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Most cabled LANs are based on the 802.3 Ethernet standards maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE 802.3 standards are designated x BASE- Y , where x is the nominal data rate and Y is the cable type. For example:

  • 100BASE-T refers to Fast Ethernet over copper twisted pair cabling. Fast Ethernet works at 100 Mbps.
  • 1000BASE-T refers to Gigabit Ethernet over copper twisted pair cabling. Gigabit Ethernet works at 1000 Mbps (or 1 Gbps). 1000BASE-T is the mainstream choice of standard for most LANs.
  • 10GBASE-T refers to a copper cabling standard working at 10 Gbps.

Most WLANs are based on the IEEE 802.11 series of standards. IEEE 802.11 is better known by its brand name, Wi-Fi.

Metropolitan Area Networks

Metropolitan area network (MAN) can be used to mean a specific network type covering an area equivalent to a city or other municipality. It could mean a company with multiple connected networks within the same metropolitan area—so, larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN.

SOHO

A small office home office (SOHO) LAN is a business-oriented network possibly using a centralized server, in addition to client devices and printers, but often using a single networking appliance to provide LAN and Internet connectivity. This is often referred to as a "SOHO router," "Internet router," or "broadband router."

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Within an enterprise LAN or datacenter, a storage area network (SAN) provisions access to a configurable pool of storage devices that can be used by application servers. A SAN is isolated from the main network. It is only accessed by servers, not by client PCs and laptops. SAN clients are servers running databases or applications. Provisioning a shared storage pool as a SAN is more flexible and reliable than using local disks on each server machine. SANs use connectivity technologies such as Fiber Channel and Internet SCSI (iSCSI).

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Larger workgroups and corporate networks require additional functionality in their switches. Switches designed for larger LANs are managed switches . A managed switch will work as an unmanaged switch out-of-the-box, but an administrator can connect to it over a management port, configure security settings, and then choose options for the switch's more advanced functionality. Most managed switches are designed to be bolted into standard network racks.

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Fiber optic cables fall into two broad categories: single-mode and multi-mode:

  • Single-mode fiber (SMF) has a small core (8–10 microns) and is designed to carry a long wavelength (1,310 or 1,550 nm) infrared signal, generated by a high-power, highly coherent laser diode. Single-mode cables support data rates up to 10 Gbps or better and cable runs of many kilometers, depending on the quality of the cable and optics.
  • Multi-mode fiber (MMF) has a larger core (62.5 or 50 microns) and is designed to carry a shorter wavelength infrared light (850 nm or 1,300 nm). MMF uses less expensive and less coherent LEDs or vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and consequently is less expensive to deploy than SMF. However, MMF does not support such high signaling speeds or long distances as single-mode and so is more suitable for LANs than WANs.

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