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Metropolitan Area Networks or MANs are large computer networks usually spanning a city. They typically use wireless infrastructure or optical fiber connections to link their sites. The IEEE 802-2001 standard defines a MAN as being: Some technologies used for this purpose are ATM, FDDI and SMDS. These older technologies are in the process of being displaced by Ethernet-based MANs (e.g. Metro Ethernet) in most areas. MAN links between LANs have been built without cables using either microwave, radio, or infra-red laser links. DQDB, Distributed Queue Dual Bus, is the Metropolitan Area Network standard for data communication. It is specified in the IEEE 802.6 standard. Using DQDB, networks can be up to 30 miles long and operate at speeds of 34 to 155 Mbit/s. Several notable networks started as MANs, such as the Internet peering points MAE-West and MAE-East and the Sohonet media network.
Related Networks Local area network Campus area network Wide area network Standards of MANs IEEE Standards on LAN's & MAN's | ||||||||
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