Wide Area Networking
Wide Area Networking (WAN) is a telecommunications concept that involves connecting geographically dispersed networks over large distances, such as across cities, countries, or continents. It enables data, voice, and video communication between remote locations using technologies like leased lines, satellite links, or public internet infrastructure. WANs are essential for organizations with multiple branches, cloud services, and global internet connectivity.
Developers should learn WAN concepts when building distributed systems, cloud-native applications, or managing multi-site infrastructure, as it impacts network latency, reliability, and security. It is crucial for optimizing performance in scenarios like data replication between data centers, remote access to corporate resources, or deploying services across global regions. Understanding WAN helps in designing resilient architectures and troubleshooting connectivity issues in large-scale environments.