Big Company, Multiple Sites: An Enterprise WAN
Imagine that you work at a company that has multiple physical sites with locations in separate states. As a user of the network, you might realize that the network connects all sites. For instance, you might be able to view information about your benefits program, fill out forms to change something about your retirement plan investments, and so on. You know that the Human Resources department is at headquarters, and you are at a small branch office. So, you can easily assume that your company needs a networkin this case, an enterprise wide-area network (WAN). Figure 1-6 depicts a typical example.
In Figure 1-6, you can
see three remote branch offices, each with a couple of PCs and a printer. The
headquarters site has more users (hence, more PCs), as well as several servers.
Each remote site has a LAN, much like the LAN shown earlier in this chapter.
However, now the network includes a cloud labeled WAN. The WAN is simply a part
of the network over which the computers at each site can send and receive data
from computers connected to the LANs at other remote sites.
Most people call the network shown in Figure 1-6 an enterprise network
because the network is owned by and created by one company, and a company can be
considered to be an enterprise. You will also hear of
this type of network called an enterprise WAN because enterprise
networks typically use WANs as part of the overall network.
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