It is a network of computers and other networking devices that spans a relatively small area. Most LANs are confined to a single building or group of buildings. They are connected using different cabling standards, hardware, and protocols.
A typical LAN setup has a computer with a dedicated CPU of its own and also a computer is designated as the file server. All the related software controlling the network as well as those that can be shared by the computers attached to the network is stored here.
Workstations are the computers connected to the server. However, these workstations are less powerful when compared to the file server, and they are allowed to have additional software on their hard drives. There are many different types of LANs Ethernets being the most common for PCs. Most Apple Macintosh networks are based on Apple's AppleTalk network protocol, which is built into Macintosh computers.
LANs are capable of transmitting data at very fast rates, much faster than data can be transmitted over a telephone line; but the distances are limited, and there is also a limit on the number of computers that can be attached to a single LAN.
