Unit 3

Brief Overview of LAN (Local Area Network): Classification. Brief overview of Wide Area Network
(WAN). Salient features and differences of LAN with emphasis on: Media, Topology, Speed of
Transmission, Distance, Cost. Terminal Handling, Polling, Token passing, Contention. IEEE Standards:
their need and developments.

What Is a LAN?

A local area network (LAN) is a collection of devices connected together in one physical
location, such as a building, office, or home. A LAN can be small or large, ranging from a
home network with one user to an enterprise network with thousands of users and
devices in an office or school.

Regardless of size, a LAN's single defining characteristic is that it connects devices that
are in a single, limited area. In contrast, a wide area network (WAN) or metropolitan
area network (MAN) covers larger geographic areas. Some WANs and MANs connect
many LANs together.
What's in a LAN?
A LAN comprises cables, access points, switches, routers, and other components that
enable devices to connect to internal servers, web servers, and other LANs via wide area
networks.

The rise of virtualization has also fueled the development of virtual LANs, which enable
network administrators to logically group network nodes and partition their networks
without a need for major infrastructure changes.
For example, in an office with multiple departments, such as accounting, IT support, and
administration, each department's computers could be logically connected to the same
switch but segmented to behave as if they are separate.
The benefits of using LAN
Local area networks enable devices to connect, transmit and receive
information between them. The benefits of LAN technologies include the
following:

 enable access to centralized applications residing on servers;

 enable all devices to store business-critical data in a centralized

location;

 allow resource sharing, including printers, apps and other shared

services;

 allow multiple devices on a LAN to share a single internet connection;

and

 protect LAN-connected devices using network security tools.

 Privacy: LAN is a private network, thus no outside regulatory body
controls it, giving it a privacy.
 High Speed: LAN offers a much higher speed(around 100 mbps) and
data transfer rate comparatively to WAN.
 Supports different transmission mediums: LAN support a variety of
communications transmission medium such as an Ethernet cable (thin
cable, thick cable, and twisted pair), fiber and wireless transmission.
 Inexpensive and Simple: A LAN usually has low cost, installation,
expansion and maintenance and LAN installation is relatively easy to use,
good scalability.
What are the Drawback of LAN?
 The initial setup costs of installing Local Area Networks is high because
there is special software required to make a server.
 Communication devices like an ethernet cable, switches, hubs, routers,
cables are costly.
 LAN administrator can see and check personal data files as well
as Internet history of each and every LAN user. Hence, the privacy of the
users are violated
 LANs are restricted in size and cover only a limited area
 Since all the data is stored in a single server computer, if it can be
accessed by an unauthorized user, can cause a serious data security
threat.
History

On January 1, 1963, IEEE merged with two institutions, the AIEE (American
Institute of Electrical Engineers) was founded in 1884 and the IRE (Institute
of Radio Engineers) was founded in 1912 to form the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In the starting, it had 150, 000 members
and 140, 000 from the United States.

Characteristics

1. Compatibility: Able to achieve performance very similar to that currently

offered by Ethernet, meeting the current traffic demands.
2. Technical societies: There are various technical areas addressed by
IEEE’s 39 societies and each one focused on a certain knowledge area.
3. Media: Each of the IEEE standards specify the medium through which
signals are traveled in a network. Like Twisted Pair cable, coaxial cable,
etc.
4. Speed: The IEEE standard defines the maximum speed through which
data can be transferred. Usually, the data transfer speed is in Mbps, but
in some fast systems, it can go up to Gbps.
5. Access Method: IEEE standard defines the method through which a
network system can access a transmission channel to send/receive the
data.
6. Topology: Topology used by the network can be implemented using the
IEEE LAN standard.
List of IEEE standards

Here is a list of IEEE standards used in computer networking, also known as

IEEE 802 standards, the list is as follows:

IEEE
Standard Description

IEEE 802 For LAN/MAN networks

Standards for LAN/MAN management and bridging and remote media

IEEE 802.1
access control bridging.

IEEE 802.2 For Logical Link Control connectivity.

IEEE 802.3 Standards for CSMA/CD.

IEEE 802.4 Standards for the token passing bus access.

For communication between LAN and MAN, and standard for token ring
IEEE 802.5
access.

IEEE 802.6 For exchanging information between systems

IEEE 802.7 For broadband LAN cable

IEEE 802.8 For Fiber-optic connection

IEEE 802.9 For integrated services, like voice-over video, etc.

