【 LAN-WLAN NETWORK 】 What It Is + Types + How to Create ▷ 2022

The LAN or Local Area Networks, is a type of network used for communications locally as its name indicates. It works through the interconnection of nodes and the use of cables or wireless media.

The connection is limited by physical means, these can be a building, plant or a room. This type of network allows data transfer at high speeds, which will only be available to those users connected to said internal network.

To know more about them, in this article you will see more details what is a lan network? The types that exist and the uses that exist.

What is a Local Area Network and what is it for in computing?

It is a computer network has a limited scope due to a limited and specific physical space like those mentioned above. These work by interconnecting nodes, cables, and wireless media, which allow the network to be used to communicate locally with other devices.

From this Local Area Network a large amount of data can be sent at high speeds, from 10Mb/s to 10Gb/S (only in theory). This is due to the fact that access to it is physically limited, so it is only allowed for all those devices connected to it, which allows the data and elements that are in it to be more secure.

What uses does a LAN network have in computing?

In computing they have different uses, which are aimed at something specific. They are mainly implemented in companies and universities. Among the different uses we can name:

• Security: It is the main reason why this type of connection is used, since in LAN networks the devices are only connected to each other, therefore, external threats cannot enter the network.
• Speed: It contains a high speed of file transfer, which allows information to be sent and received quickly.
• Simplifies the work: In work areas it is not necessary for each user to have a printer, to print important jobs or documents. Which means that you can have a printer connected only in a local area network, which is available to all users of it.
• Share files: a shared storage space can be created between all the devices that are connected in the local network, which means that it is not necessary to send a file to different people. Well, just by notifying the interested parties that it is in the shared storage, they can enter to view it.
• In games: In the world of video games, using this type of connection, mainly in events or championships of great importance, helps to ensure that the latency (slowness of the network) is null or very low in order to avoid that a player is at a disadvantage.

What types of local networks exist?

There are three types, each one of them varies in cost, speed of data transmission and difficulty of wiring, among them the following can be mentioned:

• Hybrid LAN: It is a combined network that is made up of the combination of a wired connection and a wireless connection. These types of networks can be implemented to facilitate the stability and versatility of each network.

With this type, it is possible to eliminate all the disadvantages of both a wireless network and a wired network.

• Wired Network: It is a type of network in which each of the computers and other peripherals that will belong to it are connected by cables.
• WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network): allows wireless communication and data transfer. It is widely used as an alternative to wired local area networks and can be used as an extension to them, which would make them a hybrid connection.

Its advantage is that allows you to reach difficult places for wiring, which helps to save money in the same. However, its speed is not equal to a wired connection.

• VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network): is a method used to create logically independent networks within the same physical network. Multiple VLANs can exist on a single physical switch or on a single physical connection without issue. Well, these generate a reduction in latency in the network, they are easy to set up work groups and allow more private networks, where only the indicated people will participate.

Components of a LAN What does it take to create one?

There are a number of different components that are necessary for the proper functioning of a network of this type. They are also essential so that you can provide a stable service without generating problems for users.

The elements required for the creation of a local connection are the following:

• Server: is that or those computers that are used to share their resources; hardware and software, with all other equipment on the network. Its main characteristics are the computing power, the amount of information it stores and the connection to the resources that are to be shared.
• Workstation: computers that take the role of workstations take advantage of all the resources offered by the networkas well as the services provided by the servers to which they can access.
• Gateway or gateways: they are a type of hardware and software that enables communications between the local network and large computers (mainframe). The Gateway adapts each of the Mainframe communication protocols (X25, SNA, etc) to those of the network and vice versa.
• Bridge or bridges: This is a type of hardware and software that allows two local networks to be connected to each other.
• Network card: They are also known as NIC (Network Interface Card). It performs the function of intermediary between the computer and the communication network. The network communication protocols are stored in it. Although currently there are more computers that have this adapter integrated directly into their motherboard.
• The middle: It is made up of the cabling and connectors that are linked to the network components. The most used physical media are; twisted pair cable, cable pair, coaxial cable and optical fiber, (the latter is the most used, both for its low cost and for the high speed of data transmission it manages to provide).
• Wiring hubs: It allows the connections of the stations to be made at a single point, the concentrator, which works as a single device that is in charge of centralizing the connections, maintaining light indicators of their status and preventing any fault from being generated or a power drop. the network connection.