1. Local area networks

2. WHAT IS A LAN? What does LAN stand for? Local Area Network. A LAN supplies networking capability to a group of computers close to each other. A LAN is useful for sharing resources - like the S drive or the H drive where our files are at school. A LAN can be connected by wireless or a cable.

3. what is a MAN? • What does a MAN stand for? Metropolitan Area Network. An example of a MAN is a network that connects companies together in different city.

4. What is a WAN? • WAN stands for wide area network. WAN is a network that connects you to the world. The biggest example of this is the World Wide Web.

5. Where can you find lans? • Some of the places you can have a LAN are at home e.g. a PC connected to a laptop and even a printer. • Another place is at school. In the classroom T5 we have 15-20 computers connected by cable. • Businesses could also use LANs because everyone will need to access the same thing like work files or printing.

6. What are lans used for? • Sharing resources such as network drives to share files, printers and internet. • I haven’t used them but other students also share games on the LAN. • Teachers have an application called Kamar that is shared on the LAN.

7. Resources I can access on our lan? • At school we use the network for: • H drive – this is a network drive where I save my personal work to. • S drive – this is a network drive where I get some of my work from the teachers e.g. ICT • Websites – we use wikispaces in ICT to get out work. This connection is shared on the LAN across all oPur PCs at school. • Printing - I’ve printed out assessments to our printer in the library that is shared on the LAN.

8. components that can be connected to a lan? • Devices with network interface cards can be potentially connected to a LAN. Some of these are: • Modems or routers – connect PCs to the internet. • Hub or Switch – these connect multiple PCs and/or devices e.g. printer together. Splits one port into many. • PC or Laptop – these are the same function on a LAN e.g. allows us to type up our assignments, access the resources. But the laptop is more portable. I can carry it around. • Fileserver – A server shares resources on a LAN, in this case its serving files. Our school server is THSDC.

9. components that can be connected to a lan… • Printers – Need to have a network interface card. Most printers at home don’t have this, they have USB. Our school printers do. • Network Attached Storage – Also needs a network interface card, but to store files on. • Mobile Devices – Generally these will connect wirelessly, an example is a cellphone that can connect wirelessly to the internet if it has the password.

10. Lan architectures Peer to Peer vs Client/Server – These are two main types of local area networks.

11. PEER TO PEER A peer to peer handle up to 10 computers any more than 10 it starts to slow down. Peer to peer means every computer is equal with each other. It is mainly used for small businesses or at home because there may be a need to share the internet as an example, but rarely between more than 5 machines.

12. client/SERVER • The main difference is each computer has a set role, they’re not equal. • A servers role is to share resources. • A clients role is to request resources. • You normally find this type of LAN in schools or businesses because there are too many PCs to share one resource.

13. Characteristics of a peer to peer vs client/server: • Cost: A peer to peer is the least expensive to run. For example you can setup a home network for less than ?? ADSL router/modem+ 2 computers + switch • Performance: It works fine with a small amount of computers – like what you could have at home - but the more you add, the slower it will get. • Size: It connect up to 5-10 computers. • Security: A peer to peer only has the basic features that come with the operating system, for example, XP only allows you to make file shares read only.

14. What network components are best? • Definitions of each • What they do on a LAN • Why best for each LAN

15. Hub • Does two things – splits the number of ports into “many” e.g. four. • Also, connects devices you want to share resources e.g. printer. • This hub can connect up to four devices on this network. • For example, a computer and printer could be connected. • This is best for a peer to peer network because it can only take up to 4 devices and is not as clever as a switch.

16. Switch vs router • Is a better alternative to a hub, its more intelligent and efficient at connecting devices. • You can connect more. • Its faster and more secure. • When you use a switch, you create a LAN. • Switches are good for client/server LANs because it can have 24 or 48 ports i.e. devices. • When you use a router, you connect two LANs or it can be used to connect users to the internet.

17. Network storage

18. Advantages & Disadvantages of cabling Coxial Cat5 – most commonly used at home and in the work place because ? Reliable; Secure ; Fiber Speed Distance Interference Cost

19. Connection Technologies Wired vs wireless? Why choose to use it at home i.e. convenience, no messy cables etc. Why use it at work, wireless is less reliable. You need stable constant access to resources. For example Thursday last week the entire school had no internet access. Unpredictable disconnections.