IEEE 802.10 For security implementation in LAN/MAN

 IEEE
Standard Description

IEEE 802.11 For WiFi or Wireless Networking

IEEE 802.12 For demand Priority Access Method

IEEE 802.14 For Cable TV broadband communications

IEEE
For Bluetooth and Wifi co-existence mechanism
802.15.2

IEEE
For Wireless Sensors or Control Systems
802.15.4

IEEE
For Wireless Body Area Network, like Bluetooth low energy
802.15.6

IEEE 802.16 For Wireless Network connectivity, like WiMax

To facilitate collaboration and coordination among all IEEE 802

IEEE 802. 24
standards

Advantages

1. The data communication system is faster than the speed of

transportation.
2. Multi-path propagation increases the transmission rate and reduces error
incidence.
3. Manually fix the modulation used by the transmission.
4. Developing standards for the computer and electronic industry.
5. It is a non-profit professional association and works for the benefit of
Humanity.
Disadvantages

1. It requires periodic maintenance.

2. Network security needs to stay secure.
3. It has unauthorized use.

Types of Local Area Network (LAN)

Local area networks can be classified based on the types of devices they
connect, the design of the underlying architecture, and the medium used.
There’s also an emergi IEEE stands for Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers. It is a professional association with a nonprofit organization with
its headquarter in New York in the United States of America. It is composed
of engineers, scientists, allied professionals, advancing innovation and
technological excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE mainly focuses on
the areas of Electrical Engineering, Electronics & Communication
Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Information Technology.
4.
Different Types of LAN
1. Client-server LAN

In a client-server LAN environment, a single server connects to multiple

devices known as clients. Client devices cannot interact with each other
and a centralized machine handles activities like network traffic
management, network access control, etc. This LAN type may be faster in
small perimeters, but in a large perimeter, it places too much pressure on
the central server.
2. Peer to peer (P2P) LAN

In a P2P LAN, there is no centralized server, and all connected devices

have access to each other, regardless of whether they are servers or clients.
The advantage of a P2P LAN is that devices can freely exchange data with
one another, making it easier to stream media, send files, and perform
similar data exchange activities. On the downside, they tend to be less
powerful than client-server LANs.
3. Token ring LAN

Based on the architecture design, you can classify LANs into a token ring
or token bus categories. In the former, all devices are arranged in a ring
when they are connected. A token is assigned to every connected device
based on its requirements. It was introduced by IBM in 1984 for use in
corporate environments when ethernet technology was still in the early
stages of development.
4. Token bus LAN

In a token bus LAN, connected nodes are arranged in a tree-like topology,

and tokens are transferred either left or right. Typically, it provides better
bandwidth capacities than a token ring LAN environment.
5. Wired LAN

Wired LAN is probably the most common LAN type in use today. It uses
electronic waves to transfer data across optical fiber (or cable variants)
instead of tokens. Wired LAN is extremely reliable and can be very fast,
depending on the performance of the central server. However, it can hinder
portability and flexibility, particularly in environments with no fixed
number of devices.
6. Wireless LAN

Wireless LAN is commonly used in home environments to connect

computing devices, wearables, smart appliances, etc. but there is a massive
enterprise market for wireless LAN as well, growing by 10.3% year over
year as per IDC. This type of LAN uses radiofrequency for data transfers,
which can make it susceptible to security risks. It is also battery-intensive
and may show fluctuating performance depending on where the wireless
device is situated.
7. Cloud-managed LAN

Cloud-managed LAN is a specific type of wireless LAN where a

centralized cloud platform is used to manage network provisioning, policy
enforcement, access control, and other aspects of network performance
and security. In a heterogeneous networked environment, cloud-managed
LAN streamlines governance, making it a good fit for enterprise use. By
2025, cloud-managed LAN will be worth over $1.18 billion globally, as
per research by Market Research Future.

How to Secure a Local Area Network

The majority of Local Area Network problems and solutions are concerned with the
matter of security. There are a variety of strategies for designing a secure Local Area
Network. A common approach is to install a firewall behind a single access point,
such as a wireless router. Another valuable measure is to use security protocols
such as WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) or WPA2 for password encryption on
incoming Internet traffic.
Implementing specialized authentication policies enables network administrators to
inspect and filter network traffic in order to prevent unauthorized access. Specific
access points can be secured with the use of technologies such as VPNs. Internal
Local Area Network security can be managed by installing antivirus or anti-malware
software.

Virtual Local Area Network Definition

A Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) is a logical grouping of devices that can
assemble together collections of devices on separate physical LANs, and is
configured to communicate as if the devices were attached to the same wire. This
enables network administrators to easily configure a single switched network to
match the security and functional requirements of their systems without requiring any
additional cables or significant changes to the current network infrastructure. VLANs
are categorized as Protocol VLAN, Static VLAN, or Dynamic VLAN.

