Scenario for Networking - Essay Example

?Computer Networks Grade 27.02 Scenario for Networking Assignment: Networking report Aim The main aim of this report will be to give detailed explanations of a LAN (Local Area Network) and WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) to Sally and the requirements needed toestablish either. It will also give explain the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of networks explaining further how the establishment of a network will be beneficial to theprivate photography business owned by her husband John. Introduction a. Abstract John, an early retired engineer is now a self-employed wildlife photographer and Sally his wife takes the orders for the photos from his husband. The orders come through e-mails, post and telephone. The couple who are in their 50s and reside in Norfolk have basic knowledge about computers. For instance John has a powerful computer for image processing which is attached to a high quality image scanner alongside a colour printer.Sally on the other hand has a standard PC with a monochrome laser printer attached to it. She is conversant with programs such as Access and Excel. However the shortcomings in the business emerge when Sally needs to use the internet and is forced to use John’s computer or when Peter their son who works and lives in Cambridge as an accountant, and visits once a month and helps his parents with the ‘books’, annual tax returns and accountancy has to copy Sally’s data to a memory stick. Hence, she saw it necessary to establish a network so that they would be able to share data and the internet without creating inconveniences.. b. Problem definition The limitation of having only one computer connected to the internet, and having to displace each other from their workplaces, while trying to access resources or data that can be easily shared in a network is a good reason enough to have a local area network. The main problem is the fact that the company is expanding due to its popularity hence the resources that are currently being used by the members (John, Sally and Peter) will increase in demand (Stallings, 1990). Conclusion With the continuous expansion of the company there will be more need for Sally to use the internet as she may need to refer and search for more things from the internet. The expansion and popularity means that the frequency of copying data from Sally’s computer will increase. This might prove inconvenient for Sally as she will be interrupted more frequently. It will also be inconvenient for John since he too will be interrupted more frequently by Sally who will be in need of the internet more often. So in conclusion the business needs a network as Sally had suggested. Recommendations A network is an inter connection of different computers through data cables, fibre optic cables and/or wireless communication for the purposes of sharing data, information and resources such as printers, scanners. There are also different architectures through which the network can be established: 1. Peer to peer: all the computers have similar processing capabilities and do not depend on one computer for processing. This is cheaper than the client server architecture but less efficient (Bicsi, 2002). It is suitable for a small network that does not require a lot of processing. The peer computers are not affected by the instability of any computer hence not prone to total network failure (Zimmermann, 2000). 2. Client – server model: in this architecture one of the computers in the network becomes the server meaning that this is where the hard drives are stored and practically “serve” the client (the rest of the computers) which send requests to access a file or resource. The productivity in this architecture is more efficient since the server is a high scale machine whereas the rest of the computers just send and receive requests. It is more expensive than the peer to peer architecture (Berson, 1996). It is important to know that networks have several advantages and disadvantages. They are follows: Advantages File Sharing: by using the network files, data can be shared. This will ensure that nobody’s work will be disrupted and neither will anyone have to leave their individual computer to access anything in somebody else’s computer. This will cater for Peter since he can access the data on Sally’s computer as long as it has been shared to be viewed on the internet. This is a procedure known as remote file access (Kershenbaum, 1993). Resource Sharing: Resources such as the internet and printers can be shared by mode of the network. Sally will be catered for by having access to the internet on her own computer. Instead of using the monochrome laser printer Sally can use John’s colour printer through the network hence, ensuring that her print outs are also colourful. This will be profitable to the business since the resources and capital that was input into the two printers will now be utilised on one printer (Gen and Cheng, 2000). More Storage Capacity: when the computers are all standalones, their storage memory could fall short. In this case the memory of the computers can be combined or accessed for storage purposes (Tanenbaum, 1992). Disadvantages Server Failure: in the case of the failure of the server computer, there is a probability that that the entire network will go down since the server is the one that manages the entire network. Computer viruses: in a network viruses are likely to spread faster than when the computers are all stand alone. This is because the computers will be connected and because the different users can access the different computers they might copy viruses in the process to their own computers or even spread them to other computers in the network. In this case Peter’s, John’s and Sally’s computers could all get viruses simultaneously (Gray, and Reuter, 1993). Expensive to install: it will be costly to set up the network at first because of the equipment that will be needed in order to establish the network (Stamper, 1993). These include; data cables, routers, switches, and in the case of a wireless network; antennas, transceivers etc. Local Area Network (LAN) A local area network can be achieved by establishing two types of networks: 1. Wired network – uses different types of cables and has components such as hub/switch/router/bridge which act as intermediaries between the different computers hence enabling the transmission of data and information to the target computer and also preventing the information from being received by the wrong node (computer). Sometimes it is simply referred to as Local Area Network (LAN). 