-: Wide Area Networks or WANs. 2 2
In this section of the course, 3 3
we're going to start moving 4 4
outside of our Local Area Networks 5 5
by using our routers 6 6
and connecting to a Wide Area Network. 7 7
You see so far we've covered 8 8
switching within our local networks 9 9
and we introduced the concept of routing, 10 10
which allows us to leave our networks 11 11
and connect to other networks. 12 12
But we really haven't discussed 13 13
how we're actually going to connect those two networks together 14 14
and communicate over long distances. 15 15
And that is where a WAN connection 16 16
is going to be important. 17 17
So let's take a quick look back 18 18
at computing over time, 19 19
because back in the 1990s, 20 20
we had this thing called the 80-20 Rule 21 21
or the Pareto Principle. 22 22
Now the Pareto Principle actually comes 23 23
from the business world, 24 24
but as we apply it to networks, 25 25
it essentially said that 80% of your traffic 26 26
would stay inside your Local Area Network, 27 27
while only 20% went out to the WAN 28 28
or the Wide Area Network. 29 29
For that reason, it was common for a large organization 30 30
to only have a very small external connection, 31 31
something in the range 32 32
of 1.44 megabits per second, for example, 33 33
and that would have been plenty 34 34
for all of their needs. 35 35
After all, only 20% of the time 36 36
were they actually going outside of their network 37 37
to reach out and touch something like the internet. 38 38
So they can have these slower, cheaper, 39 39
low bandwidth WAN connections, 40 40
and still meet the needs of the business. 41 41
Now today, the Pareto Principle 42 42
has really been flipped on its head. 43 43
These days, it's more like 80% of your traffic 44 44
goes out of your network 45 45
and only 20% stays within your Local Area Network. 46 46
Let's consider the company you work for right now. 47 47
Are you using things like the cloud, 48 48
or using Google Drive or Dropbox 49 49
or Google Docs or Office 365? 50 50
All of these are cloud-based applications 51 51
that exist outside your network. 52 52
And you've probably spent a large portion of your day 53 53
doing things like watching online videos 54 54
by going to YouTube 55 55
or scrolling your newsfeed on Facebook, 56 56
or even making voice phone calls. 57 57
All of these things require us to leave the LAN 58 58
and send data over our WAN connections. 59 59
So in this section of the course, 60 60
we're going to take a look at 61 61
the importance of the Wide Area Network, 62 62
how we're going to use a WAN connection 63 63
and how we can connect to the outside world 64 64
using our WAN connections. 65 65
All right. So in this section of the course, 66 66
we're going to cover two domains. 67 67
In domain one, 68 68
we're going to talk about Networking Fundamentals, 69 69
and in domain two, 70 70
we're going to talk about Network Implementations. 71 71
Now specifically, we're going to talk about 72 72
objectives 1.2 and 2.4. 73 73
Objective 1.2 states 74 74
that you must explain the characteristics 75 75
of network topologies and network types. 76 76
And objective 2.4 states 77 77
that given a scenario, you must install 78 78
and configure the appropriate wireless standards 79 79
and technologies. 80 80
So let's get started 81 81
with our coverage of Wide Area Networks. 82 82
(gentle upbeat music)