Few years back, there was no concept of using this IT network in the business offices. When people got familiar with internet, they soon realised the need and benefits IT network could bring to an individual and to a business.

Before selecting a suitable IT network for the corporation or business firm, complete meaning and significance of an IT network should be known. IT network is majorly of two types. Being a network, its basic function is to connect computers. If we talk about the IT network in 1990s, it was just able to connect a few computers and could share only limited information and resources. Later on, search carried out on the system software programs introduced some excellent operating systems in the market. The big names like Microsoft, Sun and Apple put their efforts and expertise to develop a network, efficient enough to connect many computers at distant locations. Here, we will discuss some IT networks, serving the business world of today.

Local Area Network (LAN) is the most widely used IT network, which connects computers in a limited boundary. There can be several servers and workstations, which can communicate with each other and share network resources. The IT administrator is responsible to monitor, control, restrict or grant the access to different network services according to the network policy. The only restriction of this network is that it works in a limited area as it requires cables and network switches to connect computers. An example of LAN network is the network of a school or college.

Wide Area Network (WAN) is a type of network which helps in connecting two LANs through cables, network switches, routers, wireless devices, satellites etc. Connecting two or more schools or colleges at different cities or countries are its common example. Sharing files, audios, videos etc. is easier due to its presence of all the computers in the same room.

Metropolitan Area network (MAN) is a network held by the private companies or government bodies. It works as a metropolitan area of a city and consists of communication lines for communication between the nodes. There are many other networks that belong to the group of LANs and WANs.

A combination of LAN and WAN gives a rise to another famous network called Virtual Private Network (VPN). LAN networks at distant places are connected to one another through Live IPs, as it is actually based on cloud based IT technology. Routers make the communication between networks possible. As they do not have to spend their money on spreading their own communication lines between cities, organizations find it easier to establish. The example of a chain of banks, which are connected to each other while being in different cities through an internet cloud is one of the biggest example of VPN, and it is established with the help of internet service providers.

IT network has become essential for running a business. You can select among the various IT networks, on the basis of your requirements.

For instance, a LAN network will be sufficient for a school, but in order to connect the wings at different locations, you have to go for the WAN. Likewise, a VPN is the right choice for banks and financial firms.