lt around powerful personal computers, minicomputers, or mainframe computers (Stair, Reynolds 272).Another basic LAN is a simple peer-to-peer network that might be used for a very small business to allow the sharing of files and hardware devices such as printers. These types of networks have no server. Instead, each computer uses special network operating systems, a network interface card, and cabling to connect it to the next machine. The performance is usually slower because one computer is actually sharing the resources of another computer (273).It has been estimated that over 70 percent of business PCs in the United States are connected to one or more local area networks. As the capabilities and power of LANs increase, the demand for local networks is expected to soar doubling in just the next three to four years. LANs provide excellent support for businesses whose main communications are internal or encompass only a small region (273).A metropolitan area network, or MAN, is a group of LANs located in a city. For example, if a college has campuses with networks at each spread over the majority of a city, they could be connected to create a MAN. MANs are slower than LANs but usually have few errors on the network. Since special equipment is needed to connect the different LANs together, they have a high price (Nash 26). The largest network size is a wide area network, or WAN. WANs can interconnect any number of LANs and WANs. They connect networks across cities, states, countries, or even the world. WANs normally use connections that travel all over the country or world. For this reason they are usually slower than MANs and LANs, and more prone to errors. They also require a lot of specialized equipment, so their price is high (26). James 10There are many reasons that WAN technology is used:1. PSTN (Public Service Telephone Network) is the telephone system used throughout the U.S. and many other countries. A mod...
