Networking

AuthorDennis Labonty
Pages541-543

Page 541

Computer networks consist of multiple computers and other electrical devices linked together. Networks are classified as local area networks (LANs) or wide area networks (WANs). The difference between LANs and WANs is usually determined by the length of the network. Generally, a LAN's distance includes only several hundred yards. LANs reside mostly in offices, work areas, classrooms, one building, or within several buildings. WANs exist over many miles, across several cities, and even around the world. WANs are multifaceted and complex networks. They require many devices that connect different computers using diverse communication services. WAN communication speed, reliability, and connectivity are more challenging to manage than those of a LAN.

HISTORICAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORTATION

Networks were developed as a communication method between computers at remote sites. They trace their roots back to nineteenth-century communication and transportation historical achievements. In America, people have always strived for faster travel and communication systems, particularly between the East and West Coasts. These systems included technology and experiments of varying complexity. For example, the Pony Express operated between 1860 and 1861. It provided seven-day mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.

In 1861 the Western Union Telegraph Company replaced the Pony Express and provided a faster, more reliable communication service. Furthermore, the transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. These events improved the telegraph industry. The telephone was invented in 1876, and the first transcontinental telephone line was joined at Wendover, Utah, in 1915. This national telephone network provided a foundation for the wide area computer networks that evolved later in the twentieth century.

NETWORK CHARACTERISTICS
Ownership

LANs consist of computers, scanners, printers, and cables, which are privately owned. WANs connect computers, scanners, printers, and other devices that sometimes may be leased or rented from public and private telephone companies or data communication companies. These networks place high demands on security and reliability.

In addition, the communication line or medium that a company uses for its network is either cable or a wireless technology. When a business creates a WAN, it might not manage all the lines. Sometimes a business leases lines from a communication company. These companies are data and voice carriers such as MCI, Sprint, Verizon, Williams Communications, and AT&T. In these cases, the WAN is not entirely owned by the initial business. The business owns the line up to the point where the handoff...

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