Importance of Local Area Network in an Organization

There are several advantages of Local Area Networks in business:

 Reduced Costs: LANs present a significant reduction in Local Area Network

hardware costs and efficient resource pooling.
 Increased Storage Capacity: By pooling all data into a central data storage server,
the number of storage servers required is decreased and the efficiency of operations
is increased.
 Optimized Flexibility: Data can be accessed by any device from anywhere via
Internet connection.
 Streamlined Communication: Files and messages can be transferred in real time and
accessed easily from anywhere on any device.

LAN Server
A LAN server, or file server, is a specialized, high-speed computer that houses the
application programs and files for computers on a network. A network
administrator grants user access to apps and files on a LAN server. LAN users can
download apps and files to access them directly from the hard drive of their device.

LAN vs. Wi-Fi

Today, asking whether you should use a LAN Ethernet connection or a Wi-Fi connection
is like asking whether you want consistency or convenience. Gigabit Ethernet is capable
of consistently transmitting data at speeds of 1000 Mbps and Fast Ethernet can handle
100 Mbps. In comparison, the newest Wi-Fi standards operate as follows:

 802.11ah: Operates on frequency bandwidths below 1GHz, meaning it’s capable of

longer distance transmission than other standards. The top speed for 802.11ah is
347Mbps.
 802.11ad: Operates on a bandwidth of 60GHz at speeds up to 6.7Gbps — very fast,
but only works up to 11 feet away from the access hub.
 802.1ac (Wi-Fi 5): Operates on a bandwidth of 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz, depending on
the router, with speeds up to 3.46Gbps.

The latter two standards are a great deal faster than Gigabit Ethernet,
but Lifewire’s Bradley Mitchell contends that these theoretical Wi-Fi speeds do not match
up with the actual speeds you’ll experience. Still, WLANs allow you to move around
conveniently with laptops and smartphones in the area. You won’t experience the
consistent speed of Ethernet, but you will get fairly high speeds and convenience with
today’s technology.

LAN Example: Components Necessary for a

LAN Connection
To build a LAN or WLAN, you need the following:

 Computers with Interface Cards: Most modern PCs, laptops and tablets come
with a network interface card (NIC) for Ethernet and one for Wi-Fi. This allows the
machine to connect to a network. The NIC should come with driver software that
the operating system automatically configures and updates.
 Cables: Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cables are the standard (CatX cables,
where X is a number that indicates the speed a cable will fetch). If you’re looking
for insanely fast speeds, fiber optic cables are the (expensive) ticket.
 Switches and Hubs: You’ll run cables to boxes containing switches and a hub (or
more than one hub for a larger network). Plenty of LANs use both switches and
hubs. A hub divides up and shares data packet transmission with all the computers
on a LAN, while switches dedicate packet transmission to a single computer, which
reduces network traffic.
 Routers: Network routers allow you to connect to other LANs (if need be), and
they assign IP addresses to your devices. A wireless router will allow computers
with Wi-Fi NICs to connect with each other and with the internet.
 Modem: If you’re going to connect a LAN to other LANs and to the internet to
form a WAN, a modem facilitates signal conversion and reversion.
 Software: Network software should come with your operating system of choice,
but you’ll also need to download security software.
 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server: You’ll need a PC with
plenty of RAM and hard drive space to act as your DHCP server.

Setting up a LAN, WLAN or WAN can be very complex depending on the size of the
organization. Preparing for and earning an IT certification like CompTIA Network+ will
prove to employers you have the skills needed to administer computer networks.

LAN can provide the following services. They are:

File-based services Transfer of files from one node to another within the LAN area.
For example, in a typical LAN used for local banking, the file containing the detailed
transactions of a specific customer is transferred form sever to the client, whenever
new transactions are made on behalf of the customer. It also provides efficient ways
of storing and retrieving the data. When multiple copies of the same file exist, it
provides necessary synchronization in updating the files. LAN also provides backup
for the critical data so that safe recovery is possible when a failure occurs. It also
provides data encryption facility to control the access to certain data to only
selected persons.
Print services There can be one or more printers, modems, and fax machines
attached to a LAN and used by applications. A number of clients can share these
devices. Print services allow many clients to safely share printers and other such
devices. All modem LANs provide these services.
Application-based services Applications run on a client may require higher
computational capabilities. Servers are more powerful than the clients. In a LAN,
more than one client can share the computational power of a server. Application
servers are good examples for this.
Mail and message-based services Electronic-mail is an important service used for
exchanging information between people on a network. Mails can be stored or
forwarded to another user. Many free mail servers are available on the Internet to
provide free mail services to its clients.
Database services Storing and retrieving of data in databases is another
requirement of a client to control and manipulate the data. Database servers are the
most popular ones that service the need of clients.
Distributed data services When data is distributed, it is possible for more than one
client system to share the data. Though the databases appear physically
distributed, there is a single logical view given by the database server. There are so
many issues involved in sharing a single file by more than one client. Consistency
issue is very seriously tackled when updating shared files.
Remote services Linking a LAN with a remote computer or a mainframe is another
service required.
This feature is used to access remote databases available in large mainframes.
Characteristics of a LAN

