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2.2 Types of Networks

Understanding Network Fundamentals

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What is a company's IT department?

What do they do?

Why are they vital to a company's success?

Take a look at this article and select the 3 most important thing a successful IT department does. Be prepared to explain your answer.

Networks

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TYPES OF NETWORKS

The IT Department controls your companies network and there are three types:

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

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1.Covers a small region of space, typically a single building.

2. LAN is the smallest network compared to other two networks.

3. the simplest form of LAN is to connect two computers together

4. LAN is operated within a limited physical area such as at home, school, a single building or several buildings.

5. A network which consists of less than 500 interconnected devices across several buildings, is still recognised as a LAN.

6. LAN is very high speed network (from previously 10Mbps) to 100Mbps,which is faster than MAN and WAN.

Provide a few examples of a company that may have a LAN in the Frederick Area.

LAN: Local Area Network

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Do you think you have a LAN in your house?

LAN: Local Area Network

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1. Is collection of LANs with the same geographical area, for instance a city.

2. Is a network of computers located at different sites within a large physical area, such as a city.

3. MAN often acts as a high speed network(although not as fast as LAN) to allow sharing of regional resources.

4. MAN can defined as a group of computers and network devices connected together within a large physical area.

5. Companies that have several locations within a City may have an MAN.

Provide a few examples of a company that may have a MAN in the Frederick Area.

MAN: Metropolitan Area Network

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MAN: Metropolitan Area Network

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MAN: Metropolitan Area Network

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1. Is the largest network of all network types.

2. The internet is the largest WAN in the world.

3. WAN generally covers large distances such as states, countries or continents.

4. WAN is group of MANs or LANs or the mixture of both network.

5. An example in the society using WAN is the banking organization.

WAN: Wide Area Network

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WAN: Wide Area Network

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WAN: Wide Area Network

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Differences between Types of Computer Networks

Largest

Large

Smallest

Number of computer

Fibre-Optic, radio wave and satellite

Twisted-Pair and Fibre-Optic

Twisted-Pair

Transmission Media Type

Fast

Faster

Fastest

Speed

Largest

Larger

Small

Network Size

Higher

High

Low

Cost

WAN

MAN

LAN

Criteria

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2.2 Student Activity: Network Research

In the business world and regardless of where you work, you need to understand the basics of the network. - You will do an activity with 2-3 students and investigate computer networks.

I will provide you a copy and you should share the document with your teammates.

Rename it with your group members last names (see below):

Networks - Last Name Last Name Last Name