Types of Computer Network: What is LAN, MAN and

WAN
By Lawrence Williams Updated October 7, 2021

What is a Computer Network?

A Computer Network is a group of two or more interconnected computer systems that
use common connection protocols for sharing various resources and files. You can
establish a computer network connection using either cable or wireless media. Every
network involves hardware and so ware that connects computers and tools.

In this Computer networking tutorial, you will learn:

What Are the Important Types of Computer Networks?

What is PAN (Personal Area Network)?
What is a LAN (Local Area Network)?
What is WAN (Wide Area Network)?
What is MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)?
Other Types of Computer Networks

What Are the Important Types of Computer Networks?

There are various types of Computer Networking options available. The classification of
100+覆盖港台⽇欧美等地区节点，三⽹优化
打开
线路。be done according to their size as well
network in computers can as their purpose.
The size of a network should be expressed by the geographic area and number of
computers, which are a part of their networks. It includes devices housed in a single room
to millions of devices spread across the world. Following are the popular types of
Computer Network:

Types of Computer Networks

Some of the most popular computer network types are:

Ad

奈⻜、油管、91视频4K秒开 - 全程拉满带宽4K视频⽆
任何压⼒
teyisb.com 访问⽹站

PAN (Personal Area Network)

LAN (Local Area Network)
MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
WAN (Wide Area Network)

Let’s study all of these types of networking in detail.

What is PAN (Personal Area Network)?

PAN (Personal Area Network) is a computer network formed around a person. It generally
consists of a computer, mobile, or personal digital assistant. PAN can be used for
establishing communication among these personal devices for connecting to a digital
network and the internet.

Characteristics of PAN
Below are the main characteristics of PAN:

It is mostly personal devices network equipped within a limited area.

Allows you to handle the interconnection of IT devices at the surrounding of a single
user.
PAN includes mobile devices, tablet, and laptop.
It can be wirelessly connected to the internet called WPAN.
Appliances use for PAN: cordless mice, keyboards, and Bluetooth systems.

Advantages of PAN
Here are the important pros/benefits of PAN network:

PAN networks are relatively secure and safe

It o ers only short-range solution up to ten meters
Strictly restricted to a small area

Disadvantages of PAN
Here are the cons/drawbacks of using PAN network:

It may establish a bad connection to other networks at the same radio bands.
Distance limits.

What is a LAN (Local Area Network)?

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a group of computer and peripheral devices which are
connected in a limited area such as school, laboratory, home, and o ice building. It is a
widely useful network for sharing resources like files, printers, games, and other
application. The simplest type of LAN network is to connect computers and a printer in
someone’s home or o ice. In general, LAN will be used as one type of transmission
medium. It is a network which consists of less than 5000 interconnected devices across
several buildings
several buildings.

Local Area Network (LAN)

Characteristics of LAN
Here are the important characteristics of a LAN network:

It is a private network, so an outside regulatory body never controls it.

LAN operates at a relatively higher speed compared to other WAN systems.
There are various kinds of media access control methods like token ring and
ethernet.

Ad

奈⻜、油管、91视频4K秒开 - 全程拉满带宽4K视频⽆
任何压⼒
teyisb.com 访问⽹站

Advantages of LAN
Here are the pros/benefits of LAN:
 Computer resources like hard-disks, DVD-ROM, and printers can share local area
networks. This significantly reduces the cost of hardware purchases.
You can use the same so ware over the network instead of purchasing the licensed
so ware for each client in the network.
Data of all network users can be stored on a single hard disk of the server computer.
You can easily transfer data and messages over networked computers.
It will be easy to manage data at only one place, which makes data more secure.
Local Area Network o ers the facility to share a single internet connection among all
the LAN users.

Disadvantages of LAN
Here are the cons/drawbacks of LAN:

LAN will indeed save cost because of shared computer resources, but the initial cost
of installing Local Area Networks is quite high.
The LAN admin can check personal data files of every LAN user, so it does not o er
good privacy.
Unauthorized users can access critical data of an organization in case LAN admin is
not able to secure centralized data repository.
Local Area Network requires a constant LAN administration as there are issues
related to so ware setup and hardware failures

What is WAN (Wide Area Network)?

