Since computers came into use in research institutes, industries and later in our homes the demand of a proper channel to communicate with other computers had been growing rapidly. Till today the demand of high speed inter network communication still remains. Nowadays inter network communication between computers goes at a speed of Gbps. But we still need more. It is only because advantages of using Local Area Network at your work place or home are numerous. To use a LAN you should understand the basics behind it and how it is going to be useful for you.

LAN in simple words

LAN stands for Local Area Network. As the name suggests it is used to bind a series of computers within a structured network inside a local work place of yours. If you have hundreds of computers at your office or simply have a couple of computers at your home then you can connect them via Ethernet cable and build up your own LAN.

What do you need to set up a LAN?

There exist different hardware and software facilities to help you build up a LAN. As far as software applications are concerned, most of the operating systems in use today are already loaded with them. So if you need a general purpose LAN then the required software interface is available in your existing operating system itself and you do not need anything else. But for more complex functionality you will need specialized software packages.

The same goes for hardware also. Nowadays all computer manufacturing companies dispatch computers with inbuilt network adapters which is the hardware platform upon which two computers communicate. So all you will need to buy from market is Ethernet cable which will serve the purpose of physically connecting two computers. If you need to connect more than two computers then you will need a specialized hardware called Router. Inside a LAN or any sort of network a computer is uniquely identified by an IP Address. Using this IP Address you can find and connect to any computer within you network.

Advantages of using LAN

As already said the benefits of connecting two or more computers over a LAN are unlimited. You can share and transfer files over the network which simply removes the burden of using external storage disk of any kind. In your office, you can provide an inter network chat environment for your employees. At your home you can play games over a LAN with your friends. These are only a few examples which pop up first whenever there is a discussion going on advantages of using LAN. Moreover you can also connect your LAN with other available larger networks like WAN (Wide Area Network) or if you want you can also connect two or more LAN.

Religare Technova Limited is an India based company specializing in networking services and testing services.

By: Isa Kain

Article source: http://www.goarticles.com/

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