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Exposure to Computer Disciplines
Notes
Figure 6.1: A LAN Network
6.1.2.2 Wide Area Network (WAN)
A wide area network is a network where a wide variety of resources are deployed across a large
domestic area or internationally. An example of this is a multinational business that uses a WAN
to interconnect their offices in different countries. The largest and best example of a WAN is the
Internet, which is a network composed of many smaller networks. The Internet is considered
the largest network in the world. The PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) also is an
extremely large network that is converging to use Internet technologies, although not necessarily
through the public Internet.
A Wide Area Network involves communication through the use of a wide range of different
technologies. These technologies include Point-to-Point WANs such as Point-to-Point Protocol
(PPP) and High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC), Frame Relay, ATM (Asynchronous Transfer
Mode) and Sonet (Synchronous Optical Network). The difference between the WAN technologies
is based on the switching capabilities they perform and the speed at which sending and receiving
bits of information (data) occur.
Figure 6.2: A WAN Network
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NCAR
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