A Desk-Area Network (DAN) is a small local system in which devices, such as multimedia devices, are taken out of the workstation and connected directly to the network. Workstations access these devices over the network and coordinate the movement of information streams among the different parts of the system.
This architecture presents several advantages over the traditional workstation-centric ones including the ability to easily share network-based devices, to access non-local devices, and to relieve the workstation of a portion of the I/O work.
With the advent of such small networks, it is possible to rethink the ways certain issues are addressed in these small networks.
This dissertation will study the advantages and limitations of the DAN, a small workstation-owned network. Key issues to be explored include the boundary of trust within the network, seamless interfaces to LAN/WANs, and requirements placed upon the host interfaces.
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