• Local Area Networks are related to the interconnection of a number of desktop computers, printers and servers within a local area. These interconnections allow users of the system to share information and resources between their various computers. In its basic form, there is a network cable that connects between each device on the LAN to a Hub. The ‘local area’ could be a single office with two or three computers and one printer, or it could be an entire site consisting of several hundred computers and devices.
  
• Wide Area Networks are made up of a group of interconnected LANs. If, for instance, you have two offices that are ten miles apart but the information that is entered at one site is used at another site, then by connecting the two LANs together information and resources can be shared.
  
• The Internet is simply an extremely large WAN that can be accessed.
  
• Intranet is the LAN equivalent of the Internet. If there are only a couple of computers on the network, then an intranet is probably not worth considering. However, where a large number of computers are connected together and form a Wide Area Network, then an Intranet (internal type Internet) may be beneficial. A small LAN can still be connected to an Intranet or an Internet to form part of a larger system.
  

Abbeyvale Systems has experience in computer consultancy, installation, integration and service provision. Our pedigree includes communications fiber-optic cabling and computer networks, and the use of computers for mechanical process control and other applications.