Over the past five weeks, we've endeavored to explain precisely how data moves around the world, covering the basics of internet, transport networks, data centers, and the cloud along the way.

Today we answer our final, lingering question: What is a WAN?

First, let's get definitions out of the way. WAN stands for wide area network, which came out of the term LAN, or local area network.

Today's episode will help you brush up on the evolution of the WAN. We'll also hear from Brianna Boudreau, TeleGeography's current SD-WAN guru.

From This Episode:

• What is the Internet?
• What is a Transport Network?
• What Are Data Centers?
• What is the Cloud?
• Episode 508 | How Geography Influences Network Security
• Episode 501 | Are These WAN Sourcing Trends Real or Just Hype?
• Episode 425 | Surveying the WANscape
• Episode 421 | What Makes a WAN Truly Secure?
• Download the WAN Manager Survey Executive Summary
• What SD-WAN Is and How It’s Deployed

You may have heard a popular saying: There is no cloud, only other people’s computers.

To explain how it works, Senior Research Manager Patrick Christian joins us to talk cloud. We explain what it means to get something "as-a-service," hyperscalers, CDNs, and how companies get to the cloud.

From This Episode:

• What is the Internet?
• What is a Transport Network?
• What Are Data Centers?
• Explore our Cloud Infrastructure Map
• Episode 510 | Head in the Cloud, Toes at the Edge
• Episode 505 | It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Super Cloud
• Episode 410 | A Telecom Year in Review, Part 1
• Episode 304 | Understanding the Multicloud-Verse of Madness

We're back at it with episode three of our five-part podcast special that explains the nuts and bolts of the internet. We haven’t yet covered exactly how and where those networks meet and exchange traffic with each other and access their destinations. 

So today, it's data center time.

Senior Research Manager Jon Hjembo was on hand to help us work through data center types, their defining features, and what happens inside these facilities. We talk about who owns these structures and how their geography informs the way the internet works.

From This Episode:

• What is the Internet?
• What is a Transport Network?
• Episode 508 | How Geography Influences Network Security
• Episode 410 | A Telecom Year in Review, Part 1
• Episode 402 | Data Centers and the Opportunity at the Edge
• Episode 308 | Data Centers and Digital Transformation
• Where in the World Is the Largest Data Center Hub?
• Does 70% of the World’s Internet Traffic Flow Through Virginia?