Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Local Area Network shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Local Area Network offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Local Area Network at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Local Area Network? Wrong! If the Local Area Network is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Local Area Network then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Local Area Network? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Local Area Network and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Local Area Network wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Local Area Network then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Local Area Network site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Local Area Network, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Local Area Network, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
A
local area network (LAN) is a
computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to Wide Area Network, include their much higher data transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and lack of a need for
Leased_line.
Ethernet over unshielded twisted pair cabling, and Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies currently, but ARCNET,
Token Ring and many others have been used in the past.
History
In the days before personal computers, a site might have just one central computer, with users accessing this via
computer terminals over simple low-speed cabling. Networks such as IBM's SNA (Systems Network Architecture) were aimed at linking terminals or other mainframes at remote sites over leased lines—hence these were wide area networks.
The first LANs were created in the late 1970s and used to create high-speed links between several large central computers at one site. Of many competing systems created at this time, Ethernet and ARCNET were the most popular.
The development and proliferation of
CP/M and then
DOS-based
personal computers meant that a single site began to have dozens or even hundreds of computers. The initial attraction of networking these was generally to share disk space and laser printers, which were both very expensive at the time. There was much enthusiasm for the concept and for several years, from about 1983 onward, computer industry pundits would regularly declare the coming year to be “the year of the LAN”.
In reality, the concept was marred by proliferation of incompatible
physical layer and network Protocol (computing) implementations, and confusion over how best to share resources. Typically, each vendor would have its own type of network card, cabling, protocol, and network operating system. A solution appeared with the advent of Novell NetWare which provided even-handed support for the 40 or so competing card/cable types, and a much more sophisticated operating system than most of its competitors. Netware dominatedhttp://www.varbusiness.com/sections/columns/columns.jhtml?articleId=18825403 the personal computer LAN business from early after its introduction in 1983 until the mid 1990s when Microsoft introduced Windows NT Advanced Server and
Windows for Workgroups.
Of the competitors to NetWare, only
Banyan Vines had comparable technical strengths, but Banyan never gained a secure base.
Microsoft and
3Com worked together to create a simple network operating system which formed the base of 3Com's 3+Share, Microsoft's
LAN Manager and IBM's
LAN Server. None of these were particularly successful.
In this same timeframe,
Unix workstationss from vendors such as Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard,
Silicon Graphics,
Intergraph,
NeXT and
Apollo Computers were using TCP/IP based networking. Although this market segment is now much reduced, the technologies developed in this area continue to be influential on the Internet and in both
Linux and Apple
Mac OS X networking—and the TCP/IP protocol has now almost completely replaced
IPX, AppleTalk,
NBF and other protocols used by the early PC LANs.
Technical aspects
Although switched
Ethernet is now the most common data link layer layer protocol and
Internet_Protocol as a network layer
Communications protocol, many different options have been used, and some continue to be popular in niche areas. Smaller LANs generally consist of a one or more switches linked to each other - often with one connected to a
router,
cable modem, or DSL modem for Internet access.
Larger LANs are characterized by their use of redundant links with switches using the
spanning tree protocol to prevent loops, their ability to manage differing traffic types via
quality of service, and to segregate traffic via
VLANing.
LANs may have connections with other LANs via leased lines, leased services, or by 'tunneling' across the
Internet using
VPN technologies.
See also
References
External links
- IEEE: The working group setting LAN standards
- Setting up a network using Linux
- Building a local area network
- Local Area Networks for K-12 Schools - From the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology.
- LAN design
A
local area network (LAN) is a
computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to Wide Area Network, include their much higher data transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and lack of a need for Leased_line.
Ethernet over unshielded twisted pair cabling, and
Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies currently, but ARCNET, Token Ring and many others have been used in the past.
History
In the days before personal computers, a site might have just one central computer, with users accessing this via computer terminals over simple low-speed cabling. Networks such as IBM's SNA (Systems Network Architecture) were aimed at linking terminals or other mainframes at remote sites over leased lines—hence these were wide area networks.
The first LANs were created in the late 1970s and used to create high-speed links between several large central computers at one site. Of many competing systems created at this time, Ethernet and ARCNET were the most popular.
