What is a LAN?

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Local Area Network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building using network media. Early LAN cabling had always been based on various grades of coaxial cable.

Within a LAN, you can share data amongst many devices and keep it as a closed system. However, you can also access the Worldwide Web on your LAN by connecting your network's router to your broadband Internet modem (provided by your Internet service provider, or ISP).

Once your LAN is set up to access the Internet, you can network the devices in your home or business using one (or more) of several methods: wired (using Ethernet or powerline networking) or wireless (Wi-Fi).

Ethernet provides connectivity to you home or business LAN by simply plugging a cable into your computer. Today, Ethernet is available in two main flavors with the difference being data speed: Fast (with data transfer of up to 100 Megabits per second, or Mbps) and Gigabit (up to 1000 Mbps).

While, Wi-Fi encompasses a several variations in standards that differ in speed and range. You've probably seen these variations listed as their alpha-numeric standards names (such as 802.11a/b/g/n) or their shorthand names (such as Wireless-N).

What is network-attached storage (NAS)?

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Network-attached storage (NAS) is a combination of hard disk-based storage and a network adapter. Its purpose is to provide a centralized data repository for computers sharing a network. Rather than connecting to your computer via a USB cable (like a typical external hard drive), a NAS connects to your local area network (LAN) via an Ethernet connection to your router, and it becomes available to all computers and devices connected to your network. Some NAS devices allow you to expand storage with additional hard drive bays, or USB ports for connecting external hard drives.

A NAS unit is a computer connected to a network that provides only file-based data storage services to other devices on the network. Although it may technically be possible to run other software on a NAS unit, it is not designed to be a general purpose server. For example, NAS units usually do not have a keyboard or display, and are controlled and configured over the network, often using a browser.

NAS is useful for more than just general centralized storage provided to client computers in environments with large amounts of data. NAS can enable simpler and lower cost systems such as load-balancing and fault-tolerant email and web server systems by providing storage services. The potential emerging market for NAS is the consumer market where there is a large amount of multi-media data. Such consumer market appliances are now commonly available. Unlike their rackmounted counterparts, they are generally packaged in smaller form factors. The price of NAS appliances has plummeted in recent years, offering flexible network-based storage to the home consumer market for little more than the cost of a regular USB or FireWire external hard disk. Many of these home consumer devices are built around ARM, PowerPC or MIPS processors running an embedded Linux operating system.

If you want to know more clearly go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage

Learn more about Sonos Multi-Room Music System

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As its product name would imply, the Sonos Multi-Room Music System is an in-home audio sharing solution that works in multiple rooms throughout your house, and it's capable of transmitting different audio to different rooms at the same time. A Sonos system connects to your music source--whether it be stored on a computer running iTunes or Windows Media player, or a network-attached storage (NAS) drive--and works as both transmitter and receiver via its two parts:

• Controllers: You can manage audio playback to the whole house or to individual rooms via remote control with touchscreen interface. Additionally, the Sonos system can be controlled via an iPhone/iPod touch app as well as software for PCs and Macs.
• ZonePlayers: These are the wireless receivers that connect your music source to your speakers, and they come in several flavors--from one that allows you to connect either powered or powerless speakers to one with integrated speakers.

Tip: In addition to stored music, the Sonos system can also connect to Internet radio stations as well as a variety of Internet streaming music services, such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Sirius Internet Radio, Last.fm, and more.

The ZonePlayer receivers connect to your music source via your wireless network, and you can place multiple receivers throughout your house. You can then choose music to play via the touchscreen Sonos Controller. And if you have multiple ZonePlayer receivers, the Controller can select different music for different rooms as well as adjust volume independently for each receiver.

To get you started playing music in two different rooms in your house, the Sonos Bundle 250 (with the Controller and two ZonePlayers) retails for $999. Individual component vary from $349 for a Controller to $349 to $499 for a ZonePlayer.

Learn more about Airport Express

Selection of music and play/pause of audio is controlled through the iTunes software on your computer. If you have an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, a downloadable remote app is available that can control these functions in iTunes over a Wi-Fi connection.

A Wi-Fi product from Apple, the Airport Express is a compact wireless base station that acts as a receiver to audio transmitted over Wi-Fi from a computer music source running the Apple iTunes software. The Airport Express connects to an amplified speaker via an integrated 3.5mm audio jack output.

