Chapter 1: Local Area Networks

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1.1 Introduction

Local area networks (LANs) were developed in the 1980s, starting with Ethernet and quickly followed by token ring and others. They enable members of an organization to share databases, applications, files, messages, and resources such as servers, printers, and Internet connections. The promised benefits of LANs are often too compelling to ignore: improved productivity, increased flexibility, and cost savings. These benefits sparked the initial move from mainframe-based data centers to a more distributed model of computing, which continues today. The impetus for this “downsizing” can come from several directions, including:

• Senior management, who are continuously looking for ways to streamline operations to improve financial performance.

• End users, who are becoming more technically proficient, resent the gatekeeper function of data center staff, and want immediate access to data that they perceive as belonging to them. In the process, they benefit from being more productive and in their ability to make better and faster decisions, which comes from increased job autonomy.

• IT management, who are responding to budget cutbacks or scarce resources, and are looking for ways to do more using less powerful computers.

From their own perspectives, LANs represent the most feasible solution. With PCs now well entrenched in corporate offices, individuals, work groups, and departments have become acutely aware of the benefits of controlling information resources and of the need for data coordination. In becoming self-sufficient and being able to share resources via LANs, users have become empowered to better control their own destinies within the organization. For instance, they can increase the quality and timeliness of their decision making, execute transactions faster, and become more responsive to internal and external constituencies—all without the need to confront a gatekeeper in the data center.

In many cases, this arrangement has the potential of moving accountability to the lowest common point in the organization, where many end users think it properly belongs. This scenario also has the potential of peeling back layers of bureaucracy that have traditionally stood between users and centralized resources. IT professionals eventually discovered that it was in their best interest to gain control over LANs, enabling them to justify their existence within the organization by using their technical expertise to keep LANs secure and operating at peak performance. Further, there was the need to assist users, who were not technically savvy. Rendering assistance helped companies get the most out of their technology investments.

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