isr.co.ro : glossary Local-area network (LAN) A connection between multiple computers intended to allow the individual stations to share resources and exchange files. By local, most people mean a network used at a single office, building, or group of buildings using direct connections rather than a common carrier or private communications system. Local-area networks (LANs) can be classified by how they encode data for transmission, that is, whether baseband or broadband; how they regulate the flow of data, that is, by token, carrier sense with or without collision detect; or their topology, that is, star, ring, or bus.