You can transmit audio from compatible digital audio files (MP3s, AAC files purchased from Apple) stored in your iTunes library on your computer's hard drive, as well as Internet radio stations played from within iTunes.

Tip: Music sharing is just one function of the Airport Express, which can also be used as a standalone Wi-Fi router (great using while traveling), extending the range of your main Wi-Fi router, or providing access to a printer (via its USB port) to a wireless network.

The Apple Airport Express work with Windows-based PCs, it comes with software (Airport Utility) that helps you connect your Windows PC to the Airport Express, and iTunes is available in a Windows version.

The Airport Express is a Wi-Fi base station, it can talk to any other wireless router that speaks in the 802.11a/b/g/n languages. Thusly, neither an Apple Airport Extreme base station nor Time Machine is required to stream audio to the Airport Express. However, your PC or Mac must have the iTunes software installed, So You don't need an Apple Wi-Fi router to stream audio with the Airport Express.

The Airport Express work in multiple rooms. However, you'll need a separate Airport Express connected to amplified speakers in each room you want to stream audio to. Additionally, all the Airport Express base stations connected to your iTunes software will play the same audio--you can't configure different rooms to play different music.

Learn more about Wi-Fi radio & Internet radio

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What is a Wi-Fi radio?

A type of device that streams content from Internet radio stations, which (as you might expect) requires an Internet connection. As the name suggests, a Wi-Fi radio can wirelessly connect to the Internet (the source) over your home's wireless network router (the transmitter), and it acts as the direct receiver. It doesn't require connection to your computer, only to your network router.

Tip: While Wi-Fi radios don't require a connection to your computer, some offer the capability of streaming stored digital audio files (such as MP3s) from your computer's hard drive. Also, some Wi-Fi radios offer a wired Ethernet option as a feature.

What is Internet radio?

A service that streams audio to your computer or connected device from the Internet. And it comes in a variety of flavors. An Internet radio stream may duplicate the broadcast from a national or local radio station (such as the BBC or your local NPR station), or even satellite providers (such as Sirius Satellite Radio).

Some sites offer streams of music based on specified genres--from mainstream styles such as rap and hip-hop to lesser known genres such as dubstep. Other specialized services, such as Pandora, serve up a stream of music that is tailored to the sound of an artist or song that you select.

Wi-Fi radios work in multiple rooms, but you'll need to have a separate Wi-Fi radio for each room you want Internet streaming audio to be played in. On the downside, you won't be able to synchronize the audio between multiple devices. However, each room can play different audio streams.

The basics needed to wirelessly transmit audio through your home!

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The idea of wirelessly streaming the music collection on the computer to the stereo system in the living room is Fantastic idea. To realize the idea you need:

• A music source, which can be either your computer or your network router connected to the Internet.
• A transmitter, which can be a separate device connected to your computer (such as a radio frequency transmitter connected via USB) or a Wi-Fi router.
• A receiver, such as one part of a radio frequency transmitter/receiver package
• A set of amplified speakers with an audio input jack that's compatible with the output jack of the receiver. They can be the speakers connected to your home theater stereo system, powered computer speakers, or an iPod speaker dock.

If using Wi-Fi as your transmitter, you can choose from a variety of receiver schemes that vary in available music sources, access throughout your home, and cost. We'll cover a few of them in in the next article, including:

• Wi-Fi radio, which receives Internet streaming audio through your network router
• A Wi-Fi base station with audio output (such as the Apple Airport Express)
• Proprietary whole-home systems (such as Sonos).

What is streaming audio?

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Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a provider.

In a connected home, streaming audio can refer to one of two things:

• Internet Streaming Audio: Music and radio programming that is delivered over the Internet to a computer or network-connected device.
• In-Home Sharing: Audio distributed across your network from one device to another.

With Internet streaming audio, music and radio programming are delivered in a compressed format over the Web and can only be accessed when you are connected to the Internet. And unlike a file that you save to your hard drive from the Web (such as an MP3 file), streaming audio is not saved permanently to your device's storage memory. Rather, a Web browser or audio software decodes the audio file as it's being streamed to your computer or device, and then the data is discarded once you've played it.

With in-home sharing, you are transmitting audio from a central location (such as your computer) to a plethora of amplified possibilities: a home theater stereo, powered speakers, an HDTV, and more. The audio that is being served up through your home can either be the digital audio files stored on your computer's hard drive or audio streamed from an Internet radio station.