local area network

English

Noun

local area network (plural local area networks)

1. (computing) An interconnection of computers that are in relatively close proximity to each other, such as within a building.

   A Local Area Network connects all of the computers in our office.

2. (computing) A network on which all devices communicate using OSI model device layer addressing.
3. (Internet) A network on which all communication is delivered by way of MAC addresses and that is not routed.

Usage notes

• (communication by way of MAC address) This is the technically correct sense of the term in an internetworking context.

Synonyms

• LAN

Coordinate terms

• wide area network, metropolitan area network, campus area network, personal area network, storage area network

Translations

network

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (mainland China) 局域網 (zh), 局域网 (zh) (júyùwǎng), (Taiwan & Hong Kong) 區域網路 (zh), 区域网路 (zh) (qūyù wǎnglù)

• Finnish: paikallisverkko, LAN (fi), lähiverkko (fi)
• French: réseau local (fr) m, LAN (fr) m, RLE m (for enterprise LAN's)
• German: Local Area Network n (formal), lokales Netzwerk n
• Greek: ΤΔ (TD), τοπικό δίκτυο (el) n (topikó díktyo)

• Hebrew: רֶשֶׁת תִּקְשֹׁרֶת מְקוֹמִית‏‎ f
• Icelandic: staðarnet n, nærnet
• Japanese: ローカル・エリア・ネットワーク (rōkaru-eria-nettowāku)
• Russian: лока́льная вычисли́тельная сеть f (lokálʹnaja vyčislítelʹnaja setʹ), ЛВС (ru) f (LVS), лока́льная сеть f (lokálʹnaja setʹ), лока́лка (ru) f (lokálka) (prof jargon)
• Vietnamese: mạng cục bộ, mạng máy tính cục bộ

Related terms

• LAN party
• MAN
• Metropolitan Area Network
• network
• wide area network

See also

• (Internet) ARP