LAN, VLAN i WLAN - introduction to local area networks

LAN (Local Area Network) is a physical network placed in a specific place (e.g. in office, home, or, at university). It's made out of connected devices, such as computers, printers, and scanners.

VLAN (Virtual LAN) is a virtual network, separated from the rest of the LAN. Devices in VLAN cannot communicate with outside machines without a router, thus this solution is used when, for example, communication between devices in VLAN needs to be prevented.

If we compare LAN to a house, then the kitchen would be VLAN. Another example can be a campus with LAN, with a single faculty using its own VLAN.

WLAN (Wireless LAN) is a type of LAN, in which devices communicate wirelessly. While for many people WLAN and Wi-Fi are synonymous terms, they are not the same: Wi-Fi uses IEEE 802.11 standards, which are also used in WLAN.

VLAN in Mevspace

Clients owning many dedicated servers in Mevspace can order configuring them into a VLAN, so they can communicate like in a LAN.