Lesson 3 - Choosing WAN Products and Services

   Introduction

How do we decide what WAN service is best to connect two or more LANs? As with most technology decisions, cost and performance are critical factors when selecting WAN facilities. However, there are many other factors to consider, which makes the process of choosing a WAN technology very complex. This decision is complicated by the fact that there are many service providers, and the range of offerings and prices vary widely.

This lesson introduces some of the most important factors a WAN designer must consider when choosing a transmission service, or combination of services.

   Objectives

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

1.	Compare the cost and performance of WAN services
2.	Calculate file transfer times for various data rates
3.	Discuss some of the factors to consider when choosing a WAN solution

Key Point
A WAN must provide the greatest throughput at the lowest cost, while meeting other key requirements.

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