Author: admin
A Wide Area Network (WAN) is a network system that covers a large (wide) geographical area such as different cities of country or different countries of the world. Most telephone companies are WANs. A WAN that is wholly owned and used by a single company is often referred to as enterprise network.
In WAN, usually the personal computers as remote terminals are connected to the larger computer (such as mainframe) through public networks such as the telephone system, to send and receive data. The larger computer to which the terminal (or PC) is attached is called Host computer.
Typically, a WAN may consist of two or more LANs connected together. The Internet is the worlds largest WAN, In WAN telephone lines, satellites, microwave, fiber optic etc. are used as transmission media.
The electronic device modem is used computers establish communication over long distance through telephone line. A modem converts the digital signals into analog signals and vice versa. The modem enables the computer to send and to receive information over long distance through telephone line or microwave system.
Many large organizations make use of WAN as enterprise network. For example, in Pakistan, the large organizations such as PL4, WAPDA, ARMY, NADRA and BANKS etc. use the WAN.
Wide Area Network
Most of the advantages of WAN are similar to LAN. But additional advantage of WAN is that information or messages may be shared and communicated all over the world. Similarly, disadvantages of WAN are also similar to LAN.