A LAN can be characterized by means of hardware and software components and a

set of protocols.
Hardware components of a LAN are:
The Server

Server is a computer that provides services to other computers (workstations or

clients) on the network. The primary goal of a LAN server is data management. It
stores, retrieves, and protects the data. A server also sends data to the requesters
on the network and also to authorized remote users. The type and configurations
needed for the server, depends mainly on the purpose for which the LAN is being
constructed. Servers may be classified, based on the type of service they provide. A
single server may provide a number of services also. The following are the list of
servers categorized, based on the type of service.
File server and disk server A file server makes the disk storage space (in the
order of several Gigabytes), to various client PCs. The file server satisfies the
request for data from application programs running in client workstations. It also
keeps the consistency of data when more than one client makes simultaneous data
requests. In a LAN, working with a file server, all application running in a
workstation may request for a file with involving the local operating system. The
workstation sends its file request to the server and the server processes the request
and sends the required file directly to the workstation.
Disk servers are similar to file servers. The difference is that, in a file server when
an application running in a workstation requests for a specific file, the
local operating system, running on the workstation interacts with the file server and
gets the information required. In a disk server, the application can directly access
the required file without the intervention of the local operating system.
Database server These servers are a subset of the file server category. They
provide access to huge databases for clients. Database information is stored in hard
disk storage or CD ROM or optical disk drives. It contains the DBMS, which is more
sophisticated than the basic file I/O access method. DBMS eliminates data
redundancy and allows the user, transparent data distribution. The database server
extracts only the relevant data and passes it to the requesting client, rather than
passing the entire file like a file server.
Print server Every LAN has one or more printers shared by all the nodes or
workstations. The role of a print server is to collect the information from several
workstations, store them on the disk and send it to the printer. This processing is
known as print spooling. Print services become a part of the file server nowadays.
In many LAN architectures, any PC on the LAN can act as a print server.
Backup server Such servers provide backup in case the main server fails. Every
network must have a back up server to keep all the information safe. Periodically,
these servers must be updated so that reliability can be improved.
Gateway server A gateway server is used to provide connectivity to other
networks. The GIAS (Gateway server of VSNL, India) is a gateway server, which
provides connectivity to all other networks on the Internet for the Indian segment of
the Internet. A gateway server also provides connectivity to dissimilar networks.
Communication server Communication servers are more diverse than the other
servers. The main functions of a communication server are linking client
workstations on the LAN with mainframe computers, sharing a pool of modems
among the client stations, and communicating with other LANs as well.
Examples of the most popular LAN servers are Novell Netware LAN Server,
Microsoft Windows NT Server or Windows 2000, IBMOS2 Server, etc.
Workstations

Workstations or nodes are the clients that use the services provided by the network
server. Workstations are loaded with special software to interact with the server to
access the services. Examples of workstations include the Microsoft Windows NT
workstation, Windows 2000 workstation, IBM workstation, Sun workstation, etc.
The Transmission Media for LAN

Various transmission media are used for constructing a LANs. The most popular
among them are twisted pair, coaxial cable, or optical fibers. LANs operated with
any such transmission media is known as wired LAN. LANs can also be constructed
without a transmission media or cable. Such LANs are known as wireless LANs.
Communication Equipments

