5.6: Organizational Networking

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LAN and WAN

While the Internet was evolving and creating a way for organizations to connect to each other and the world, another revolution was taking place inside organizations. The proliferation of personal computers led to the need to share resources such as printers, scanners, and data. Organizations solved this problem through the creation of local area networks (LANs), which allowed computers to connect to each other and to peripherals.

A LAN is a local network, usually operating in the same building or on the same campus. A Wide Area Network (WAN) provides connectivity over a wider area such as an organization’s locations in different cities or states.

Client-Server

Client-server computing provides stand-alone devices such as personal computers, printers, and file servers to work together. The personal computer originally was used as a stand-alone computing device. A program was installed on the computer and then used to do word processing or calculations. With the advent of networking and local area networks, computers could work together to solve problems. Higher-end computers were installed as servers, and users on the local network could run applications and share information among departments and organizations.