MAN

A Metropolitan Area Network, or MAN, is a big computer network that stretches across a large geographic region and may contain many buildings or the entire city. The MAN’s geographical region is larger than the LAN’s but smaller than the WAN’s. Many connecting devices are included in MAN, which provides Internet connectivity to the LANs throughout the metropolitan area. The MAN protocol connects many networks in different buildings into a single network. A network of this type can have a diameter of 5 to 50 kilometres. MAN, on the whole, does not belong to any entity; in most situations, a group of users or a service provider owns the connecting elements and other equipment.

Definition:

A Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is a personal data network used by one company in many buildings or by multiple companies in the same locality that connect citizens with various Organisations.

. It’s bigger than a LAN in one building but not big enough to be called a wide area network. The length varies between 5 and 10 kilometres. A campus network is also a cluster of buildings on a single contiguous piece of ground.

For elevated communication between MAN and the open network, a MAN can connect to a web exchange point and use a Local Exchange Carrier to connect LANs. This can link to other vendors via a peer exchange or cloud vendors via Amazon Web Services Direct Connect.

Extended Use of MAN:

Because a metropolitan area network merely relates to size in terms of distance, it can also refer to a private or public network that seeks to provide a connection over a wide metropolitan region and connects citizens with various organisations. MAN can be linked to urban planning ideas in a variety of ways in this regard:

• A MAN could be a network of privately run or telecommunication service interconnections that connects companies.
• A MAN could be a free Wi-Fi network for residents.
• A municipal or private company can utilise a MAN to connect public works systems and internet of things devices.

The use of area networks will continue to expand as technology advances, and more things become networked. Some people think of a MAN as a citywide network of autonomous vehicles exchanging position, congestion, and route data. However, a citywide network of autonomous vehicles sharing position, traffic, and destination data could be a future purpose for a MAN.

Advantages of MAN:

• It takes advantage of the drawbacks of both LAN and WAN to create a larger and more manageable computer network.
• Compared to WAN, MAN uses lower resources, and it is easy to connect citizens with various organisations. This reduces the cost of installation.
• It allows individuals to connect many fast LANs. This is owing to the ease with which links can be implemented.
• It has a higher level of security than a WAN.
• It facilitates the cost-effectiveness of shared resources such as printers and other items.
• It provides centralised data and file administration, similar to LAN and WAN.

Disadvantages of MAN:

• Once the network grows in size, it becomes tough to manage.
• Making the system safe against hackers and industrial espionage is difficult.
• Network setup necessitates the use of qualified technicians and network administrators. This raises the total cost of installation and management.
• Compared to LAN, it requires more cables to connect from one location to another.

Some examples of a metropolitan area network.

• Cisco Technologies is housed in several locations across three San Jose neighbourhoods. The firm created a single metropolitan area network by trenching its fibre and leased dark fibre from another operator.
• CERN has a campus area network (MAN) in Geneva that connects many buildings with optical fibre.
• As a massive single MAN, New York City provides free Wi-Fi to all residents. It also electronically connects traffic signals and parking metres as part of the metropolitan area network and connects citizens with various Organisations.
• Some telecommunications companies in London lease fibre lines. This is how many organisations connect their systems, creating a large MAN.
• The Indian government’s National Smart Cities Mission aims to improve communication between the administration, public resources, and citizens. The effort, which began with one hundred cities and is expected to be completed in 2023, will require a MAN.

Conclusion:

A MAN is usually small enough that dedicated point-to-point (backbone) data connections between buildings or a hosted colocation (colo) data centre are constructed that connect citizens with the various Organisations.

. Ethernet runs, leased Dark fibre or private fibre, point-to-point Wi-Fi, wireless LAN (WLAN), millimetre-wave (MM wave) radio and microwave radio links, or private 5G networks can all be used for these backbone connections. Although public internet routed links, such as those provided by a virtual private network (VPN) or a public cloud, are not considered part of a MAN, they may be included in a MAN diagram for clarity. There will be redundant links between sites in a well-designed system.