Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

• A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a large computer network that usually spans a city or a large campus.
• A MAN is optimized 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
• A MAN often acts as a high speed network to allow sharing of regional resources.
• A MAN typically covers an area of between 5 and 50 km diameter.
• Examples of MAN: Telephone company network that provides a high speed DSL to customers and cable TV network.

Personal Area Network (PAN)

• A PAN is a network that is used for communicating among computers and computer devices (including telephones) in close proximity of around a few meters within a room
• It can be used for communicating between the devices themselves, or for connecting to a larger network such as the internet.
• PAN’s can be wired or wireless

Wide Area Network (WAN)

Wide Area Network (WAN)
• WAN covers a large geographic area such as country, continent or even whole of the world.
• A WAN is two or more LANs connected together. The LANs can be many miles apart.
• To cover great distances, WANs may transmit data over leased high-speed phone lines or wireless links such as satellites.
• Multiple LANs can be connected together using devices such as bridges, routers, or gateways, which enable them to share data.
• The world's most popular WAN is the Internet

Local Area Network LAN

• A LAN is a network that is used for communicating among computer devices, usually within an office building or home.
• LAN’s enable the sharing of resources such as files or hardware devices that may be needed by multiple users
• Is limited in size, typically spanning a few hundred meters, and no more than a mile
• Is fast, with speeds from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps
• Requires little wiring, typically a single cable connecting to each device
• Has lower cost compared to MAN’s or WAN’s
• LAN’s can be either wired or wireless. Twisted pair, coaxial or fibre optic cable can be used in wired LAN’s.
• Every LAN uses a protocol – a set of rules that governs how packets are configured and transmitted.
• Nodes in a LAN are linked together with a certain topology. These topologies include:
– Bus
– Ring
– Star
• LANs are capable of very high transmission rates (100s Mb/s to G b/s).

Advantage of LAN

• Speed
• Cost
• Security
• E-mail
• Resource Sharing

Disadvantages of LAN

• Expensive To Install
• Requires Administrative Time
• File Server May Fail
• Cables May Break