WAN (Wide Area Network) is another important computer network that which is spread
across a large geographical area. WAN network system could be a connection of a LAN
which connects with other LAN’s using telephone lines and radio waves. It is mostly
limited to an enterprise or an organization.
 Wide Area Network (WAN)

Characteristics of WAN
Below are the characteristics of WAN:

The so ware files will be shared among all the users; therefore, all can access to the
latest files.
Any organization can form its global integrated network using WAN.

Advantages of WAN
 g
Here are the benefits/pros of WAN:
WAN helps you to cover a larger geographical area. Therefore business o ices
situated at longer distances can easily communicate.
Contains devices like mobile phones, laptop, tablet, computers, gaming consoles,
etc.
WLAN connections work using radio transmitters and receivers built into client
devices.

Disadvantages of WAN
Here are the drawbacks/cons of WAN network:

The initial setup cost of investment is very high.

It is di icult to maintain the WAN network. You need skilled technicians and network
administrators.
There are more errors and issues because of the wide coverage and the use of
di erent technologies.
It requires more time to resolve issues because of the involvement of multiple wired
and wireless technologies.
O ers lower security compared to other types of network in computer.

Ad 奈⻜、油管、91视频4K秒开
teyisb.com

访问⽹站
What is MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)?
A Metropolitan Area Network or MAN is consisting of a computer network across an entire
city, college campus, or a small region. This type of network is large than a LAN, which is
mostly limited to a single building or site. Depending upon the type of configuration, this
type of network allows you to cover an area from several miles to tens of miles.
 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Characteristics of MAN
Here are important characteristics of the MAN network:

It mostly covers towns and cities in a maximum 50 km range

Mostly used medium is optical fibers, cables
Data rates adequate for distributed computing applications.

Advantages of MAN
Here are the pros/benefits of MAN network:

It o ers fast communication using high-speed carriers, like fiber optic cables.
It provides excellent support for an extensive size network and greater access to
WANs.
The dual bus in MAN network provides support to transmit data in both directions
concurrently.
A MAN network mostly includes some areas of a city or an entire city.

Disadvantages of MAN
Here are drawbacks/cons of using the MAN network:

You need more cable to establish MAN connection from one place to another
 You need more cable to establish MAN connection from one place to another.
In MAN network it is tough to make the system secure from hackers

Other Types of Computer Networks

Apart from above mentioned computer networks, here are some other important types of
networks:

WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network)

Storage Area Network
System Area Network
Home Area Network
POLAN- Passive Optical LAN
Enterprise private network
Campus Area Network
Virtual Area Network

Let’s see all these di erent types of networks in detail:

1) WLAN
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) helps you to link single or multiple devices using
wireless communication within a limited area like home, school, or o ice building. It
gives users an ability to move around within a local coverage area which may be
connected to the network. Today most modern day’s WLAN systems are based on IEEE
802.11 standards.

2) Storage-Area Network (SAN)

A Storage Area Network is a type of network which allows consolidated, block-level data
storage. It is mainly used to make storage devices, like disk arrays, optical jukeboxes, and
tape libraries.

3) System-Area Network
System Area Network is used for a local network. It o ers high-speed connection in
server-to-server and processor-to-processor applications. The computers connected on a
SAN network operate as a single system at quite high speed.

4) Passive Optical Local Area Network

POLAN is a networking technology which helps you to integrate into structured cabling. It
allows you to resolve the issues of supporting Ethernet protocols and network apps.
POLAN allows you to use optical splitter which helps you to separate an optical signal
from a single-mode optical fiber. It converts this single signal into multiple signals.

5) Home Area Network (HAN):

A Home Area Network is always built using two or more interconnected computers to
form a local area network (LAN) within the home. For example, in the United States, about
15 million homes have more than one computer.

These types of network connections help computer owners to interconnect with multiple
computers. This network allows sharing files, programs, printers, and other peripherals.

6) Enterprise Private Network :

Enterprise private network (EPN) networks are build and owned by businesses that want
to securely connect numerous locations in order to share various computer resources.

7) Campus Area Network (CAN):

A Campus Area Network is made up of an interconnection of LANs within a specific
geographical area. For example, a university campus can be linked with a variety of
campus buildings to connect all the academic departments.

