UNIT 2: TYPES OF COMPUTER NETWORK Advantages of WAN

1. LAN — Local Area Network  WAN helps you to cover a larger geographical area. Therefore business offices situated at longer
 a group of computer and peripheral devices which are connected in a limited area such as school, distances can easily communicate.
laboratory, home, and office building;  Contains devices like mobile phones, laptop, tablet, computers, gaming consoles, etc.
 It is a widely useful network for sharing resources like files, printers, games, and other application;  WLAN connections work using radio transmitters and receivers built into client devices.
 The simplest type of LAN network is to connect computers and a printer in someone's home or office;
 In general, LAN will be used as one type of transmission medium;
 It is a network which consists of less than 5000 interconnected devices across several buildings 3. MAN - Metropolitan Area Network
 consist of a computer network across an entire city, college campus, or a small region.
 This type of network is large than a LAN, which is mostly limited to a single building or site.
Characteristics of LAN  Depending upon the type of configuration, this type of network allows you to cover an area from
several miles to tens of miles.
 It is a private network, so an outside regulatory body never controls it. LAN operates at a relatively
higher speed compared to other WAN systems. Characteristics of MAN
 There are various kinds of media access control methods like token ring and Ethernet.
 It mostly covers towns and cities in a maximum 50 km range
Advantages of LAN  Mostly used medium is optical fibers, cables
 Data rates adequate for distributed computing applications.
 Computer resources like hard-disks, DVD-ROM, and printers can share local area networks. This
significantly reduces the cost of hardware purchases. Advantages of MAN
 You can use the same software over the network instead of purchasing the licensed software for each
client in the network.  It offers fast communication using high-speed carriers, like fiber optic cables.
 Data of all network users can be stored on a single hard disk of the server computer.  It provides excellent support for an extensive size network and greater access to WANs.
 You can easily transfer data and messages over networked computers.  The dual bus in MAN network provides support to transmit data in both directions concurrently.
 It will be easy to manage data at only one place, which makes data more secure.  A MAN network mostly includes some areas of a city or an entire city.
 Local Area Network offers the facility to share a single internet connection among all the LAN users.
Disadvantages of MAN
Disadvantages of LAN
 You need more cable to establish MAN connection from one place to another.
 LAN will indeed save cost because of shared computer resources, but the initial cost of installing Local  In MAN network it is tough to make the system secure from hackers
Area Networks is quite high.
 The LAN admin can check personal data files of every LAN user, so it does not offer good privacy.
 Unauthorized users can access critical data of an organization in case LAN admin is not able to secure
centralized data repository. 4. PAN — Personal Area Network
 Local Area Network requires a constant LAN administration as there are issues related to software  is a computer network formed around a person.
setup and hardware failures  It generally consists of a computer, mobile, or personal digital assistant.
 PAN can be used for establishing communication among these personal devices for connecting to a
digital network and the internet
2. WAN — Wide Area Network
 spread across a large geographical area WAN network system could be a connection of a LAN which Characteristics of PAN
connects with other LAN's using telephone lines and radio waves;
 It is mostly personal devices network equipped within a limited area.
 It is mostly limited to an enterprise or an organization
 Allows you to handle the interconnection of IT devices at the surrounding of a single user.
 PAN includes mobile devices, tablet, and laptop.
Characteristics of WAN:  It can be wirelessly connected to the internet called WPAN.
 Appliances use for PAN: cordless mice, keyboards, and Bluetooth systems
 The software files will be shared among all the users; therefore, all can access to the latest files.
 Any organization can form its global integrated network using WAN
Advantages of PAN 8. Virtual Private Network
 A VPN is a private network which uses a public network to connect remote sites or users together. The
 PAN networks are relatively secure and safe It offers only short-range solution up to ten VPN network uses "virtual" connections routed through the internet from the enterprise's private
 Strictly restricted to a small area network or a third-party VPN service to the remote site.

