A Local Area Network (LAN) is a computer network where the computers
are situated closely together, typically in the same building.
These networks are called local area networks to tell them
apart from global networks like the &link_internet;, where computers
can reside anywhere world-wide.
LANs allow several computers to shared data as well as expensive
devices such as printers. They normally use special hardware,
Network Interface Cards (NICs), for high-speed connections
via special network cables.
Use the &link_wpnetgrp; to view all
servers
that are currently sharing resources on the LAN that you are connected to.
In general, there are two types of computer environment where
LAN technology is used.
- Traditionally, LANs have been architected hierararchically
according to the "client/server" philosophy, where one or
more very powerful computers, the servers,
centralize all network resources and exports them to the clients on the network.
For example, if your computer is part of a company network, you
will probably be using LAN technology to access resources a central server.
- However, since networking technology has become very affordable,
LAN technology has also been used more and more in small environments.
Such networks are typically called peer networks because
every computer can act as a server or client or both.
You can, for example, build a small LAN simply by connecting your laptop
to your desktop machine.
See "Setting up a peer network" for
an introduction.
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