8) Virtual Private Network:

A VPN is a private network which uses a public network to connect remote sites or users
together. The VPN network uses “virtual” connections routed through the internet from
the enterprise’s private network or a third-party VPN service to the remote site.

It is a free or paid service that keeps your web browsing secure and private over public
WiFi hotspots.

Summary

Types of connections in computer networks can be categorized according to their

size as well as their purpose
PAN is a computer network which generally consists of a computer, mobile, or
personal digital assistant
LAN ( local area network) is a group of computer and peripheral devices which are
connected in a limited area
 WAN (Wide Area Network) is another important computer network that which is
spread across a large geographical area
A metropolitan area network or MAN is consisting of a computer network across an
entire city, college campus, or a small region
WLAN is a wireless local area network that helps you to link single or multiple
devices using. It uses wireless communication within a limited area like home,
school, or o ice building.
SAN is a storage area network is a type of network which allows consolidated, block-
level data storage
System area network o ers high-speed connection in server-to-server applications,
storage area networks, and processor-to-processor applications
POLAN is a networking technology which helps you to integrate into structured
cabling
Home network (HAN) is a always built using two or more interconnected computers
to form a local area network (LAN) within the home
Enterprise private network (EPN) networks are build and owned by businesses that
want to securely connect various locations
Campus area network (CAN) is made up of an interconnection of LANs in a specific
geographical area
A VPN is a private network which uses a public network to connect remote sites or
users together

You Might Like:

40 Best Network Monitoring Tools & So ware | Free (Nov 2021)

Internet vs Intranet: Key Di erences
Top 70 CCNA Interview Questions & Answers (2021 Update)
What is Wildcard Mask? How to Calculate Wildcard Mask
BEST System Monitoring So ware | Top Tools for 2021

Prev Report a Bug Next

 About
About Us
Advertise with Us
Write For Us
Contact Us

Career Suggestion
SAP Career Suggestion Tool
So ware Testing as a Career

Interesting
eBook
Blog
Quiz
SAP eBook

Execute online
Execute Java Online
Execute Javascript
Execute HTML
Execute Python

© Copyright - Guru99 2021         Privacy

 Advertisement

Home

Storage Device
Last updated: August 17, 2020

What Does Storage Device Mean?

A storage device is any type of computing hardware that is used for storing, porting or extracting
data files and objects. Storage devices can hold and store information both temporarily and
permanently. They may be internal or external to a computer, server or computing device.

A storage device may also be known as a storage medium or storage media depending on
whether it is seen as discrete in nature (for example, “a hard drive” versus “some hard drive
space.”)

[Upcoming Webinar] Women in Tech: Top Tips for Jumping Ahead in 2022

Advertisement
Techopedia Explains Storage Device
Storage devices are one of the core components of any computing device. They store virtually all
of the data and applications on a computer, except for hardware firmware which is generally
managed through separate read-only memory or ROM.

Storage devices are available in different forms, depending on the type of underlying device. For
example, a standard computer has multiple storage devices including RAM, a cache, and a hard
disk. The same device may also have optical disk drives and externally connected USB drives.

There are two different types of storage devices:

Primary storage devices: Generally smaller in size, primary storage devices are designed to hold
data temporarily and are internal to the computer. They have the fastest data access speed. These
types of devices include RAM and cache memory.

Secondary storage devices: Secondary storage devices usually have larger storage capacity, and
they store data permanently. They can be either internal or external to the computer. These types
of devices include the hard disk, the optical disk drive and USB storage device.

Brief History of Storage Devices

In order to really understand what storage devices used to look like and what they look like now, it
can be helpful to look at a history of evolving storage devices in general.

Early storage devices were primitive mechanical systems based on items like punch cards and
later, magnetic tape. They presented binary through physical media.

These became largely obsolete when other digital media was created. First, there were floppy
disks and diskettes, then there were compact discs that could hold large amounts of binary in
digital formats.
At the same time, computers and other devices continued to be made with primary hard drives,
where a traditional platter is read by an arm in order to read and write data.

Eventually, a new option emerged called the solid-state drive or SSD.

The New Paradigm: Solid-State Drives and Storage Devices

New solid-state drives and storage devices store data in a way that's different from the traditional
platter hard drive.

