CLASSIFICATION OF NETWORK

                                                 
                                      CLASSIFICATION OF NETWORK 

                                                   LAN 

  💣A LAN is a network that connects computers and devices in a limited geographical area. As an example is a home and school computer laboratory.
  💣 The simplest form of LAN is to connect two computers together or connection of the computers and devices in the office or home.
  💣A network which consists of less than 500 interconnected devices across several buildings, is still  recognized as a LAN.
                                                    
                                                          CHARATERISTICS

⇨ they are used within small areas (such as in building)
⇨ limited to specific geographical area less than 2km supporting high speed networks.
⇨ they provide access for many devices.
⇨ they offer high speed communication
⇨ they use LAN specific equipment such as hubs, switches, and network interface cards.

                                                            ADVANTAGES
⇢ easy to share devices and data
⇢ cost of LAN setup is low
⇢ sharing of resources such as printers hence cost effective

                                                         DISADVANTAGES

⇢ a good LAN is required to be on all the times
⇢ each computer and devices become another point of entry for undersirables.
⇢ if all computers running at once, can reduce speed for each.
⇢ area covered is limited.


                                                   MAN 

🏢 MAN is high speed network that connects local area networks (LAN) in a metropolitan area such       as city or town.
🏢 Handles the bulk of communications activity across that region.
🏢 A MAN is optimized be owned for a larger geographical area than a LAN , ranging from several         blocks of buildings to entire cities.
🏢 A MAN might be owned and operated by a single organization, but it usually will be used by               many individuals and organizations.
🏢 MAN can span up to 50km,devices used are modem and eirw/cable.
🏢 Example of MAN : Traffic light monitoring system, cable network TV 


                                                             CHARATERISTICS

➤ It generally covers towns and cities.
➤Transmission medium used for MAN are optcal fibres, cables etc
➤They use devices such as routers, telephone, switches, and microwave antennas such as parts of           their communication infrastructure.


                                                               ADVANTAGES
➤Efficiency and shared access
➤All the computer owning residents of the area have equal ability to go on line.


                                                            DISADVANTAGES

➤ It can be costly

➤ security problems

➤ the connection can lag or become quite slow.

                                             WAN 

🌏 A WAN ia a neywork that covers a large geographic area (such as city, country, or the world)             using a communications channel that combines many types of media such as telephone lines,               cables, and radio waves.
🌏The example is INTERNET

                                                          CHARATERISTICS

🌏They can covers a very large geograhical area ( states,countries,continents)
🌏They usually communicate at slower speeds compared to LAN  and MAN 
🌏Communication medium use satelite, public telephone networks whic are onnected by routers.
🌏Routers forward packets from one to another a route from the sender to the receiver.


                                                           ADVANTAGES

🌏Messages can be sent very quickly to anyone else on the network.
🌏Everyone on the network can use the same data. This avoids problems where some users may have     older information than others.
🌏Share information/files over a larger area. 

                                                        DISADVANTAGES

🌏Setting up a network can be an expensive and colicated experience.
🌏Security problems because exposed to virusesand hackers
🌏Maintenance problems. Large enteprises will dedicate personnel to maintaining their WAN.



                               👻 COMPARISON BETWEEN LAN , MAN AND WAN 👻