Wide Area NetworkingWhat is a wide areanetwork?A wide area network is a computer network inwhich the computers connected may be far apart generally having a radius ofmore than 1 kilometer, hence the name ‘wide area’. A wide area network consistsof multiple Local Area Networks working together simultaneously.
What is ADSL?ADSL stands for Asymmetric Digital SubscriberLine service. It is called asymmetric because the download andupload speeds are not symmetrical (download speed is faster than upload speed).ADSL is one particular type of DSL broadband communications technology used forconnecting to the internet. Diagram from:https://viktornet.files.wordpress.
com/2013/03/adsl_connections.jpg?w=640What role does aDesktop Computer vs a Laptop play in a wide area network?In a Wide area network a desktop computer generally willconnect to its local area network through an Ethernet cable connecting from thePC to the Switch located on the Wireless Router. The difference between aDesktop and a Laptop in a WAN is that Desktops usually will have better specse.g. Faster CPU, more RAM and more storage and therefore these specs give theDesktop the ability to host a local server and within its local area network.Desktops are generally used for applications that require more computing power.
Although a Laptop may not have as good of specs as the same priced Desktop willhave it has the ability to be portable and it can join the Local Area networkthrough a wireless WIFI connection in multiple locations. The Router vs a switchin a wide area network?A router is a device that transports data along networks. Itis connected to the internet service provider’s network and the local areanetwork. Routers are the gateway to the Wide Area Network and routers are theintersection point where two networks meet/connect.
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Routers use protocols tocommunicate between other routers to send digital information. A switch is adevice commonly found in home routers that filters and distributes digitalinformation between multiple devices by using the devices unique MAC address todetermine where the digital information is heading. A MAC address is a hardwareaddress automatically assigned to the device when it is made.
An IP address isa software address that is given to the device from the router.What a modem does?A modem works as a modulator and a demodulator it isresponsible for converting Digital information into analog information and backthe other way. Between the LAN and the WAN without a modem the network willonly be local and will have no connection to the ‘Internet’ (cloud).Diagram from:https://www.scienceabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Modulation-demodulation-computer-modem-digital-analog-signal-network.jpgNetwork-AttachedStorage (NAS)Network-Attached Storage is a type of multimedia filestoring device that provides the local area network with a file based sharedstorage system between an Ethernet connection.
NAS devices are configured andmanaged with a browser-based programme. Each NAS relies on the local areanetwork as its network and each NAS has its own MAC and IP address. Google DriveGoogle Drive is a multimedia file storage servicecreated by Google. It allows users to store files in the cloud, sharefiles, and edit documents. Google drive acts as a virtual hard drive which isglobally stored in the Cloud it can be accessed anywhere on a WAN at any time. Wired InternetConnection and wireless comparedA wired network consists of using cables to connectdevices to the Internet or other networks. Commonly wired networks usecables connected to Ethernet ports on the internet router on one endand to a computer or other device on the cable’s other side.
A wired networkuses Ethernet cable’s as a method of conducting information back and forth fromthe device to the router. Wired home networks are less expensive,higher speed, and more secure than wireless networks. However a wiredconnection also has its biggest disadvantage as there is little or noportability. Disadvantages of a Wireless Network are that theyrequire extra costs and equipment to set up.
The general speed, both upload anddownload, of a wireless connection is also usually much slower thana wired one. And privacy and security is a lot less secure than that of anequivalent wired connection.CAT 5 vs CAT 6 cables Fibre OpticsFibre optics means sending light beams down thin strands ofplastic or glass by making them bounce repeatedly off the walls. Light travellingdown the fibre optic cable bounces repeatedly off the walls. Each tiny photon (microscopicparticle of light) bounces down the pipe in a particular unique order.The beam of light will never leak out of the edges.
Because we know lightbehaves as both a wave and a particle and when light hits glass at a reallyshallow angle (less than 42 degrees), it reflects back in again as thoughthe glass acts as a mirror. This concept iscalled totalinternal reflection and is why the light doesn’t escape the pipe. Theother aspect that keeps light in the pipe is the construction of thecable, which is made up of two separate parts. The main part of thecable that the light passes through is called the core. On the exterior of thecoreis another layer of glass called the cladding. The cladding part of thepipe is used to keep the light signals inside the core.
It can do this becauseit is made of a different type of glass than that of the core. Fibreoptics relates to a Wide area network as it conducts information from a deviceto the switch and vice versa in a particular local area network. Multiple LANusing Fibre Optics internet connections work together in a WAN.
What Is Ethernet?Ethernet is a typeof connection between computers that forms the basis of most Local Area Networks(LAN). It is commonly one of the main methods for connecting a computer ornetwork to the Internet. Ethernet cables commonly connect to a central hub orrouter in order to manage several computers simultaneously connected. To avoidcollisions between multiple computers conducting information at the same time aCarrier-sense multiple access with collision detection is used.
This is a mediaaccess control method used in Ethernet technology for both local areanetworking and wide area networking. What is DHCP?Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) is a client/server protocol software built intothe hardware of your device that automatically provides an Internet Protocol(IP) host with its IP address and other related configurationinformation. Without an IP address devices won’t be connected to either a localarea network or a wide area network. WAN/LAN protocolsLocal Area Networks or LANs, and Wide Area Networks or WANs,can both be defined by the network protocols that determine them. Protocols arestandards that define how data is ultimately transferred from one system toanother an agreed set of rules or in some cases an agreed procedure.Packet SwitchingPacket switching is a style networking in which small packetsof data called packets are sentthrough a network determined by the unique destination address contained withineach packet.
The concept of communicating in small packets rather than largeamounts of data is a lot more efficient in terms of speed. This type ofcommunication between sender and receiver is known as connectionless. Circuit SwitchingA common example ofa circuit switching is the early analog telephone network. When a call is made fromone telephone to another switches within the telephone exchanges automatically generate a continuous wire circuitbetween the two telephones for as long as the call lasts. Circuit switching isthe opposite of packet switching which in contrastsplits the transmitted data into tiny packets transmittedthrough the network independently. The difference is in packet switchinginstead of being dedicated to one communication session at a time, the packetsof data that are sent are shared from multiple competing communication sessionsthis means the quality of the service decreases unlike that in a circuitswitched network.