Solid-state storage involves running electrical currents through a substrate instead of using a
spinning hard drive platter. It eliminates some of the mechanical parts of the traditional hard drive.
It also makes the storage of digital information much more efficient.

New computers may have solid-state drives as a primary device. New flash drives and thumb
drives use solid-state storage for secondary devices.

At the same time, companies have been updating how they approach storage device engineering
for broader enterprise systems. Systems like Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) designs
allow companies to use a series of drives to store information in "slices."

TABLE
Then the OF CONTENTS
storage area network (SAN) evolved, which links together individual storage devices to
provide network storage. Something called "storage fabric" uses fiber channel switching to build
network storage for enterprise systems.

Cloud and Virtual Storage

One of the latest advances in storage media involves the cloud and virtualization. With modern
systems, users can store data virtually, rather than using physical hardware on-site. For example,
Amazon Web Services offers AWS S3, a type of object storage where instead of being stored in
physical hard drive devices, customers store data in virtual buckets. These types of innovations
represent the frontier of where storage media is going.

RELATED QUESTION
How can a hard drive be erased securely?

Advertisement
 SYNONYMS
Storage Medium, Storage Media

Share this Term

Related Terms

Storage

Secondary Storage Device

Mass Storage Device

Primary Storage Device

Random Access Memory

Cache Memory

Hard Disk Drive

Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory

Solid State Drive Array

 Memory

Related Reading

INFOGRAPHIC: This Is What a 5MB Hard Drive Looked Like In 1956

How to Optimize Your Enterprise Storage Solution

6 Outdated Gadgets You Can Toss

Keeping Up With the Data Explosion by Virtualizing Storage

Which Write is Right? A Look at I/O Caching Methods

Cloud vs. Local Backup: Which Do You Need?

Tags

Hardware Storage General Computing Hard Drives

Trending Articles

DATA MANAGEMENT
Destroying Silos With Integrated Data Analytics Platforms
INTERNET
7 Sneaky Ways Hackers Can Get Your Facebook Password

DATA MANAGEMENT

Data Center Transition Operations Plan: A Precision Critical Strategy

CYBERSECURITY
IoT Security Challenges: Why Enterprise Must Assess Them Now

Tech moves fast! Stay ahead of the curve with Techopedia!

Join nearly 200,000 subscribers who receive actionable tech insights from Techopedia.

Email Address

Sign up

Latest Articles
How Technology Is Helping Companies Achieve Their DEI Goals in 2022
By: Claudio Buttice | Data Analyst, Contributor

Destroying Silos With Integrated Data Analytics Platforms

By: Kaushik Pal | Contributor

Data Center Transition Operations Plan: A Precision Critical Strategy

By: Lee Kirby | Chairman & Co-Founder, Salute Mission Critical

IoT Security Challenges: Why Enterprise Must Assess Them Now

By: Arthur Cole | Contributor

Advertisement
Advertisement
 Techopedia™ is your go-to tech source for professional IT insight and inspiration. We aim to be a
site that isn't trying to be the first to break news stories, but instead help you better understand
technology and — we hope — make better decisions as a result.

Copyright © 2021 Techopedia Inc. - Terms of Use - Privacy Policy - Editorial Review Policy

Cookie Settings

Dictionary About
Topics Contributors
Tutorials Advertising Info
Webinars Write for Us
Q&A Guest Posting
DownloadsContact Us
Sitemap

Follow Us

Subscribe To Our Newsletters

Email Address Subscribe

Term of the Day Best of Techopedia (weekly) News and Special Offers (occasional)
By clicking sign up, you agree to receive emails from Techopedia and agree to our Terms of Use & Privacy Policy.

Techopedia is a part of Janalta Interactive.

