What is LAN - 7 Advantages of LAN

LAN stands for Local Area Network. It is a type of computer network that covers a small area. In LAN, the nodes are connected via cables. A LAN may use the star topology, ring topology or bus topology. The network of computers in computer laboratory of a college and network of computers in an office building are examples of LANs.

In LAN, each computer requires a network interface card. A network interface card enables the computer to send and to receive information over a cable network.

Advantages of LAN
Following are advantages of LAN:

1. The resources can be shared among different users. For example, many users on the network can use a single printer.
2. Data and software stored on central server can be shared between all users on the network.
3. All the data is stored on the central server. So it becomes very easy to manage the data.
4. LAN is not very expensive. The small businesses, firms and educational institutes can afford and easily design the LAN.
5. Multiple users can access the Internet using a single Internet connection. The Internet connection is established at central server. In this way, all the users can access the Internet.
6. Data security can be implemented very easily, because users are granted data access rights. The authorized users can connect to the server and can access specific portion of the data.
7. Data transmission in a LAN is very high.