We explain what a LAN network is and the types of networks that exist. Also, what is and how does a router work. What is the Internet.
What is a LAN network?
It is known as a LAN network. Local Area Network, which translates Local Area Network) to a computer network whose scope is limited to a small physical space, like a house, an apartment or at most a building.
Through a LAN network resources can be shared between multiple computers and computing devices (such as cell phones, tablets, etc.), such as peripherals (printers, projectors, etc.), information stored on the server (or on connected computers) and even Internet access points, despite being in rooms or even different floors.
These types of networks are of common and daily use in businesses, companies and homes, being able to present a different network topology according to the specific needs of the network, such as:
- Red en bus. In which the same cable (or backbone) connects to computers and enables straight-line data transmission, making it simple but susceptible to cable damage or traffic disruption.
- Star network. In which all computers are connected to a central server that manages network resources and allocates them as requested.
- Ring network. In which all computers are connected to their neighbors through a unidirectional transmission, which interrupts the network if there is a failure at some level of it.
- Mixed network. Combine two or more models of the above.
Types of networks
Computer networks are generally classified based on their physical or geographic scope, which generally reflects their power or data volume. In this sense, one can speak of:
- LAN networks (Local Area Network). Local area networks that cover concrete and specific sites with little reach, such as a house, an office, at most a few floors within a building. They are common in businesses, schools, companies, etc.
- MAN networks (Metropolitan Area Network). Metropolitan area networks, that is, of a greater scope than local but not international. A perfect example of these are the networks of university campuses, or bureaucratic management between various state agencies, each of which has its headquarters in various parts of the city.
- WAN networks (Wide Area Network). Wide area networks that cross vast regions of the geography, and can be national or international, like the Internet itself.
What is a router?
Is named router or router to a device that allows interconnection of subnets, managing the way data packets are routed from one to another. This means that the router, as its name implies, gives the packets sent a suitable path, analyzing their origin and destination information. This function is carried out through two simultaneous processes:
- Forwarding packages. The router receives packets and sends them back to the appropriate exit point as determined by the routing table, an electronic document that contains the routes to the various nodes on the network.
- Packet routing. Using routing algorithms, it determines the path packets must follow as they flow from a sender to a receiver.
Internet
The Internet is called a Wan network made up of a specialized set of computer networks interconnected through the TCP / IP family of protocols, thus achieving a global and massive reach.
This network dates back to the mid-twentieth century, when the ARPANET, a forerunner that encompassed only three American universities in the state of California, was established, but since then it has grown enormously to become the network of networks, the most important known.
Among its services, the best known (so much so that they are confused as a single thing) is the World Wide Web (WWW): a set of protocols that allow remote consultation of hypertexts and thus sharing tons of remote information. This service was created in 1990, and it is not the only one that the Internet is currently capable of supporting.