The development and proliferation of CP/M and then
DOS-based
personal computers meant that a single site began to have dozens or even hundreds of computers. The initial attraction of networking these was generally to share disk space and laser printers, which were both very expensive at the time. There was much enthusiasm for the concept and for several years, from about 1983 onward, computer industry pundits would regularly declare the coming year to be “the year of the LAN”.
In reality, the concept was marred by proliferation of incompatible
physical layer and network Protocol (computing) implementations, and confusion over how best to share resources. Typically, each vendor would have its own type of network card, cabling, protocol, and network operating system. A solution appeared with the advent of Novell NetWare which provided even-handed support for the 40 or so competing card/cable types, and a much more sophisticated operating system than most of its competitors. Netware dominatedhttp://www.varbusiness.com/sections/columns/columns.jhtml?articleId=18825403 the personal computer LAN business from early after its introduction in 1983 until the mid 1990s when Microsoft introduced
Windows NT Advanced Server and
Windows for Workgroups.
Of the competitors to NetWare, only
Banyan Vines had comparable technical strengths, but Banyan never gained a secure base.
Microsoft and
3Com worked together to create a simple network operating system which formed the base of 3Com's 3+Share, Microsoft's
LAN Manager and IBM's LAN Server. None of these were particularly successful.
In this same timeframe,
Unix workstationss from vendors such as Sun Microsystems,
Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics,
Intergraph,
NeXT and Apollo Computers were using
TCP/IP based networking. Although this market segment is now much reduced, the technologies developed in this area continue to be influential on the Internet and in both
Linux and Apple Mac OS X networking—and the TCP/IP protocol has now almost completely replaced
IPX,
AppleTalk, NBF and other protocols used by the early PC LANs.
Technical aspects
Although switched
Ethernet is now the most common data link layer layer protocol and
Internet_Protocol as a
network layer Communications protocol, many different options have been used, and some continue to be popular in niche areas. Smaller LANs generally consist of a one or more switches linked to each other - often with one connected to a router, cable modem, or DSL modem for
Internet access.
Larger LANs are characterized by their use of redundant links with switches using the
spanning tree protocol to prevent loops, their ability to manage differing traffic types via quality of service, and to segregate traffic via
VLANing.
LANs may have connections with other LANs via leased lines, leased services, or by 'tunneling' across the Internet using
VPN technologies.
See also
- Computer network - general overview
- Ethernet physical layer
- Network card
- Wide area network
- Metropolitan area network
- LAN Party
References
External links
- IEEE: The working group setting LAN standards
- Setting up a network using Linux
- Building a local area network
- Local Area Networks for K-12 Schools - From the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology.
- LAN design
local area network from FOLDOC
local area network < networking > (LAN) A data communications network which is geographically limited (typically to a 1 km radius) allowing easy interconnection of terminals, ...
Local area network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A local-area network is a computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings e.g. a school. The defining characteristics of LANs, in ...
wireless local area network from FOLDOC
wireless local area network < networking > (WLAN /W-lan/, or "LAWN" /lorn/, sometimes "WiLAN" /wi-lan/) A communication system that transmits and receives data using modulated ...
LAN
Local Area Network. The Local Area Network (LAN) is by far the most common type of data network. As the name suggests, a LAN serves a local area (typically the area of a floor of a ...
Dictionary of Computers - local area network
Skip to page content | Tiscali Quicklinks. Please visit our Accessibility Page for a list of the Access Keys you can use to find your way around the site, skip directly to the main ...
Knowledge IT :: Local Area Network
Knowledge on-line, web site of Knowledge Business Systems a premium IT solutions provider with 10 years networking experience based in the North of England
GCC - Local Area Network Solutions
Local Area Networks (LAN) provide networking capabilities that encompass your immediate personal workspace and office as well as peripheral devices.
What is local-area network? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia ...
This page describes the term local-area network and lists other pages on the Web where you can find additional information.
AskOxford: local area network
local area network • noun a computer network that links devices within a building or group of adjacent buildings. Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
What is local area network? - a definition from Whatis.com - see also ...
A local area network (LAN) is a group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line or wireless link. Typically, connected devices share the resources ...
