Knowledge Base : Computer Networks

In the last article I had given you information about the common know how of computer networks. I got some emails from friends like you all who want to know about the types of computer networks. So in this article I will give you complete details about the type of computer networks. Computer networks can be classified on much aspect like their physical extent, specific purpose, Organizational extent. There are following types of computer network:

·         Personal Area Network: A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for communication among computer and different information technological devices close to one person. Some examples of devices that are used in a PAN are personal computers, printers, fax machines, telephones, PDAs, scanners, and even video game consoles. A PAN may include wired and wireless devices Personal network is the smallest of all networks with most of the networks not exceeding a total size of 25 feet.

·         Local Area Network: A local area network (LAN) is a network that connects computers and devices in a limited geographical area such as home, school, computer laboratory, office building, or closely positioned group of buildings. Current wired LANs are most likely to be based on Ethernet technology. Its range is up to 12 Km.

·         Metropolitan area network: The Metropolitan area network (MAN) is a large computer network that usually spans a city or a large campus. Metropolitan Area network is a combination of two or more individual Local Area Networks but with a small criterion of the boundary of the network not exceeding the city limits, thus integrating the network as a single unit within a city. Its range is about 50 Km.

·         Wide Area Network: A wide area network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a large geographic area such as a city, country, or spans even intercontinental distances, using a communications channel that combines many types of media such as telephone lines, cables, and airwaves. A WAN often uses transmission facilities provided by common carriers, such as telephone companies. WAN technologies generally function at the lower three layers of the OSI reference model: the physical layer, the data link layer, and the network layer.

·         Storage area network: A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, access to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices to the operating system. A SAN typically has its own network of storage devices that are generally not accessible through the local area network by other devices. The cost and complexity of SANs dropped in the early 2000s to levels allowing wider adoption across both enterprise and small to medium sized business environments.

·         Virtual private network: A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network in which some of the links between nodes are carried by open connections or virtual circuits in some larger network (e.g., the Internet) instead of by physical wires. The data link layer protocols of the virtual network are said to be tunneled through the larger network when this is the case. One common application is secure communications through the public Internet, but a VPN need not have explicit security features, such as authentication or content encryption. VPNs, for example, can be used to separate the traffic of different user communities over an underlying network with strong security features.

If you still have some queries pertaining to computer networks then you can use the online technical support services provided by the top leading companies in the field of computer networking Like Cisco, Impcsupport etc. They provide the reliable solution for all your problems related to the computer networking.