It is a privately - owned computer networks confined to small geographical area, like an office or a factory extensively used to connect office PCs to share information & resources. In a Local area network two or more computers are linked through same physical medium, like a transmission cable. A significant characteristic of Local Area networks is speed that means deliver the data very quick compared to other types of networks along with typical data transmission speed are 10-100 Mbps.
A wide variety of LANs have been built & installed, although a few types have more recently become dominant. The most extensively used LAN system is the Ethernet system. Intermediate nodes (that means repeaters, bridges & switches) let LANs to be linked together to form larger LANs. A LAN may also be linked to another LAN or to WANs & MANs using a "router".
In brief, a LAN is a communications network, which is following:
- local (that means one building or group of buildings)
- controlled through one administrative authority
- usually high speed & is always shared
LAN let users to share resources on computers inside an organization.