What's in a LAN?
What's in a LAN?
A LAN comprises cables, access points, switches, routers, and other components that enable devices to connect to internal servers, web servers, and other LANs via wide area networks.
The rise of virtualization has also fueled the development of virtual LANs, which enable network administrators to logically group network nodes and partition their networks without a need for major infrastructure changes.
For example, in an office with multiple departments, such as accounting, IT support, and administration, each department's computers could be logically connected to the same switch but segmented to behave as if they are separate.
Setting up a basic Local Area Network
Operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X have networking capabilities incorporated into them. This means that as long as the network administrator has a relatively up-to-date laptop or desktop PC, it is fairly straightforward to network machines together.
To set up a wireless network, the administrator will need a wireless router linked to a broadband connection and an Ethernet cable that links the router to the main PC or server.
This will then allow other computing devices that already have wireless networking equipment integrated or attached to them, to pick up wireless signals and join the local area network.
LAN Topologies
Network topologies outline how devices in a LAN are connected, as well as how data is transmitted from one node to another. Popular topologies include:
- Bus
- Ring
- Star
- Tree
- Mesh
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