I wanted to start to answer the question by first giving a definition of a network. Although many have been given already, one that I find easiest to understand is, “a network consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources (such as printers and CDs), exchange files, or allow electronic communications. The computers on a network may be linked through cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.[1]” The different types of networks are distinguished by the geographical confines in which these networks are based. I believe there are four types of network areas that can be used in this University scenario.
Within the buildings on campus, a small area, computers connected to each other use a Local Area Network (LAN). A LAN typically has 100-1000 users. This area network connects users within this small range, specifically, the computers within the building.
The St. Augustine Campus comprises of more than 10,000 people which would include both students and staff members. The LAN network would be able to facilitate a fair amount of users within each building on campus. However, a Campus Area Network (CAN) “ usually a connection of many small LAN networks which are often used on university campuses and office buildings[2] ” would be the preferred type of network because it covers up to 1000 meters ( one mile ), typically used for Inter- departmental communication . This would allow for easy file and resource sharing between the departments on the campus and also they can use a common server by which they can all pull common information. “This type of network offers a lot of simplicity in the transfer and downloading of files [3]”. The benefits for this type of network are that it is cost-effective, for a geographical area of this capacity ( 1 mile) , it is wireless as opposed to the use of a cable and it has a single shared data transfer rate (DTR)for the easy transfer and downloading of files between...