What is the difference between CAN and MAN?


Let us understand what a campus area network (CAN) is.

CAN

CAN stands for campus area network. It is a network of several interconnected local area networks (LAN) in a finite geographical location. It is smaller than a wide area network (WAN) or metropolitan area network (MAN).

In CAN, the same technology along with the hardware is used in multiple buildings of one campus or one association. They follow similar terminologies such as the local area networks but the change is that they are interconnected between the several buildings at the specific location.

Campus Area networks are cost-effective, beneficial, and simple to implement in the distinct kilometers of the locality. It is very beneficial for the universities and several corporate organizations to work from any block and receive the same speed of data transfer.

The characteristic of Campus Area Network (CAN) is that all of the computers which are linked together have few relationships to each other. For example, several buildings on campus can be linked using Campus Area Network (CAN). It will facilitate interconnecting academic branches, libraries, and computer workshops.

MAN

MAN represents the Metropolitan Area Network. MAN is a huge version of LAN and uses the same technology. It facilitates one or two cables but does not include switching elements. It covers a whole city and can be related to the local cable TV network.

The execution for MAN supports transfer costs from 34 Mbps to 150 Mbps which is not very balanced as compared to LAN. It is constructed with two unidirectional buses and utilises a unique protocol known as dual queue dual bus protocol (DQDB).

The dual queue dual bus (DQDB) protocol has two topologies as open bus architecture and closed bus architecture, and both are used with MAN. They use broadband cables as transmission media. It can also utilize optical fibre cable as transmission media.

The Standards for MAN are guaranteed by IEEE, ANSI, and Regional operating organizations. The topology utilized by MAN is DQDB that is Dual Queue Dual Bus topology. It operates two unidirectional buses that are separate from each other in the transfer of traffic. It can use open bus architecture or closed bus architecture, based on the requirements.

Types of MAN

MAN can be divided into two types such as DQDB and SMDS.

  • DQDB (Distributed Queue Dual Bus) − It is treated as a dual bus configuration that defines each host in the network as linked to the two backbones network lines.

  • SMDS (Switched Multimegabit Data Services) − SMDS attached multiple LANs and allows packets to share to some other LAN on the SMDS. It is a high-speed MAN which facilitates packet switching as a datagram service.

Updated on: 18-Nov-2021

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