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I am quite ignorant on networks, I would like to ask a very simple question: does a university library system, which can be accessed anywhere in the world (provided that there is an Internet connection and you have the right user name and password) need a "Wide Area Network"? If the same system can be accessed only locally (within the four walls) does need only a Local Area network? thanks!

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You are also quite ignorant on what questions you should ask on StackOverflow. – OregonGhost Mar 11 '10 at 11:30
You are SERIOUSLY ignorant on networks - more than is good for a programmer. Most power users would be able to answer this question.... you know.... everyone today being on the internet and all that. – TomTom Mar 11 '10 at 11:32
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@OregonGhost you should be nice to people. Not everyone here are experts like you. – Klaus Byskov Hoffmann Mar 11 '10 at 11:32
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@klausbyskov: I think you don't need to be an expert to figure out that a question about networking in general is not a programming question. It's kind of like the Subtle Bugs (aka Wicked Code) and Coding Horrors sections on CodeProject with a red text that says you shouldn't ask programming questions, yet every few days, someone does. Not because that someone isn't an expert, but because he just didn't read, or didn't care about examining what the site is about, but on the other hand expecting people to invest time for him. This is IMO the same. You need my time, first invest time yourself. – OregonGhost Mar 11 '10 at 11:36
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@OregonGhost I agree with you totally, I'm just questioning the tone of your first comment. It is obvious that the OP has not taken time to read the FAQ, but instead of bullying him with a harsh comment, and maybe scaring him away, I'm just suggesting a nicer and more helpful tone. – Klaus Byskov Hoffmann Mar 11 '10 at 11:41
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 11 '10 at 12:08

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closed as not a real question by Chopper3, splattne♦ Mar 11 '10 at 14:55

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2 Answers

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I believe the answer is to say; no, you don't need any WAN. You need internet access. If this is a university library then surely there is internet connectivity.

If you only want the system to be accessed locally, then you should not have (outgoing) internet access. That is to say, no internet gateway for the local clients.

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up vote -6 down vote

Ok, lets get real.

WAN is WIDE AREA network - basically dialup, wireless radio links over 5 km etc. That is totally unrelated to Internet.

For a library to be reachable by the general public, they need internet. if they are on 3 buildings in one campus, they may deploy WAN technologies to put up links between the buildings.

Mostly because LAN technology is more limited in length - it is designed for local setups.

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The Internet is a WAN. You pay an Internet Service Provider to connect your LAN to their WAN. So WANs are totally related to the Internet – racyclist Mar 11 '10 at 17:19
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