Networking type

Three primary types of information networking type are in use today:

• Local-area networks (LANs) are found in small geographic areas, such as the floor of an office building.
• Metropolitan-area networks (MANs) are found in medium-sized geographic areas, such one or several city blocks.
• Wide-area networks (WANs) are found in large geographic areas, such as expanses that cross a state or country.

The following characteristics differentiate one network from another:

Topology? The physical or logical geometric arrangement of devices on the network. For example, devices, such as computers, routers, or switches, can be arranged in a ring (Token Ring and Fiber Distributed Data Interface [FDDI]) or in a straight line (Ethernet).

A local-area network (LAN) is a computer network spanning a small geographic area, such as a single building or floor within a building. One LAN can be connected to other LANs over any distance through media, such as telephone lines or radio waves. A system of LANs connected in this fashion is called a wide-area network (WAN).