Disadvantages of PAN
Differentiation Between LAN, WAN, and MAN
 It may establish a bad connection to other networks at the same radio bands.
 Distance limits. PARAMETERS LAN WAN MAN
Ownership of Network PRIVATE PRIVATE OR PUBLIC PRIVATE OR PUBLIC

OTHER TYPES OF NETWORKS

Geographical area SMALL VERY LARGE MODERATE
1. Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) covered
 helps you to link single or multiple devices using wireless communication within a limited area like
home, school, or office building. It gives users an ability to move around within a local coverage area Design and maintenance EASY NOT EASY NOT EASY
which may be connected to the network, Today most modem days WLAN systems are based on IEEE
802.11 standards. Communication Medium COAXIAL CABLE SATELLITE LINKS COAXIAL FIBER, OPTICAL
FIBER, CABLES, WIRES
2. Storage-Area Network (SAN)
Bandwidth LOW HIGH MODERATE
 type of network which allows consolidated, block-level data storage. It is mainly used to make storage
devices, like disk arrays, optical jukeboxes, and tape libraries.
Data rates (speed) HIGH LOW MODERATE
3. System-Area Network
 System Area Network is used for a local network. It offers high- speed connection in server-to-server
NETWORK CLASSIFICATION BY THEIR COMPONENT ROLE
and processor-to-processor applications. The computers connected on a SAN network operate as a
single system at quite high speed. 1. PEER TO PEER NETWORK
 In this network each computer is responsible for making its own resources available to other
4. Passive Optical Local Area Network computers on the network.
 POLAN is a networking technology which helps you to integrate into structured cabling. It allows you  Each computer is responsible for setting up and maintaining its own security for these resources
to resolve the issues of supporting Ethernet protocols and network apps.  each computer is responsible for accessing the required network resources from peer-to-peer
 POLAN allows you use optical splitter which helps you to separate an optical signal from a single- relationships.
mode optical fiber. It converts this single signal Into multiple signal.  useful for a small network containing less than 10 computers on a single LAN.
 each computer can function as both client and server.
5. Home Area Network (HAN)
 do not have a central control system.
 is always built using two or more interconnected computers to form a local area network (LAN) within
 no servers
the home. This type of network helps computer owners to interconnect with multiple computers.
 amplified into home group.
 This network allows sharing files, programs, printers, and other peripherals.
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
6. Enterprise Private Network Use less expensive computer hardware Not very secure
 Enterprise private network (EPN) networks are built and owned by businesses that want to securely
connect numerous locations in order to share various computer resources.
Easy to administer No central point of storage or file archiving

7. Campus Area Network

 Made up of an interconnection of LANs within a specific geographical area. For example, a university No NOS required Additional load on computer because of resource
sharing
campus can be linked with a variety of campus buildings to connect all the academic departments.
More built-in redundancy Hard to maintain version control

Easy setup & Iow cost

 2. CLIENT/SERVER NETWORK
 server is simply a computer, that is available the network resources and provides service to other
computers when they request it;
 A client is the computer running a program that requests the service from a server
 Local Area Network(LAN) is based on client server network relationship
 client-server network is one in which all available network resources such as files, directories,
applications and shared devices, are centrally managed and hosted and then are accessed by client
 Client server network are defined by the presence of servers on a network that provide security and
administration of the network

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
Very secure Requires professional administration

Better performance More hardware-intensive

Centralized backup More software-intensive

Very reliable Expensive dedicated software

Types of Servers

1. File server
 These servers provide the services for storing, retrieving and moving the data. A user can read, write,
exchange and manage the files with the help of file servers.

2. Printer server
 This is used for controlling and managing printing on the network. It also offer the fax service to the
network users.

3. Application server
 The expensive software and additional computing power can be shared by the computers in a
network with the help of application servers.

4. Message server
 It is used to co-ordinate the interaction between users, documents and applications. The data can be
used in the form of audio, video, binary, text or graphics,

5. Database server
 It is a type of application server. It allows the user to access the centralized strong database.