LOCIAL AREA NETWORK. (LAN)

Definition: A local area network (LAN) supplies networking capability to a group of computers in close proximity to each other such as in an office building, a school, or a home. A LAN is useful for sharing resources like files, printers, games or other applications. A LAN in turn often connects to other LANs, and to the Internet or other WAN.

Most local area networks are built with relatively inexpensive hardware such as Ethernet cables, network adapters, and hubs. Wireless LAN and other more advanced LAN hardware options also exist.

Specialized operating system software may be used to configure a local area network. For example, most flavors of Microsoft Windows provide a software package called Internet 

LAN DISCOVERED IN 1960

IN 1970 THE Lawrence Radiation Laboratory detailing the growth of their "Octopus" 

Cambridge Ring was developed at Cambridge University in 1974 he was not  developed into a successful commercial product.

Ethernet was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973–1975 and filed as U.S. Patent 4,063,220. In 1976, after the system was deployed at PARC, Metcalfe and Boggs published their seminal paper - "Ethernet: Distributed Packet-Switching For Local Computer Networks"

ARCNET was developed by Datapoint Corporation in 1976 and announced in 1977   and had the first commercial installation in December 1977 at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York.

Netware dominated the personal computer LAN business from early after its introduction in 1983 until the mid 1990s when Microsoft introducedWindows NT Advanced Server and Windows for Workgroups.

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small physical area (Within 1 KM), like a home, office, or small group of buildings, such as a school, or an airport. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to wide-area networks (WANs), include their usually higher data-transfer rates, smaller geographic place, and lack of a need for leased telecommunication lines.

Early LAN cabling had always been based on various grades of co-axial cable, but IBM's Token Ring used shielded twisted pair cabling of their own design, and in 1984 StarLAN showed the potential of simple Cat3 unshielded twisted pair—the same simple cable used for telephone systems. This led to the development of 10Base-T (and its successors) and structured cabling which is still the basis of most LANs today.

LanDiscovery is a free utility for browsing large local area networks.