A LAN is an organization within an organization. Just as any organization needs hierarchies and clear-cut roles and responsibilities, a LAN too needs hierarchies and groups. These hierarchies and groups help in the smooth functioning of the LAN.
All LANs, including Novell NetWare, form their own hierarchies and groups in an office, independent of the organizational structure.
A LAN contains data and software that is not meant to be used by everyone. Just imagine a LAN as a huge filing cabinet where every user has been assigned a different drawer to store his or her files. How would Tom feel if he discovers that John has got hold of the keys to his drawer and has been going through his files? Or if John's supervisor finds that John has been secretly going through the company's classified financial reports.
To implement proper security measures to manage resources, a LAN needs hierarchies and groups.
A LAN consists of users. The basic idea of having a LAN is the dissemination of information across all levels of an organization such that it can bring these levels closer and promote efficiency. Let us see how users in a LAN are organized (refer Figure).
Representation of Users in a LAN
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