IT204-1501B-01 Fundamentals Of Networking
Phase 1 Individual Project
2/19/15

Modern day lives depend on the network or more specifically the internet. One could find this to be true if one had no access to the internet for one day. Networks at a base level can be explained as two or more electronic devices connected electronically sharing resources to one another. How we classify each network depends on the devices that are connected and the size of the network. Not all networks are created equally. One could categorize a network based on the size geographically. Is it a network that is in a room or small office building? Or do the systems attached to the network span the entire length of a state?

Local Area Network or LAN is two or more electronic devices that are connected with in a limited area such as a room or building. The evolution of LANs has changed as technology has become more powerful. Early local area networks used coaxial cable as a means to communicate. Then in the 80s twisted pair starting with Cat3 cable made the splash in networks. Modern local area networks use Cat5 or Cat6 cable. The main thing to remember about Local Area Networks is this is Local and does not span over a far distance. Unlike LAN’s the Wide Area network does span over far distances. A good example of this is a company that has one building on 4th street and 20 miles away they have another building on 175th street. The company’s computers can share resources between buildings. This is still a network but spanned over far distances. Most of the ways a WAN will communicate is using some type of telecommunications. A lot of times businesses will use the same Internet service provider as the general public but with a secure tunnel to connect each of the companies LAN’s. This is how the whole thing works. The Wide Area Network typically is multiple Local area