difference between WAN and site-to-site VPN | WAN vs Site-to-site VPN

This page compares WAN vs site-to-site VPN and mentions difference between WAN and site-to-site VPN. WAN stands for Wide Area Network and VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. The useful links to difference between various terms are provided here.

Traditional WAN-Wide Area Network

traditional WAN, Wide Area Network

WAN

Figure-1 depicts WAN. WAN is the short form of Wide Area Network or Networking. Following are the characteristics of WAN.
• Large network consisting geographically distant offices.
• Connection of LANs, MANs and cellular network etc.
• Supports coverage of 10s to 1000s of Kms.
• Transmission medium include fiber optics, wireless, coaxial cable etc.
• Speed of operation depends on transmission medium.
• Include cellular technologies such as GSM, WiMAX, LTE etc.
Refer difference between LAN,MAN and WAN.

Site-to-Site VPN

site to site VPN, Virtual Private Network

Figure-2 depicts Site-to-Site VPN. VPN is the short form of Virtual Private Network. Following are the characteristics of VPN.
• It uses ISDN, Frame Relay or ATM networks
• It has been designed to replace traditional WAN
Refer what is VPN and How does it work.



Networking Links

• Circuit Switching vs Packet switching   • Packet Switching vs Message switching   • What is an IP address   • What is MAC Address   • Basics of OSI and TCP-IP Layers   • What is Hub   • What is Switch   • What is Bridge   • What is Router   • What is Gateway   • Firewall basics   • TCP-IP Packet format   • ARP Protocol format  



What is Difference between

FTP vs HTTP  FTP vs SMTP  FTP vs TFTP  hub Vs. switch  TCP vs UDP 

RF and Wireless Terminologies