Advantages and Disadvantages of MAN

Before we move to advantages and disadvantages of MAN, first we discuss about what is MAN and what are its examples.

A network that encircles a city or a sizable university campus is known as a metropolitan area network (MAN). MAN connects users in an area bigger than a LAN but less than a wide area network (WAN). Multiple LANs are combined to create MAN using point-to-point connections. Fiber optic lines are typically connected to increase the data transmission speed in MAN.

A network that falls between a LAN and a WAN in size is called a metropolitan area network (MAN). It typically includes the territory inside a town or city. Customers who require high-speed connectivity, often to the internet, and have endpoints dispersed around a city or portion of a city, are the target audience for this service. A component of the telephone company's network that may offer the customer a high-speed DSL connection is an excellent example of a MAN.

A MAN network may be a service offered by a public company, such as a local phone company, or it may be owned and operated by a private company. Switched Multi-megabit Data Services are a well-known MAN network service offered by many telephone operators (SMDS).

In general, MAN networks speed up communication and provide higher-speed carriers like fiber optic connections. It also enables moderate data transmission speeds and propagation delays in the networks. Metropolitan area networks have substantially worse network congestion and poorer fault tolerance. MAN networks transport data using various network devices, including wires and modems.

MAN uses the different technologies to build a network in which three of them are given below:

1. Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM),

2. Fiber Distribution Data Interface (FDDI), and

3. Switched multi-megabit Data Service (SMDS).

Data is transferred over the broad geographic area in SMDS in packets. As, SMDS is a connection-less service, so data is sent across any network after being put in the header.

The fundamental objective of MAN is to connect two LANs. MAN also uses switches and routers to transport data. MAN has a more than 50km range. The metro area network has a speed of roughly 1000 Mbps.

Metropolitan area network examples (MAN)

• Metropolitan area network is used in Cable TV in the digital age.
• It is highly used by government institutions
• It is also used as broadband cable.
• It is used to link various branches of the school in same as well as different city.
• It is used at a hospital for communication between doctors, research offices, and labs.
• Airports also uses this type of network.
• It also connects and links community colleges all over the nation.
• It is also employed in public libraries in same city.

Advantages of Metropolitan Area Network

Following are the some advantages or benefits of the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN):

1. Less cost: The cost of connecting MAN with WAN is lower. MAN provides data with good efficiency.

2. Local emails sent:

Using MAN network, the users can send the emails quickly.

3. Greater than WAN Speed

Data transmission rates can often exceed 1000 Mbps because of the fibre optical cable used in the MANs network.

4. Distributing content online:

Users can share their internet connection in some MAN installations. Thereby allowing numerous users to share high-speed internet.

5. It is simple to go from LAN to MAN:

Any user can easily and quickly make two fast LAN connections with MAN.

6. Extreme Security:

MAN has a higher level of security than WAN.

Disadvantages of MAN

Following are the some disadvantages or limitations of the Metropolitan Area Network (MAN):

1. A challenge to manage: It becomes more challenging to handle metropolitan area network.

2. The difference in internet speed: On conventional copper phone cables, MAN cannot operate. Installing MAN on copper lines will result in very slow speed. Thus, the initial installation of fiber optics came at a considerable cost.

3. Hackers target: Compared to LAN, the likelihood of a network hacker assault is higher in MAN. Data may therefore leak. Data can be protected only with highly skilled personnel and security equipment.

4. Technical experts needed for setup: Metropolitan network needs technical experts who can set up MAN properly. Network administrators and troubleshooters are the technical personnel.

5. It requires more wires: Another issue or disadvantage with MAN is that additional cables are needed to join two LANs.