Computing Technology with IT Fundamentals

Introduction to Computing Devices and their

usage
Baseer Hussain Follow
Mar 2, 2017 · 5 min read

Computing devices are the electronic devices which take inputs, process the inputs and
then calculate results from the inputs. Or in simple words, these are basically the
mathematical devices which can do the math much in faster way. One of the most
common computing device is computer which we all know about it. Some of the
computing devices use today are shown in the following figure.
 Figure: Computing Devices

This is the vast field and it covers huge amount of devices today which we are using in
one or another form and these devices ranging from the simple Calculator, Printers,
Digital Cameras, Mobile phones, Smart phones , PC Desktops, Laptops and many more.
These all do the math calculations on the streams of binary digits (bits i.e. 0 and 1 )
and produce the results in different forms that we need. They simply take inputs from
the users and process the inputs by doing calculations and then produce outputs. Let us
take example of a computer, we enter the inputs to the computer (like pressing the keys
from the keyboard or clicking through the mouse), it processes them and produces the
output data on the screen of the monitor.

Figure: Computing data from inputs to outputs

Features Common to Computing Devices

Processors
Every computing device will have the electronic calculator i.e. processor. This
executes calculations from the instructions given to them in the form of programming
code.

Programming
Programming is the basic for executing computations. There can be two kinds of
programming for computers and that are Operating systems and Applications. An
operating system (OS) helps the people to interact with the computing machine
through pressing keys on keyboard, clicking via mouse and many more. This is
basically a program need for running a system in appropriate way. Applications also
known as apps, are examples of specialized programs that enable the computer to
carry out specific tasks.

Data Storage
This is the another feature which all the computing devices have. Data storage is
basically storing the programs as well as data on different memory devices used in the
computing devices today and these programs and data which are stored can be used
later for our needs. There are different storage devices using today.

Example: Let’s take an example which will cover the above three features of the
computing devices.

Any Dell Computer is a computing devices and it has the processor inside it which does
computations. When the Laptop is ON, it runs the software or program called
Operating system which enables the user to interact with the laptop through keyboard
and mouse and then the user stores the file on the storage element called hard drive for
the later use.

Types of General-purpose Computers

There are basically two kinds of General-purpose computers and they are

1. Multi-user Computers

2. Dedicated Computers

Multi-user Computers
As the name suggests that this is a kind of computer that can handle multi users at a
time. Mainframes, minicomputers, and supercomputers all fall into this category.
Example of Multi-user computer is the computerized cash registers in a large retail
store, which typically connect to a multi-user computer that records transactions and
adjusts the store’s stock list database so that all individual registers are synchronized.
 Figure: Multi-user Computer

Dedicated Computers
Dedicated computers are the computers which can be used by one user at a time. These
computers have replaced multi-user computers because they are simple and have less
cost. PC (Personal Computer is the most common dedicated computer these days. A
typical PC has the other peripheral devices like keyboard, mouse and monitor which
are used to the interact with the system.

Figure: Dedicated Computer: Desktop PC

There are further two kinds of PCs which depends on their sizes and portability.

These PCs are Desktops and Laptops.

PCs that are not easily transportable are known as desktop computers or desktops PCs,
and PCs that are easily transportable are called laptops (or notebooks). A laptop
computer typically has all essential components built into a single package while
desktop PC has a separate display or monitor, separate mouse and keyboard.

Figure: Dedicated Computer: Laptop

Operating Systems for Desktop and Laptop PCs

A computer’s OS runs the device, supports its applications, and defines how users can
interact with it. It is the software base of the computing device upon which everything
builds. There can be two kind of interfaces in Operating system used today, one is GUI
(graphical user interface ) and the other is CLI(Command Line interface). A GUI
displays pictures on a monitor, and the user interacts with the pictures by moving a
mouse and that’s why they are popular because they are easy to use. Users interact
with a CLI by typing commands at a text-based on-screen command window.

There can be several kinds of Operating systems(OS) for PCs but some of the famous
OS are as below.

Windows OS by Microsoft and they have several versions available and these are
basically GUI and users can use it in CLI as well. For example Win7,Win 10 etc.

Apple MacOS by Apple which was formerly known by OS-X before 2016 in the
market
 Linux OS is a free, open source operating system which means that anyone can
download and modify the source code. For example Ubuntu14.04, Ubuntu16.04
etc. Linux OS uses both GUI and CLI but mostly CLI.

The above mentioned OS are shown in following figures.

Figure: Windows10 Operating System

Figure: Mas Operating system

 Figure: Linux Operating System: Ubuntu14.04

This was all about the introduction to computing devices specially the computers.

Thanks for reading..!!

Tech UX

About Write Help Legal

Get the Medium app