Advantages of WAN | disadvantages of WAN
- Definition of wide area network (WAN) Wide area network (WAN) is a type of network that provides transmission of voice, data, images, and videos over the large geographical area. WAN is made with the combinations of LAN and MAN. The transmission of data is carried out with the help of hubs, switches, fiber optics, modem, and routers. To transfer data from any computer over the internet we use.
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Network Topologies. A network topology refers to the way in which nodes in a network are connected to one another. The network structure defines how they communicate. Each kind of arrangement of the network nodes has its own advantages and disadvantages. Here we tell you about the same.
This page covers advantages and disadvantages of WAN. It mentions WAN advantages or benefits and WAN disadvantages or drawbacks.WAN stands for Wide Area Network.
Advantages of WANS If your company has branches in several locations, a wide area network is a viable option to boost productivity and increase internal communications. Below are some of the more critical business advantages to establishing a WAN: Centralizes IT infrastructure — Many consider this WAN’s top advantage. In this tutorial, we have studied the features, applications, advantages, and disadvantages of LAN, MAN, and WAN computer networking system. All three types of networking systems have their own significance in different fields. MAN networks are very rare in use as they have lots of security issues and the installation costs are very high as well.
What is WAN?
Introduction:
The WAN is a network which is a collection of LANs and other network typesconnected using router. It covers large geographical distance compare to LAN and MAN types.
There many types of WAN (Wide Area Network) viz. private network, value added service, PSDN, PSTN, ISDN etc.Many different techniques are used in WAN viz. wireless WAN, cell relay, circuit switching, packet switching,leased line etc.Based on distance covered, the computer networks are divided into three main parts viz. LAN, MAN and WAN.Among these types, WAN has largest coverage of about 1000Km or unlimited based on WAN technologies.The data rate depends on wireless technologies or standards viz. wifi, zigbee, LoRa, Satellite etc.Refer difference between LAN vs WAN vs MAN>>.
Benefits or advantages of WAN
Following are the benefits or advantages of WAN:
➨WAN covers larger geographical area.Hence business offices situated at longer distances caneasily communicate.
➨Like LAN, it allows sharingof resources and application softwares among distributed workstations or users.
➨The software files are shared among all the users.Hence all will have access to latest files. This avoids use ofprevious versions by them.
➨Organizations can form their global integrated network through WAN.Moreover it supports global markets and global businesses.
➨The emergence of IoT (Internet of Things) and advanced wireless technologies such asLAN or LAN-Advanced have made it easy for the growth of WAN based devices. Messagescan be sent very quickly across the globe with the help of applications such aswhatsApp, facebook messenger etc.
Drawbacks or disadvantages of WAN
Following are the disadvantages of WAN:
➨Initial investment costs are higher.
➨It is difficult to maintain the network.It requires skilled technicians and network administrators.
➨There are more errors and issues due to wide coverage and use of different technologies.Often it requires more time to resolve issues due toinvolvement of multiple wired and wireless technologies.
➨It has lower security compare to LAN and MAN due to widercoverage and use of more technologies.
➨Security is big concern and requires use of firewall andsecurity softwares/protocols atmultiple points across the entire system. This will avoidchances of hacking by intruders.
Also refer advantages and disadvantages of LAN (Local Area Network)>> andMAN (Metropolitan Area Network)>>.
Advantages and Disadvantages of other wireless technologies
Networking Links
• Circuit Switching vs Packet switching • Packet Switching vs Message switching • What is an IP address • What is MAC Address • Basics of OSI and TCP-IP Layers • What is Hub • What is Switch • What is Bridge • What is Router • What is Gateway • Firewall basics • TCP-IP Packet format • ARP Protocol format
What is Difference between
RF and Wireless Terminologies
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Intranet: Advantages and Disadvantages of Intranet for Business Enterprises!
So far, the Internet has been viewed as a communication system meant for linking an enterprise with the rest of the world. However, another important business application of the Internet infrastructure is Intranet. Intranet is a network designed for distributing the information resources to each individual within the enterprise using Internet technologies.
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Intranet generally consists of internal corporate web servers made available to employees across the LAN or private dial up access. Using the corporate databases and other repositories of information and documents, these web servers bring diverse kinds of information to employees. The authorised employees use a common front end web browser to browse through the vast reservoir of information available within the company.
The inspiration for Intranet came, perhaps from the success of e- mail within the business enterprises. The IT resource requirements are quite simple and normally existing hardware can meet the requirement of Intranet. On the software front, one needs a web server with a single client – the web browser. The web server may be configured on a LAN and may be linked over a WAN for multi-locational access.
Interestingly, the Intranet may or may not be connected to Internet and in case it is connected to Internet, security measures shall have to be taken to eliminate the chances of unauthorised access. Thus, Intranet provides access to corporate information repository to the authorised user with a minimal cost, time and effort.
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The architecture of Intranet can be conceived as an integration of the four basic elements – corporate information services, web server, communication links and Intranet users. The logical link-age among these elements is shown in Fig. 12.2.
Why Intranet?
Sd Wan Advantages
Although, the concept of Intranet draws heavily on the Internet technology, the need for Intranet arises more from the business pressures to transform the way business is conducted.
