9 types of networks and their use cases

1. Personal area network

A personal area network (PAN) is the smallest and simplest type of network. PANs connect devices within the range of an individual and are no larger than about 10 meters (m). Because PANs operate in such limited areas of space, most are wireless and provide short-range connectivity with infrared technology.

An example of a wireless PAN is when users connect Bluetooth devices, like wireless headsets, to a smartphone or laptop. Although most PANs are wireless, wired PAN options are available, such as USB.

PAN benefits

• Portability. Most devices that connect in a PAN are small and easily transportable.
• Affordability. The ability to form a connection between two devices in a PAN without additional wiring is often less expensive than a wired network.
• Reliability. PANs guarantee stable connectivity between devices, provided that the devices remain within the 10 m range.
• Security. PANs don’t connect directly to larger networks, such as the internet, but they can connect to other devices with access to larger networks. The security of a device in a PAN depends on how secure the intermediary device is, as this device acts as a gateway between the PAN and the broader network.

PAN use cases

• Personal network configurations. PANs let users connect devices within their vicinity, which establishes small personal networks. A literal example of this is a body area network, in which a user physically wears connected devices.
• Home networks. Small home networks with computers, printers and other wireless devices are considered PANs.
• IoT systems. PANs can optimize and support IoT systems, such as users with medical wearables or networks with smart devices, in offices and homes.

2. Local area network

A local area network (LAN) is a system in which computers and other devices connect to each other in one location. While PANs connect devices around an individual, the scope of a LAN can range from a few meters in a home to hundreds of meters in a large office. The network topology determines how devices in LANs interconnect, such as a ring or mesh topology.

LANs use both wired and wireless connectivity options. Wireless LAN (WLAN) has surpassed traditional wired LAN in popularity, but wired LAN remains the more secure and reliable option. Wired LANs use physical cables, such as Ethernet, and switches. WLANs use devices such as wireless routers and access points to interconnect network devices through radio frequency waves.

Wired LANs are usually more secure than WLANs because they require a physical cable to form a connection and are less susceptible to compromise. However, network administrators can implement security protocols and encryption standards to secure wireless networks.

LAN benefits

• Resource sharing. Resource sharing is one of the most important reasons to set up any network. As devices connect to each other, they can share more files, data and software among each other.
• Secure data storage. Network data resides in a centralized location that all connected devices can access. Devices must receive permission to access the network, which prevents unauthorized users from retrieving sensitive information.
• Fast communication. Ethernet cables provide fast, reliable data transmission speeds, which increases the rate of communication between devices.
• Seamless communication. Any authorized device can communicate with another on the same network.

LAN use cases

• Home office and corporate network connectivity. Users in personal home offices and office networks can connect their devices and transfer data between each device.
• Data sharing. Employees in company offices can quickly communicate, share and access the same data and services provided by their organizations.
• Wi-Fi access. Wi-Fi is the most common WLAN use case. A wireless network can use Wi-Fi radio signals to connect multiple devices in a single location. While WLAN and Wi-Fi might sound like similar technologies, they aren’t the same. A Wi-Fi network is a WLAN, but not all WLANs use Wi-Fi.

Virtual LAN

A virtual LAN (VLAN) is a type of LAN configuration that virtually groups network components into segments. Network administrators create VLANs to operate segments as individual systems, separate from the rest of the LAN. VLANs prevent network congestion by isolating LAN traffic for each segment, which improves network performance and efficiency, simplifies network management and increases security.

3. Metropolitan area network

A metropolitan area network (MAN) is an interconnection of several LANs throughout a city, town or municipality. Like LANs, a MAN use various wired or wireless connectivity options, such as fiber optics, Ethernet cables, Wi-Fi or cellular.

MAN benefits

• Municipal coverage. A MAN can span an entire city or town, which provides network connectivity for dozens of miles.
• Efficient networking standards. MAN configurations typically use IEEE 802.11 networking standards to increase bandwidth capacity and frequency levels, which boost network performance.
• High-speed connectivity. Fiber optic cables are the most popular form of MAN connectivity because they provide reliable and fast connection data rates.

MAN use cases

• Extended network connectivity. MANs enable access to the same network in multiple locations. In a LAN, users can only access the network in one location. In a MAN, organizations with LANs in the same municipality, such as different office buildings, can extend their network to those areas.
• Community network access. Government entities might configure a MAN to provide public network connectivity to users. One example is when municipalities offer free, public Wi-Fi to city residents via wireless MAN technology.
• Smart city connectivity. MANs provide and enable connectivity in smart cities. They provide features like intelligent transportation systems, IoT deployment, smart grids and other city services.

