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Definition
Our Definition
WAN (Wide Area Network) links networks or devices over larger geographical area. It typically involves a 3rd party service provider. |
Sources and Online Definitions
Web-o-pedia
Computers connected to a wide-area network are often connected through public networks, such as the telephone system. They can also be connected through leased lines or satellites. The largest WAN in existence is the Internet.
Smart Computing
"As its name suggests, a LAN (local-area network) is a collection of computers connected to each other over a small area such as one floor of a building, a whole building, or perhaps even a campus of local buildings (such as a university or large corporation). A WAN, on the other hand, is a network of computers (or perhaps even a network of networks) spread over a larger geographic area. That could mean having portions of the network across town, across the country, or on the other side of the world. In a very technical sense, the Internet is a WAN, although most people tend to think of any particular WAN as being under the control of one organization. Perhaps it would be more appropriate in this context to think of the Internet as a WAN of WANs, but we won’t because we don’t want to make ourselves crazy."
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