Some of the important factors responsible for the popularity of Intranet are listed below:
(a) Need to cut costs:
The cost effectiveness is the mantra in the competitive world of today. Intranet attempts to streamline flow of information and is user directed. That saves on time and cost of communicating information.
(b) Dynamics of markets:
Today, changes take place more rapidly in the market and company than ever before. Therefore, the information needs to be reported and exchanged more quickly among all those associated with the company, including employees, customers and vendors.
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(c) Changing work environment:
As the business and markets become scattered, employees have to be mobile and away from office. Thus, it becomes imperative for the workforce to use less expensive means of communication to remain in touch with the office.
(d) Customer support:
The increasing role of customer support in the marketing strategy has changed the whole concept of communication in enterprises. A direct contact of the customer with the customer support department through Intranet directs the ‘job to specialist’ and ensures better handling of complaints.
The related advantage is that it also permits the sales force to look after more crucial problems than to act as intermediary between the customer and customer support department for the routine kind of complaints.
Advantages:
The advantages of Intranet over the conventional communication systems can be listed as below:
1. Intranet is an easy, economical and fast system of communication within the enterprise. It offers opportunities to keep every concerned individual informed irrespective of the location. It also helps in reducing travel time as the communication between people in the business enterprise can be more frequent and less expensive, particularly when the persons desiring to communicate are located far away from each other.
2. It serves information automatically and thus, one does have to face the contempt of not being aware of an important piece of information. Thus, demand for information is more frequent and detailed.
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3. Intranet replaces grapevine as it permits inter employee communication with more transparency and free expression of views. It enables employees at various levels to pose problems/questions, participate in discussions and contribute answers to thorny problems of the company. The concept of collective expertise can be given a concrete shape with the help of Intranet.
4. It improves productivity of the manager. With Intranet, the manager can spend more time in analysing information and not in seeking information and waiting for its delivery.
5. Intranet helps in eliminating the latency of information in the enterprise and makes the flow of information need-driven than availability-driven.
Disadvantages:
The disadvantages of Intranet are few and can be overcome by proper planning and support from the top management. Some of the important disadvantages are as follows:
1. One of the major disadvantages is the risk of security to the corporate information resource. The intranet exposes the corporate information resource to the risk of loss of privacy and even unauthorised alteration. The Intranet technology is still quite fragile and the risk of security and privacy of information on Intranet is higher.
2. Intranet poses another challenge before the enterprise and that relates to the need to change the work culture for effectiveness of the Intranet. The executives, particularly at the top level of managerial hierarchy are in the habit of delegating the handling of information, including mail to their secretaries.
Quite often, the e-mails are printed out by the secretaries and dumped on the table of the executive by the secretary. The practice of sharing passwords with secretaries could be fatal for the executive and the enterprise, in case of over ambitious or dissatisfied secretary. Another cultural change that is necessary is in the speed of response.
As the Intranet communications are convenient and less expensive, the number of mails/queries is likely to increase and if these are not responded to quickly, they will pile up and the order will give way to chaos in the enterprise.
3. Another fear that is being talked about these days is the danger of reduced face-to-face interaction between employees leading to im-personalisation of the enterprise. However, studies have yet to prove anything of this sort.
The Intranet is gaining popularity, particularly among those business enterprises that are having branches and projects scattered over a wider geographical area. It is likely to be the key application of Internet. “The biggest impact of web will be how companies use it to stay in close contact with their customers”, said Bill Gates once. However, the reliability and safety issues deserve closer examination.
Intranet and Work Groups:
Many decisions in business enterprises are taken collectively by a group of persons. Either these persons are directly or indirectly associated with the implementation of the decision or their work is likely to be influenced by the outcome of the implementation of the decision.
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Such decisions are called group decisions and such persons are collectively called ‘Work Group’. The need for group decision making becomes more important in case of group activities or in the case of decisions that are likely to influence the performance of different persons or organisational units in the enterprise.
For example, the decision regarding a proposed change in the inputs for a construction project would influence the performance of the designing department, construction department, commercial department and procurement department. In such a situation, any decision on the part of the procurement or designing department only may lead to a conflict.
Decision making by work groups has the advantage of availability of larger number of alternatives, satisfaction of each number of the work group regarding the decision making process and its outcome, and better quality of decision as larger number of comments are available regarding the proposal before it is accepted and implemented.
The process of arriving at such a decision may be different for different decision situations. The decision may be taken by a manager after consulting the concerned members of the group or it may be taken collectively by discussing in details the pros and cons of the decision and arriving at a consensus.
It could be on the basis of the majority view as well. Whatever may be the mode of establishing the collective view of the work group, it is essential that the adequate communication take place among the members of the group before the decision is taken.
The communication among the members may take place in a meeting or it could be in the form of written or oral communication with the person coordinating the process. Intranet is being viewed as an important tool for improving the communication among the members of the work group.
Intranet can help in ensuring that the information is available to the decision-maker without being asked for specifically. Large volume of information may be exchanged from far-flung locations without much of communication cost. Intranet promotes exchange of information as a habit for the members of the work group. Intranet generally provides facilities for electronic meetings and group decision support systems in addition to e-mail among the members of each work group.
With the availability of software for facilitating the communication in work groups (also termed as Group Ware), it is becoming increasingly easy to ensure that work groups become more effective in decision making process. LOTUS NOTES is one of the popular software for developing an effective system of group decision making.