Geographic scale VS. Organizational scope in Computer networks
After talking about Network Topologies vs. models/Architectures & What is the difference between a Radio Network, a Telecommunications Network, and a Computer Network? now we are going to talk about two concepts in computer networks, Geographic scale and Organizational scope!
Geographic scale
The geographic scale explains the physical extent of a network, the term “geographic scale” refers to the physical size and reach of a network. It indicates how far apart the devices or locations are from each other within a network.
For example, there is 3 geographic scale and their explanation:
- PAN(Personal Area Network): this network type is used for communication between devices near and close to a person.
- LAN(Local Area Network): this network type is a network limited to devices connected with each other in a home, school, office, and …
- WAN(Wide Area Network): this type of network covers a wide geographic scale like a city, country, and …
NOTE: there is a lot of different geographic scale out there. so, you can go through and read about them if you are interested.
Organizational scope
The Organizational scope basically tells us how an organization manages a network (Networks are typically managed by the organizations that own them). It defines how many computers, devices, and users are connected and how they are organized within the network.
For example, this is a 4 Organizational scope and their explanation:
- Intranet: An intranet is a set of networks that are under the control of a single administrative entity. The administrative entity limits the use of the intranet to its authorized users.
2. Extranet: An extranet is a network that is under the administrative control of a single organization but supports a limited connection to a specific external network.
3. Internet: Internetwork is the connection of multiple different types of computer networks to form a single computer network using higher-layer network protocols and connecting them together using routers. The Internet is the largest example of internetwork.
4. Darknet: A darknet is an overlay network, typically running on the Internet, that is only accessible through specialized software. It is an anonymizing network where connections are made only between trusted peers — sometimes called friends (F2F)— using non-standard protocols and ports.
