CHAPTER 8
WIDE AREA NETWORKS
MOST ORGANIZATIONS do not build their own metropolitan or long-distance communication circuits, preferring instead to lease them from common carriers or to use the Internet. Therefore, this chapter focuses on the WAN architectures and telecommunications services offered by common carriers for use in WANs, not the underlying technology that the carriers use to provide them. We discuss the four principal types of WAN services that are available: circuit-switched services, dedicated-circuit services, packet-switched services, and virtual private network (VPN) services. We conclude by discussing how to improve WAN performance and how to select services to build WANs.
OBJECTIVES 
- Understand circuit-switched services and architectures
- Understand dedicated-circuit services and architectures
- Understand packet-switched services and architectures
- Understand Internet-based VPN services and architectures
- Understand the best practice recommendations for WAN design
- Be familiar with how to improve WAN performance
CHAPTER OUTLINE
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