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Load that program! Send me that file! If personal computers are the houses where information lives, Local Area Networks (LANs) are the avenues over which it moves.
Back in the days of The Mainframe, some 20 years ago, networks weren't needed. Files could be shared because they all resided in the same place. All that was required was for permission to be granted to use them. Data could be shared, because the database was on the mainframe and everyone could log in and use it. Programs could be shared, because each program was stored in one place and everyone got a copy when needed.
Printers could be shared, because all printers were attached to the one computer that everyone used.
Mainframes worked well, but they have disadvantages. The two most significant are their lack of flexibility and their high cost. As personal computers came of age, many people started using them for their flexibility and economy. Everyone could choose his or her own word processor, own operating system, own printer, own database, and his or her own headaches. The only problem was that some important things that mainframes did well were missing -- convenient communication and co-ordination among its users. Carrying a floppy disk from one machine to the next, aka sneakernet, does not count as convenient communication.
There are two networking optionsLANs were invented to replace these missing functions, without sacrificing the economy and individuality of the small machines.
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