LAN ( Local Area Network ) Defination , Advantage, Disadvantage

LAN ( Local Area Network ) Defination 

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building, using network media.

           A LAN connects network devices over a relatively short distance. A networked office building, school, or home usually contains a single LAN, though sometimes one building will contain a few small LANs (perhaps one per room), and occasionally a LAN will span a group of nearby buildings. 

In addition to operating in a limited space, LANs are also typically owned, controlled, and managed by a single person or organization. They also tend to use certain connectivity technologies.

   A local area network (LAN) is a group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line or wireless link. Typically, connected devices share the resources of a single processor or server within a small geographic area (for example, within an office building). Usually, the server has applications and data storage that are shared in common by multiple computer users. A local area network may serve as few as two or three users (for example, in a home network) or as many as thousands of users (for example, in an FDDI network).

Major local area network technologies are:

 Ethernet
 Token Ring
 FDDI

ADVANTAGES OF LAN

• Files can be stored on a central computer (the file server) allowing data to be shared throughout an organisation.
• Files can be backed up more easily when they are all on a central fileserver rather than when they are scattered across a number of independent workstations.
• Networks also allow security to be established, ensuring that the network users may only have access to certain files and applications.
• Software and resources can be centrally managed.
• Network versions of software often allow for their speedy installation on workstations from the file server.
• Expensive devices such as laser printers or scanners can be shared.
• Users can access their files from any workstation

DISADVANTAGES OF LAN

• Power - a good LAN is required to be on all the times.
• Security - each computer and device become another point of entry for undesirables.
• Upkeep - when things go wrong or the software gets updated.
• Frustration if having a problem setting up.
• A lot of times a network shares one Internet connection - if all computers running at once, can reduce speed for each.
• Area covered is limited.