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Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

WAN

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/wæn/abbreviationCore term

In software engineering, WAN means: Short for wide area network: a network that links sites across cities or countries, usually over lines leased from a telecom operator or over the internet.

In Turkish: geniş alan ağı, WAN

How it is used

Said as one word, 'wan'. Companies talk about WAN links between branches, WAN costs and WAN optimisation. On a home router the WAN port is the one that goes to the internet; the other ports are LAN ports.

Example sentences

  1. Each branch connects to the head office over a 200 Mbps WAN link.

  2. The WAN port on the router is not getting an address from the ISP.

Common collocations

  • wide area network
  • WAN link
  • WAN port
  • WAN optimisation
  • WAN connection
  • LANShort for local area network: a network that connects devices in a limited area such as a home, an office floor or a single building.
  • SD-WANShort for software-defined wide area network: an approach that manages a company's WAN links centrally through software and sends each application over the best available link, such as internet, 4G or MPLS.
  • MPLSShort for Multiprotocol Label Switching: a technique used in operator networks that forwards traffic using short labels instead of full IP lookups; it is widely sold to companies as a private WAN service.
  • routerA device that connects different networks and decides, packet by packet, the best path for data to reach its destination, usually based on IP addresses.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

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