Computer networks can mainly take two forms: Local Area Networks (LAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN). The only difference is the physical topology of the areas connected and the transmission mechanism that provides the connection between networked areas. Your network will take one of these shapes or a combination of the two types Sharing resources and communication remain some of the most important keys to a company's continued health.

Sending information by postal mail was the fastest way to share information. E-mail speeded up that process tremendously but wide area networks (WANs) that connects your entire company together is the fastest, most efficient and safest way to communicate within any organization. Centillion recognized a long time ago that networks could be a powerful tool in almost any business and have been the backbone of Centillion’s business for years. Resource control and sharing are some of the concepts that networks were built upon.

LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LAN):

Local Area Networks are just that, a network that connects a small physically local area together. LAN's connect workstations in one office, one building, or physically adjacent buildings with each other. The topology of these computer networks usually consists of networked workstations connected by cable to servers through network hubs and switches, using unified software. The network hubs are in essence repeaters that take network messages and commands transmitted by one workstation or server then repeats that information to every workstation and then to the main server on the network. The workstation or server that the information was intended then responds with the pertinent information.

Pretty simple concept but the implementation sometimes is not so simple. You have to connect each workstation, server or printer by a physical cable to a network hub. Then make sure that all the computer network components on the local area network are speaking the same network protocols. The implementation may not be as simple as the concept but the implications have been a powerful tool to many companies. While local area networks have proven necessary to many of our clients the effort to keep their LANs running efficiently has been handed over to us. Computer networks can prove just as difficult to manage as workstation hardware and software so our clients feel confident in relying on Centillion’s years of experience in building and maintaining LAN s.

WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN):

Wide Area Networks (WAN) are as you guessed it, spread over wide areas. This kind of network can connect a company's offices in Dallas and connect them to offices in Fort Worth, Arlington or anywhere to manufacturing plants in Irving, Garland or other parts of North Texas and the world, as if they were just across the hall from each other. Each location may have it's own local area network (LAN) but running a cable across DFW, Texas or several states can prove problematic. A solution is still available, the Internet. The Internet has proved to be a powerful tool in making these networks cost effective. Now each office gets an Internet connection and data is transferred via the Internet.

Unfortunately this kind of network begs one to ask new questions. How does my data stay secure over such a public network? Doesn't this leave my local area networks - LAN's and servers open to every Internet hacker.

There have been a number of tools created to answer these questions including Virtual Private Networks (VPN), firewalls and encryption keys and through our experience in domain hosting we are very proficient in their use. Wide area networks - WANs can be a hard concept to swallow at once and its implementation even tougher to handle but Centillion’s expertise with the network equipment and protocols involved puts this kind of network tool well within your reach.

Stretch IT budgets further with LAN and WAN:

Networks can stretch that already thin computer hardware, software IT budget even further. Instead of putting a mediocre printer at every workstation, place a higher quality printer on the local area network and allow everyone on the LAN to use it. You can cut down purchasing costs, maintenance costs and improve resource quality for everyone using the local area network. Printers are not the only equipment that can be shared across you LAN. Backing up data can be troublesome if all your important data is spread across several machines. Save time, money and potentially the life of your business by storing all important company data on your server. All your information is in one central place and easily backed up daily using one tape backup system instead of several. Computer hardware reliability has become almost a given. But equipment fails sometimes. Don't let hardware failure slow you down. Get multiple redundancies with multiple hard drives in your server. With mirrored server drives a hard drive could completely die but the office would notice no slow down at all. Your company would never lose a step and at your next convenience the faulty drive could be replaced.

Are different parts of your company working from different data? This can prove problematic in more areas than one. The slightest difference between the two data sets can prove disastrous to any project. You also have the added cost of maintaining and backing up two sets of data in two different places. Computer networks (locally with local area networks and over distances with wide area networks) allow everyone to work from the same data. And if there are any changes made to the data then the rest of the network will immediately have access to that updated data set keeping your whole company on the same page. Since data is kept in one place, backups become much easier and are more likely to get done.

Communication within a company can improve tremendously with the addition of a LAN or WAN computer network. Internet email is not necessary to keep everyone communicating within your company. Many companies don't want their employees to have Internet email. They feel that could generate too many distractions. But the addition of a local area computer network could improve local email communication without the distraction of outside email. With free open source software like Pegasus Mail over a Novell Network or proprietary software like Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Server over a Microsoft NT Network communications within your entire company can become a snap. E-mail can become an efficient communication device with clientele as well. Most communications are not necessarily urgent but are important. Email gives you the ability to easily save and store messages for future reference. How many times have you forgotten what a voicemail said but could not go back and reference it later? Email can be stored indefinitely and with little hassle. Archived email gives you a virtually permanent record of communications within the company and with clients. Save yourself the hassle of voicemail or at least add company email to enhance your communications.

Do you think a wide area network is in your future? You are probably using one now in some aspect of your life because many are finding them essential tools in business. Our expertise is extensive in LANs and WANs. We can fulfill almost any capacity you might need us to. From consulting to acquisition to configuration to implementation to management, we are a full computer and network solutions provider.

If there are any queries you can feel free to contact us on the given address, and we will respond you at our earliest.