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difference between Man and Wan

sarahr202
Level 5
Level 5

Hi everybody!

How can we distinguish between Man and Wan?

Some book define Man and Wan on the basis of network 'span. for example Man spans with in city and Wan spans cities,states and so on.

Some define them on the basis of distance.

If I connect two computers on my desk by dial up, is it Man or Wan?

thanks a lot!

3 Accepted Solutions

Accepted Solutions

viyuan700
Level 5
Level 5

If u connect 2 computer on your desk is something like LAN.

Think about your telephone line,

If you call a local area number that call goes to local area switch and when they see they same area code the local switch that call. So it donot go beyond that switch.

If you call a number that doesnot serve by that switch may be in that other corner of the city and have to travel few more switches to get there.

If you call a number several states away then your call is diverted to the other state main switch which then connect to the end user.

Similary if you connect 2 computers on your desk,when router see that they belong to same area that will not go beyond that router.

Hope the helped you a little better understanding

View solution in original post

Edison Ortiz
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

How can we distinguish between Man and Wan?

Basically, they are two overlapping technology terms. A Metropolitan Area Network is often referred to high-speed links between buildings in a city. The term has been used a lot on cities like NY where companies have multiple buildings within the city and have deployed metro-ethernet as the Layer1 service.

The Wide Area Network term can also be used when referring to a MAN and no one will correct you :)

There are other terms such as PAN (Personal Area Network) and CAN (Campus Area Network) that are popping up over the years.

If I connect two computers on my desk by dial up, is it Man or Wan?

If the 2 computers are end devices, that's a PAN. If the 2 computers are routing and servicing devices in their respective segment, then it's a WAN.

__

Edison.

View solution in original post

Joseph W. Doherty
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

The various area networking terms can overlap in what they describe. This reference, http://compnetworking.about.com/od/basicnetworkingconcepts/a/network_types.htm, touches on many (including some that Edison mentions).

I wouldn't normally consider a dial-up connection between any two computers as a MAN or WAN, since often the purpose what for dial-up was to get the dial-up host to appear "local" to some remote network (often as true today with many VPN clients). However, more might be done across the dial-up link, whether it's on the same desk or across the world and its logical usage could differ.

View solution in original post

4 Replies 4

viyuan700
Level 5
Level 5

If u connect 2 computer on your desk is something like LAN.

Think about your telephone line,

If you call a local area number that call goes to local area switch and when they see they same area code the local switch that call. So it donot go beyond that switch.

If you call a number that doesnot serve by that switch may be in that other corner of the city and have to travel few more switches to get there.

If you call a number several states away then your call is diverted to the other state main switch which then connect to the end user.

Similary if you connect 2 computers on your desk,when router see that they belong to same area that will not go beyond that router.

Hope the helped you a little better understanding

Edison Ortiz
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

How can we distinguish between Man and Wan?

Basically, they are two overlapping technology terms. A Metropolitan Area Network is often referred to high-speed links between buildings in a city. The term has been used a lot on cities like NY where companies have multiple buildings within the city and have deployed metro-ethernet as the Layer1 service.

The Wide Area Network term can also be used when referring to a MAN and no one will correct you :)

There are other terms such as PAN (Personal Area Network) and CAN (Campus Area Network) that are popping up over the years.

If I connect two computers on my desk by dial up, is it Man or Wan?

If the 2 computers are end devices, that's a PAN. If the 2 computers are routing and servicing devices in their respective segment, then it's a WAN.

__

Edison.

"A Metropolitan Area Network is often referred to high-speed links between buildings in a city. The term has been used a lot on cities like NY where companies have multiple buildings within the city and have deployed metro-ethernet as the Layer1 service."

I agree with you completely now a days MAN is mainly refered as high speed connection between buildings.

Since ethernet offer low cost for high speed connection over fiber with respect to other technology like ATM etc. But these high speed links were used between PSTN switches long before this ethernet taken the market. So Metro ethernet is part of MAN but it dont define MAN.

Joseph W. Doherty
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

The various area networking terms can overlap in what they describe. This reference, http://compnetworking.about.com/od/basicnetworkingconcepts/a/network_types.htm, touches on many (including some that Edison mentions).

I wouldn't normally consider a dial-up connection between any two computers as a MAN or WAN, since often the purpose what for dial-up was to get the dial-up host to appear "local" to some remote network (often as true today with many VPN clients). However, more might be done across the dial-up link, whether it's on the same desk or across the world and its logical usage could differ.

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