LAN stands for Local Area Network. It's a group of computers which all belong to the same organization, and which are linked within a small geographic area using a network, often with the same technology (the most widespread being Ethernet).
A local area network is a network in its simplest form. Data transfer speeds over a local area network can reach up to 10 Mbps (such as for an Ethernet network) and 1 Gbps (as with FDDI or Gigabit Ethernet). A local area network can reach as many as 100, or even 1000, users.
By expanding the definition of a LAN to the services that it provides, two different operating modes can be defined:
In a "peer-to-peer" network (P2P for short), in which communication is carried out from one computer to another, without a central computer, and where each computer has the same role.
in a "client/server" environment, in which a central computer provides network services to users.
CCM is a leading international tech website. Our content is written in collaboration with IT experts, under the direction of Jeff Pillou, founder of CCM.net. CCM reaches more than 50 million unique visitors per month and is available in 11 languages.
