated lines for long-distance connectivity.
In essence, LANs and WANs serve as the foundational network infrastructure for e-businesses, enabling high-speed connectivity, resource sharing, global reach, and robust network performance. These networks ensure that businesses can operate efficiently, collaborate effectively, and serve their customers reliably, regardless of geographical constraints. The strategic implementation and management of LANs and WANs are therefore paramount to the success of any e-business initiative.

What are LANs?

An interconnected set of information resources under the same direct management control which shares common functionality. A system normally includes hardware, software, information, data, applications, communications, and people. A system can be, for example, a local area network (LAN) including smart terminals that supports a branch office, an agency-wide backbone, a communications network, a departmental data processing center including its operating system and utilities, a tactical radio network , or a shared information processing service organization (IPSO). LAN stands for local area network. LANs enable computing devices within the same local area, such as the same building, to share information, as illustrated here.

The above image illustrates a LAN
The above image illustrates a LAN

Most LANs do not require the use of common telecommunications carriers. Given their limited physical reach, most LAN wiring is done either internally by organizations or by local wiring contractors.

LAN | WAN Network Diagrams

1) LANS  are valuable in an eBusiness solution because they connect workstations and personal computers, enabling the sharing of IP network access.
1) LANS are valuable in an eBusiness solution because they connect workstations and personal computers, enabling the sharing of IP network access.

2) Each node (individual computer) in a LAN has its own CPU with which it can execute software programs.
2) Each node (individual computer) in a LAN has its own CPU with which it can execute software programs.

3) LANs enable computers to access data software on other computers on the LAN. This means that many users can share expensive devices, such as laser printers, as well as data.
3) LANs enable computers to access data software on other computers on the LAN. This means that many users can share expensive devices, such as laser printers, as well as data.

4) Users can also use the LAN to communicate with each other, by sending email or engaging in chat sessions, as well as to share connections to the internet.
4) Users can also use the LAN to communicate with each other, by sending email or engaging in chat sessions, as well as to share connections to the internet.

5) There are many different types of LANs. Ethernets are the most common for PCs, while most Apple Macintosh networks are based on the AppleTalk network system
5) There are many different types of LANs. Ethernets are the most common for PCs, while most Apple Macintosh networks are based on the AppleTalk network system

6) You can differentiate among LANS by the following 3 characteristics: 1) topology, the geometric arrangement of devices on the network 2) Protocols, the rules for sending data that determine whether the network uses a peer-to-peer or client/server system 3) Media connection, the means by which a LAN's devices are connected
6) You can differentiate among LANS by the following 3 characteristics: 1) topology, the geometric arrangement of devices on the network 2) Protocols, the rules for sending data that determine whether the network uses a peer-to-peer or client/server system 3) Media connection, the means by which a LAN's devices are connected

What are WANs?

Now that you have a solid understanding of LANs, it will be easy for you to understand how WANs work. A WAN is a wide area network. WANs enable remote computers and computer devices beyond the same building or physical structure to share information, as illustrated below. Typically, a WAN consists of two or more local area networks (LANs).

This diagram illustrates a WAN.
This diagram illustrates a WAN.

Computers connected to a WAN are often connected through public networks, such as the telephone system. They can also be connected through leased lines or satellites. In a sense, the largest WAN in existence is the Internet.

Considerations in implementing LANs and WANs

Most organizations install LANs and a WAN, whether or not they participate in eBusiness. As a result, their installation may not be part of planning an eBusiness solution. But they will be if your company is new and needs such an installation. For these reasons, it is important to be aware not only of the utility of LANs and WANs, but also of the challenges they pose.
  1. For LANs, the biggest challenge is managing bandwidth. If there is a bottleneck in your eBusiness solution, it may be that the LAN isn't performing efficiently. LANs need to be maintained regularly to prevent such slow-downs.
  2. When considering implementing a WAN, it is necessary to consider its performance, reliability, and manageability.
The next lesson discusses more networking technologies, the Internet, VPNs, intranets and extranets.

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