What is WAN?

WAN

When large businesses have several locations they are required to connect their sites for communication across states and countries they will develop Wide Area Networks (WANs).  Large companies such as Toys ‘R’ Us operates a huge WAN that connects employees and customers all over the world.  According to James A. Sem, “ Toys ‘Toys ‘R’ Us’ WAN links more than 750 US. Toys ‘R’ Us and Kids ‘R’ Us retail stores, as well as another 170 other locations in Europe and Asia. This system is designed to allow 30,000 employees share inventory and sales information and to send information to one another via electronic mail. This multilevel network interconnects each store to one of 19 regional centers located around the world”(Sem p.458).

So how do you design this unique WAN network that interconnects all of this together? What are the important pieces that are required? First you a need a set of switches and routers that can be interconnected and will then form a WAN. These items can be purchased by oneself or from a service provider. Either way these items will form a successful network. You must do your research and decide what you are trying to accomplish and what requirements are needed to design that particular network (Wide Area Technologies).

Both Packet switching and circuit switching technologies are used in a WAN and according to Wide Area Technologies, “Packet switching allows users to share common carrier resources so that the carrier can make more efficient use of its infrastructure. In a packet switching setup, networks have connections into the carrier's network, and many customers share the carrier's network. The carrier can then create virtual circuits between customers' sites by which packets of data are delivered from one to the other through the network (Wide Area Technologies).

http://www.edrawsoft.com/Wide-Area-Network.php. Wide Area Technologies.

Information Technology in Business. Senn A. James, 1995. Printence-H