4. Campus network

A campus network, sometimes referred to as a campus area network or CAN, is a network of interconnected, dispersed LANs. Like MANs, campus networks extend coverage to buildings close in proximity. However, campus networks connect LANs within a limited geographical area, while MANs connect LANs across a larger metro area. A MAN can extend to 50 kilometers, but the geographical range of a campus network varies from 1 km to 5 km.

Campus benefits

• Affordability. Campus networks cover a smaller geographical area than MANs, so infrastructure is less costly to maintain.
• Easy configuration. Compared to MANs, campus networks are easier to set up and manage because they cover less ground and support fewer devices.
• Wi-Fi hotspot creation. Universities and businesses with campus networks might set up free Wi-Fi hotspots in areas with high volume to enable easy network access.

Campus use cases

• Campus network provisioning. Network administrators commonly set up campus networks to create networks large enough to cover a school or university.
• Enterprise network configuration. Businesses set up campus networks across a corporate campus to distribute one standardized network across buildings. This design typically costs less than other large-scale network configurations.

5. Wide area network

A wide area network (WAN) is a large-scale computer network. Like a MAN, a WAN is a connection of multiple LANs that belong to the same network. Unlike MANs, however, WANs aren’t restricted to the confines of city limits. A WAN can, theoretically, extend to any area of the globe. For example, an organization with a corporate office in New York can connect a branch location in London within the same WAN. Users in both locations obtain access to business data, files and applications, and they can communicate with each other.

WAN benefits

• Large area coverage. A WAN can connect networks located anywhere in the world.
• Improved performance. WANs use links with dedicated bandwidth to connect LANs together. These links enhance network speeds and provide faster data transfer rates than LANs.
• Increased security. Dedicated links also reduce the risk of external attacks because traffic doesn’t travel across public infrastructure, which lowers the chances for hackers to hijack a system.

WAN use cases

• Long-distance connectivity. Organizations use WANs to connect office locations separate from headquarters.
• Interconnection. Users in widely distributed locations can share files, data and communicate with each other without delay.

6. Global area network

A global area network (GAN) is the most expansive type of network configuration. Like other wide-ranging networks, a GAN consists of multiple interconnected networks, such as LANs and WANs. In theory, a GAN covers an unlimited geographic area, such as the entire globe. The primary difference between a WAN and a GAN is the intended scope of each network. While a WAN interconnects geographically dispersed LANs, a GAN is specifically designed to span across the entire world.

GAN benefits

• Global network coverage. GANs link networks around the world and connect devices regardless of location.
• Interconnected network. Because GANs connect networks around the world, they support organizations that need to link globally dispersed users and offices.
• Streamlined communication. GANs offer high-speed data transmission, which enables fast and efficient real-time communication and data sharing across networks worldwide.

GAN use cases

• Internet access. An estimated two-thirds of the global population uses the internet — the world’s most popular and largest GAN — today.
• Multinational enterprise connectivity. Global corporations use GANs to connect international offices and data centers around the world.
• Connectivity for global network configurations. GANs facilitate connectivity for any network configuration that requires global infrastructure, such as cloud networks, satellite networks and international telecom networks.

7. Cloud network

A cloud network is a virtual network infrastructure composed of interconnected servers, VMs, storage, applications and other resources. Cloud service providers (CSPs) manage network management software and virtualized network hardware in global cloud data centers, while network administrators manage their organization’s on-premises network infrastructure to enable integration with the cloud. Traditional networks, such as LANs and WANs, access the cloud network via the internet. Cloud networking differs from cloud computing as it provides the infrastructure required for cloud computing.

Cloud network benefits

• Scalability. CSPs can scale resources up or down as needed, which lets them optimize a network’s workload based on computing or bandwidth requirements.
• Cost savings. When CSPs update resources based on load requirements, it prevents network overprovisioning and helps enterprises save on network costs. Additionally, virtualized network infrastructure costs less to deploy and maintain, which lowers operational costs.
• Reliability. CSPs offer several reliability measures, such as failover mechanisms and redundancy features, to ensure high availability and fault tolerance. They also provide high performance as they manage cloud networks in distributed data centers. Data centers in closer proximity to users can transfer data faster and reduce latency.

Cloud network use cases

• Remote work. Users can access data stored in a cloud network from any location, which makes cloud networks suitable for remote work.
• Managed network services. Enterprises that want to offload network management to third-party providers can deploy a cloud network, so CSPs manage the infrastructure, software and connectivity.

