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LANs (Local Area Networks) have many adavantages. LANs allow all the workstations (computers attached to the network) to share a single internet connection. A single workstation can also access the disk drives of other workstations to store or retrieve data. All of the workstations can also share the resources of the network such as: printers, scanners, etc.).
No matter how many workstations and devices are part of a LAN they will all require a NIC (Network Interface Card). A NIC is a circuit board that has a plug for the cable that the newtork uses to connect computers. A single cable can connect two computers, if any more computers are to be connected it will require a hub. A hub is a device which holds ports for connecting multiple workstations.
Workstations used to require special network operating systems (NOS) to function on a network, such as the popular Novell NetWare. Today, however, modern operating systems have network functionality built into it. There are also special licenses for software applications used over a network.