What is the Full Form of WAN

WAN: Wide Area Network

WAN stands for Wide Area Network. It is a network that made its presence globally very soon. It can be utilized to connect multiple devices all over the world. This type of network provides a better facility to communicate between devices in any part of the world. Nowadays, the internet is recognized as the world's most extensive and fastest-growing wide area network, making connectivity easier among people worldwide. WAN is very much helpful in building communication in communities, businesses and organizations.

A wide area network is a typical form of a telecommunication network that can be used through any location across the world, and that's why it is known as the most prominent computer or system network available globally today.

Simply put, a Wide Area Network is a network of multiple device connections established through Local Area Networks or other networks that can communicate with each other over large distances. WANs are essentially networks of networks, with the Internet serving as the most extensive WAN on the planet.

The wide area networks are provided with the help of service providers. For instance, the service providers in the case of SIM and cellular networks include vendors like JIO, IDEA, AIRTEL, VI, etc. They typically charge users for giving access to their networks. Customers can send or receive messages from anywhere to any location if they are within the network range of the service provider.

One of the best things about Wide Area Network is that it provides better security than other networks, providing a unique IP address to each device connected to it. An IP address is recognized as an identity of the network and is logged for every data transaction. It is typically used by a service provider to locate a specific device.

A Wide Area Network is mainly of two types. The first is based on a point-to-point connection, and the second operates by transferring data packets.

A WAN router is needed for building this network, which is also known as an edge router or border router. A WAN router is a device that is used to connect the devices that provide a path for transferring data packets between the wide area network locations and allowing access to a carrier network for a business.

Brief History of the Wide Area Network

In the late 1950s, the Wide Area Network was first designed by the U.S. Air force. The primary roots of the huge area network are connected to the United States defence in which they developed the ARPANET, and with the help of it, significant researchers could communicate and share computer resources remotely. The link was made via radio waves, circuit-switched telephone lines, or optical fibres. Since then, it has evolved greatly and proved effective in the interchange of data worldwide among people. These networks are now helping to establish communication between a client and an employee, a teacher and a student, a buyer and a seller, etc. An important advantage of a Wide Area Network is that it can transmit images, audio, video and many other digital formats over long distances.

WAN Optimization

Performance challenges in businesses are often caused by latency and bandwidth concerns in the network. Wide Area Network uses best optimization practices with the help of various techniques, including network shaping, protocol optimization, reduction, compression and local cache. With the help of these techniques, the network is improved, and packet delivery is optimized. This ultimately helps to control traffic laterally and enable dynamic network bandwidth growth or contraction as needed.

Characteristics of a Wide Area Network

• Broader Reach: The reach of the wide area network is very high. WAN can cover a vast geographic area, such as a whole nation, region, or even the entire world.
• Higher Capacity: The capacity of the wide area network is very high compared to the local area network. Due to this, it straightforwardly connects large numbers of users over different locations worldwide, which shows its capacity to connect large numbers of devices.
• Use of Public Carrier: Wide area networks mainly use telephone networks, cable systems, satellites, etc., to connect and transfer data quickly because these things are readily available.
• Resource Sharing: Wide area network provides a facility for all users to share data and information within large areas worldwide. Computer resources can be easily managed through remote devices that quickly interchange data.

Advantages of Wide Area Network

• The central feature of a wide area network is that it provides network coverage for a large geographical area to transfer data rapidly and easily.
• The data can be stored effectively and efficiently because WAN provides the facility of remote access to data.
• The travel expenses necessary to cover the ranges of large geographical areas can be reduced with WAN.
• One of the best advantages of a Wide Area Network is that it provides the facility to connect users and organizations all over the world quickly, thereby facilitating data interchange and allowing businesses to communicate on a global scale.

Disadvantages of Wide Area Network

• In a wide area network, there is lots of traffic that are interpreting between the transferring of data.
• The wide area network provides less security than the LAN (local area network) or MAN (metropolitan area network).
• The setup cost of a wide area network is a little higher than other networks.
• Another drawback of a wide area network is that due to multiple connections, the noise and errors are present in a heavy amount while transferring large size of data concurrently.
• Data transfer speeds are lower in a wide area network than in a local area network because, in a WAN, multiple connections and large-distance transactions are involved within the network.

Types of WAN Technologies

• Packet Switching: Packet switching is a method of transferring the data in which data is sent in several parts, which are called
• TCP/IP: TCP (transmission control protocol) and IP (internet protocol) are the basic-standard protocol used to communicate with the data. The Internet of today's day and specific computer/device networks employ the TCP/IP suite of fundamental communication protocols to link network devices.
• Router: A router is a device that is used for establishing the network between the devices. It operates as both the input and output network device.