LAN, WAN and the Other Network Types
Kite Studio is opening a second office across the city and wants the two sites to feel like one. The quotes that arrive are full of acronyms: LAN, WLAN, MAN, WAN, even SAN. They are not brand names. Each one simply says how far a network reaches and what it is for.
The rule
Name a network by its reach: body, building, city, world.
From smallest to largest:
| Type | Reach | Kite Studio example |
|---|---|---|
| PAN — personal area network | a few metres around one person | Asha's Bluetooth headset and phone |
| LAN — local area network | a room, floor or building | the office switch and every wired desk |
| WLAN — wireless LAN | the same local area, over radio | the office Wi-Fi |
| MAN — metropolitan area network | a city or large campus | a fibre link joining the two offices across town |
| WAN — wide area network | regions, countries, the world | the ISP's links to other cities; the internet is the largest WAN |
A LAN is usually owned and run by the organisation itself, is fast and cheap per device, and has low latency. The further out you go, the more likely it is that you rent the links from a carrier, and the higher the cost and latency.
One name is about purpose, not reach:
- SAN — storage area network: a dedicated, very fast network that joins servers to shared disk storage, kept separate so heavy disk traffic does not compete with everyday office traffic. A growing studio rendering huge video files might add one to its server rack.
The shortcut
Ask "What is the farthest distance between two devices on this network?" and walk up the ladder: arm's length → PAN; same building → LAN (WLAN if it is radio); across a city → MAN; between cities or countries → WAN. If the network exists only to connect servers to storage, it is a SAN whatever its size.
Designers' wireless mice and headsets
Arm's length around one person: PAN.
The trap is thinking "wireless" means "wide". The office Wi-Fi covers one floor; it is a wireless local network, not a WAN.
Drills
Answer fast — trust the rule.
The office Wi-Fi covering Kite Studio's single floor is a…
Which network type is the internet?
A network that exists only to connect servers to shared disk storage is a…
A university links its buildings spread across one city with its own fibre. This is best called a…
Remember
- Name a network by its reach: body (PAN), building (LAN/WLAN), city (MAN), world (WAN).
- Ask for the farthest distance between two devices, then climb the ladder.
- Wireless is not wide, and a SAN is named for storage, not size.