LOCAL AREA NETWORK(LAN)

A network is a digital communication system capable of interconnecting a large number of computer, terminal and other peripheral devices within a limited geographical area.lan naomally operate within a limited area such as an office building or a compus is owned by the using orqanization.The configuration of a lan can be star, a ring or simply devices attached along a length of cable .In lan trasmission,channals generally use coaxial or fiber optic cables and special interfece units rather than telephone lines anmodems .A 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 contrast to wide-area networks , include their much higher data-transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and lack of a need for leased telecommunication lines.The first LAN put into service occurred in 1964 at the Livermore Laboratory to support atomic weapons research. LANs spread to the public sector in the late 1970s and were 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.