Repeater A repeater operates at layer-I. It has just enough intelligence to find out
the layer-l incoming signals are and then send out a clean stream of signals built
from scratch. Noise is eliminated from the signals in this manner. A repeater has
one incoming and one outgoing line. It extends the distance that a signal may be
sent over a transmission media.
Hub A hub is a multi-port repeater. Any incoming signal is repeated on all other
outgoing lines. A hub functions at layer-I.
Bridge A bridge has more intelligence than a hub or repeater. This device
separates two segments of a single LAN. A bridge operates at layer-2 by looking at
the destination address in the frame header. Consulting a table, the bridge will
determine if the frame needs to pass on to the other segment. Only certain frames
may pass those with the correct MAC address.
Switch A switch is a multi-port bridge. It performs its functions at layer two. It looks
at MAC layer addresses just like a bridge, consults a table, and determines if a
frame needs to be sent on one of the attached lines. Multiple connections can occur
through a switch simultaneously as long as they don’t compete for the same line. A
switch, just like a bridge, does not divide a LAN into two LANs. It merely reduces
unnecessary traffic on LAN segments.
Router A router is more intelligent than bridges and switches. It functions at layer-3.
At layer-2 all incoming frames are checked for errors and then they are delivered to
layer-3. A layer-3 datagram has an address that permits it to be sent across internet
works (interconnected networks). This requires a single global addressing scheme.
The router finds the layer-3 address and consults a table that it keeps. There the
router will learn which attached line to send the datagram on. A router provides
facilities to the stations on the LAN, to access other networks.

Contention

Contention-based media access describes a way of getting data on to the network

whereby systems ‘contend for’ or share the media. On a contention-based network,
systems can only transmit when the media is free and clear of signals. In this way,
devices listen to the media, and if no other system is transmitting, they can go ahead
and send data. In cases where more than one system finds the network free and
attempts to transmit, a data collision will occur, and systems will need to retransmit.
On busy networks, the number of collisions can quickly get very high, adversely
affecting performance. Remember that in this scenario, only a single system truly has
access to the media at any given time, even though multiple systems may have data
to send.

The best example of a contention-based network technology is Ethernet, which uses a

scheme called Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD).
The fact that Ethernet is contention-based is a reason why many people thought that
the technology would never be a good solution for large networks. As time passed,
different techniques were developed to provide a way for contention-based networks
to scale to larger sizes. A great example is the use of switches to segment a network,
thus significantly reducing (or even eliminating) collisions.

Token Passing

A more orderly scheme for moving data between network systems is found when
token passing is used. In token-passing media access environments, a special frame
referred to as a token repeatedly circles the network, passed from system to system.
If a system has control of the token, it can transmit data. If it doesn’t, it must wait for
the token to become available again.

While this might sound like a very slow way to go about passing data, it’s important
to understand that the token moves around the network at incredibly high speeds.
Understand also that because this method isn’t contention based, there won’t be any
collisions, further increasing performance

Examples of technologies that use token-passing media access include Token Ring
and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), both of which will be described in
detail later in this chapter.

Polling

While contention and token-passing methods are by far the most popular ways in
which PCs access LAN media, some technologies rely on a technique called polling.
Polling is a deterministic way of allowing systems access to the network while also
avoiding collisions. When used, a device referred to as the master polls systems to see
if they have data to transmit. In this way, polling is similar to token passing, except
that the central device controls the order in which systems are contacted. The
downside of polling is that when the master device fails, the network fails. Most
popular in mainframe and minicomputer environments, polling is a technique used
in protocols such as Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC).

difference between LAN and WAN:

[Link] LAN WAN

Whereas WAN stands for Wide Area

1. LAN stands for Local Area Network.
Network.

2. LAN’s ownership is private. But WAN’s ownership can be private or

[Link] LAN WAN

public.

The speed of LAN is high(more than While the speed of WAN is slower than
3.
WAN). LAN.

The propagation delay is short in Whereas the propagation delay in WAN

4.
LAN. is long(longer than LAN).

There is less congestion in LAN(local While there is more congestion in

5.
area network). WAN(Wide Area Network).

There is more fault tolerance in While there is less fault tolerance in

6.
LAN. WAN.

LAN’s design and maintenance is While it’s design and maintenance is

7.
easy. difficult than WAN.

LAN covers small area i.e. within the While WAN covers large geographical
8.
building. area.

LAN operates on the principle While WAN works on the principle of

9.
of broadcasting. point to point.

Whereas WAN uses PSTN or satellite link

Transmission medium used in LAN is
10. as a transmission or communication
co-axial or UTP cable.
medium.

WAN has a lower data transfer rate as

11. LAN has a higher data transfer rate.
compared to LAN.
[Link] LAN WAN

WANs technologies used like Frame

LANs technologies used like
12. Relay and X.25 for connectivity for longer
ethernet and token.
distances.

LANs technologies is data transfer WANs technologies data transfer rate

13.
rate is 10mbps. 150mbps

14. LANs is cheaply compared to WAN WAN is costly compared to LAN.

In LAN Co-axial cables are generally

In WAN links are established using
15. used to connect the computer and
microwave or satellite.
other devices.

Due to short distance short circuit In this network, shortcircuit errors, noise
16. error or other noise error are errors are higher than any other
minimum. network.

17. For eg: A computer lab in a college. For eg: pager