Aravali college of Engineering and Management, Faridabad (10)

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LAN (local area network)
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INTRODUCTION

• A local-area network (LAN) is a computer network
  that spans a relatively small area. Most often, a
  LAN is confined to a single room, building or
  group of buildings, however, one LAN can be
  connected to other LANs over any distance via
  telephone lines and radio waves.

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Features of lan

• Networking limited to a small geographical area
  (less than 1km radius)
• High speed data transfer.
• Data error rate is very less since data is
  transferred to limited distance.
• Managing local area networks is easy as only a
  single technology and symmetrical topology is
  used.
• Only limited number of computers can be connected
  in a LAN network.
• Types of data supported is tailored to the
  application

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COMPONENTS OF LAN

• The hardware which is connected to form the LAN.
• The software (or programs) which is accessed
  through the LAN.
• The users, who create, work with and manage the
  various files.

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HARDWARE COMPONENTS

• Networking Interface Card (NICs)
• A network interface card (NIC) is a circuit board
  or card that is installed in a computer so that
  it can be connected to a network. Each networked
  device contains a Network Interface Card. The NIC
  may be a separate board installed into a
  computers slot, or it may be built into the
  motherboard.
• Server
• A network server is a computer designed to
  process requests and deliver data to other
  (client) computers over a local network or
  the Internet. A server may be three types
• File Server A file server is a computer that
  stores files, is attached to a network, and
  provides shared access of those files to multiple
  workstation computers.

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• Print Server A print server is a device that
  connects printers to client computers over a
  network. It accepts print request from the
  computers and sends the jobs to the appropriate
  printers over the LAN.
• Communication Server A communication server is a
  computer system designed to handle a wide range
  of communications-based applications.
• Station
• A station is a computer that is connected with a
  server computer over the LAN, and communicate
  with other devices connected with it.

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• HUB
• A common connection point for devices in a
  network. Hubs are commonly used to connect
  segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports.
  When a packet arrives atone port, it is copied to
  the other ports so that all segments of the LAN
  can see all-packets.
• Switch
• A switch is like a hub in that it is a central
  point for connecting network cables however, a
  switch is able to receive a packet and transmit
  it to only the destination computer.
• Router
• Routers make the connection to the Internet for
  LANs. They use a configuration table to decide
  where packets should go.

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• Access point
• A hardware device or a computers software that
  acts as a communication hub for users of a
  wireless device to connect to a wired LAN.
• Power Supply
• Both wired and wireless networks need a power
  supply. A wireless network uses the current to
  generate radio waves. A cabled network sends data
  interpreted as an electronic pulse
• Connector
• A network connector refers to any device that
  used to connect many LAN connection with the
  hardware of the computer.

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LAN SOFTWARE

• The operating system of each attached server
  The server operating system is considered to be
  the brains of the network
• The operating system of each attached station
  All PCs require an operating system to function.
• Applications software accessed by LAN users
  Applications software is those software, which
  are used to perform a specific task. The most
  common business applications are word processing,
  spreadsheet analysis and database management.
• Groupware A second type of application software
  has been introduced for the LAN environment
  groupware. Groupware refers to programs that help
  people work together collectively while located
  remotely from each other.

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Maintenance of lan

• The users A user is defined as a person who
  makes use of the network resources.
• Network Administrator The network administrator
  is the individual responsible for maintaining the
  LAN. It is essential that the administrator have
  a good understanding of how the network is put
  together and how it functions.

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USES OF LAN

• LANs transfer data at much faster rates than
  telephone line connections, but are limited in
  the number of computers they can support and the
  distances they can transfer data. LANs can
  connect to other LANs over telephone lines,
  satellites or radio waves, creating what's known
  as a wide-area network (WAN).

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LAN STANDARD

• Distributed data interface networksA Fiber
  Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) is an optical
  fiber-based local area network (LAN) that uses
  the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
  3T9.5 standard for a media access control (MAC)
  protocol of token ring.
• Ethernet networksEthernet is one type of local
  area network (LAN) topology that the i5/OS
  operating system supports. i5/OS Ethernet
  provides support for the Digital Equipment
  Corporation, Intel Corporation, and Xerox
  standard (Ethernet Version 2) and the IEEE 802.3
  standard.
• Token-ring networksA token-ring network is a
  local area network (LAN) topology that sends data
  in one direction throughout a specified number of
  locations by using a token.
• Wireless networksThe more mobile your employees
  are, the more you should consider a wireless
  network. The portable transaction computers
  (PTCs) make the direct connection between the
  office and offsite locations possible.

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Aravali College of Engineering And
Management Jasana, Tigoan Road, Neharpar,
Faridabad, Delhi NCR Toll Free Number 91-
8527538785 Website  www.acem.edu.in