8. Content delivery network

A content delivery network (CDN) is a network of globally distributed servers that deliver dynamic multimedia content, such as interactive ads or video content, to web-based internet users. CDNs use specialized servers that cache bandwidth-heavy rich media content, which speeds up delivery time. CDN providers deploy these digitized servers globally at a network edge to create geographically distributed points of presence.

When a user requests data in a network, a proxy server forwards the data to the nearest CDN server. The proxy server encrypts the data into a smaller, more manageable file for the network to handle. It then delivers the data to an origin server, which provides the content to the user.

CDN benefits

• Fast content delivery. The main goal of a CDN is to load rich media content on websites quickly and reduce latency between requests.
• Increased security. When traffic travels through a CDN server, potential viruses attached to data reroute to the server too. A CDN service mitigates these threats so it can send uncompromised data through the network.
• Improved site performance. Websites managed by CDNs experience less latency and bandwidth limitation issues. Network downtime caused by traffic spikes is also a rare occurrence in websites with CDNs.

CDN use cases

• Rich media delivery. CDNs enable the delivery of rich, or dynamic, media. Most websites and applications incorporate some form of dynamic content, from embedded social media posts to video-streaming players. CDNs are necessary to accommodate the vast amount of complex data shared among millions of internet users each day.
• Collection of real-time analytics. When CDNs cache content from servers, they collect data about the content to optimize delivery. Enterprises can use this data in the form of real-time analytics to improve network performance.
• Software distribution. CDNs optimize software distribution for geographically dispersed users. Users located far away from servers that host software often experience longer download times, but CDNs can cache software artifacts to servers around the world. When a user downloads software through a CDN, it downloads from the closest server, which creates faster download speeds.

9. Virtual private network

A virtual private network (VPN) creates a private network overlay across an existing public network. VPNs use tunneling protocols that create encrypted connections between the network and client devices. Network traffic travels over the VPN service’s secure, encrypted tunnels instead of a public network. This process hides a user’s IP address and data from ISPs and potential hackers. The user’s location appears to be wherever the VPN server exists.

VPN benefits

• Privacy and anonymity. Users can browse networks without inspection by their ISPs.
• Increased security. Users must authenticate before they gain access to a VPN. Organizations can secure company data as they prevent unauthenticated users from accessing sensitive information.
• Geo-spoofing. Users connected to VPNs appear to be in the same location as the server, whether in an office building or another country entirely. Users can retrieve company data or gain access to geo-blocked content outside of their country’s borders.

VPN use cases

• Private browsing. VPNs have risen in popularity as internet users seek to browse the web without surveillance from their ISPs. An ISP can monitor a user’s web activity, including sites visited and the types of content downloaded. VPNs hide this information from an ISP while still providing the user with access to the network service.
• Remote work. VPNs facilitate remote work for individuals outside of office locations. User devices with VPN client software can connect to their organization’s VPN server and access their office’s data center resources. They can access the same business files and resources as employees located in the building.

Additional types of networks

The networks detailed previously are those that commonly appear in an enterprise network configuration. However, network teams might also hear about the following network types as well:

• Storage area network. A storage area network, sometimes referred to as SAN, is a network that interconnects and provides network access to storage devices. Servers connected to a storage area network can access the same set of storage devices, which lets network administrators centrally manage storage, optimize efficiency and improve performance.
• System area network. A system area network, also sometimes referred to as SAN, is a network that interconnects a cluster of computers in high-performance computing (HPC) environments. System area networks increase bandwidth, lower latency and provide high speeds in HPC systems, all of which are essential to facilitate the complex calculations completed in these environments.
• Enterprise private network. An EPN is a network configuration privately owned and operated by an enterprise. An EPN is essentially the same as a traditional network configuration, such as a LAN or WAN, but built in-house by an organization’s network team to interconnect company locations.

Which is the best type of network?

Several network types, associated topologies and connectivity methods are available, even beyond those in this overview. With so many options, network professionals might wonder which design is best for their organization. The simple answer: There isn’t one. The choice largely depends on business requirements, supported applications and the purpose of the system.

Before network professionals decide which type of network to configure, they should first determine the following:

• The use cases of the network.
• The types of users and devices the network will serve.
• The location of the network.

Once they solidify those answers, then they can select which type of network and connectivity to deploy.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to include additional information and improve the reader experience.

Deanna Darah is site editor for TechTarget’s Networking site. She began editing and writing at TechTarget after graduating from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2021.