2. Wireless network- uses transmitters to relay signals. The receiving node (computer) must have a receiver through which the signals will be accepted into the computer. This is also sometimes referred to as Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) (Lerner, 2000). A. Local area network This is an inter connection of computers within a small geographical area such as a building, school, office for the purposes of communication, sharing resources and files. A LAN consists of different topologies which refer to the arrangement of computers in relation to each other. Diagrams will be used to illustrate how the different computers in the business will be arranged if these topologies were to be applied. Topologies are categorised into 2 main logical topologies: 1. Ethernet i) Star topology The computers are all connected to a central switch/hub. All signals from any node passes through the central hub. This switch sometimes amplifies the signal. It is the simplest topology to make. A major advantage is how simple it is to add another node. The major disadvantage is the fact that if the hub is damaged, the entire network is damaged too. The biggest advantage of star topology is that if one of the systems goes down, it does not affect the rest of the nodes, hence they remain stable. It is the most commonly used technology today. Advantages Disadvantages installation is easy Costs are usually higher than with bus or ring networks adding a new device/node to the network is easy Failure of the central device means failure of the entire network the breakdown of one node does not affect the rest of the network   it is very easy to troubleshoot   it is the most commonly used network   the management is centralized   ii) Bus topology In this topology all of the systems are connected in a line. The systems are tied to each other and terminated on each end. The topology was used earlier in the days of networking since it was cheap to use and quite easy to install. When a data packet/message is sent in this topology, there is no mode of determining where the data packet should go. Due to this, every packet sent in a bus topology is accepted by all the nodes on the network. Most of the times, if the message is not meant for a particular node, the computer simply disregard the data packet. The security implication in this type of network means that if a malicious user was on the network and used a packet capture software, he could access each and every conversation that has occurred between the nodes. Advantages Disadvantages installation is easy the technology used is out of date has low installation costs If a cable breaks, whole network breaks down adding a new device/node to the network is easy it is difficult to troubleshoot Efficient for a small network it can’t be used in a large network 2. Token ring iii) Ring topology This topology is different from all the other topologies since it uses the logical token ring topology whereby a token (message carrier) is the mode of communication. Each computer is connected to the adjacent computer leading to the formation of a ring. The message is relayed by the use of the virtual message carrier called a token ring since there doesn’t exist a message distributor such as a hub/switch to direct the message to the target computer. This token ring is packed with the message and the address of the computer where the message will be taken. It is then passed from one computer to another. If the receiving computer of the token ring does not have a similar address as the one stored in the token ring, it is passed on the next computer. This is repeated until it gets to the recipient computer.When the recipient computer receives the message, the token ring is unpacked hence it is free to be used by any other computer that needs to send a message. If a computer needs to send a message and receive the token ring with a packed message for another computer, it waits until the token ring is unpacked so that it can send the message. Advantages Disadvantages Easy to install the technology used is out of date has low installation costs If a cable breaks, whole network breaks down it is easy to add a new systems to network it can’t be used in a large network Efficient for a small network it is difficult to troubleshoot Star topology Ring topology Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) A wireless LAN is a network that links more than one computer without the use of data cables. In most of the offices today, computers communicate by the use of data cables. These cables are also used to connect to printers and other devices. Wireless LAN allows users to use their computers in any place within the area covered by the network, for example an office building or even a home. The computers can be able to access information that is stored in the other computers that are in the office (Davie and Rekhter, 2000). The wireless network works by connecting the computers using radio frequency energy. It is a hybrid system that uses both wired and wireless transmission. It employs the use of antenna which is a small device just a few inches in size, almost unnoticeable outside the computer. The power consumed is very low. Advantages of Wireless LAN • Flexibility: as long as the nodes are within radio coverage, they can communicate without any restriction. These radio waves can even be transmitted through walls. • Planning: in order to set up a wireless network, one does not need to plan. As long as one has the equipment needed to set up the network, the network can be established. • Robustness: these networks can are not prone to damage or interruption in case of disasters as long as the wireless devices have survived people can still use them to communicate. Disadvantages of Wireless LAN Safety and security: using the radio waves for communication, transmitting data could interfere with some high technology equipment. LANs can only cover a limited geographical area. Expansion would be more expensive Equipment that will be needed Data cables to interconnect the computers in the wired networks. These cables include unshielded twisted pair, shielded twisted pair, coaxial cables, fibre optic cable. Routers, hub, switches for the star topology. Networking software such as Windows NT, Linux OS or any of the windows operating systems that have networking capabilities. Internet connection Sally’s computer will be able to access the internet as long as it is shared from John’s computer. An alternative for her and John to be able to access the internet at a faster rate and cheaper mode is by contacting an ISP (Internet service provider), which is an organisation that provides internet services at a fee (Rosenblatt and Shelly, 2011). Either way that she chooses to access the internet she will have to install an IP (Internet Protocol). A protocol is a rule/measure that governs the communication between different computers. The network shall be a private network hence she will need to install private IPs. A Private IP gets rid of the need for an antiquated frame relay network, and facilitates a more efficient point to point network (FitzGerald and Dennis, 2008). Due to this the service provider is able to offer a private extranet to the customer at a more affordable price. Peter’s laptop Unfortunately for Peter, he can’t use the network while in Norwich but can access it via the internet if he has internet connections at his place of work/residence (Jablonski, 2000). Company website Sally can create the company’s website which will be very efficient for them since orders, receipts and even payments can be made through it. However Sally will need to learn web design languages such as html and dream weaver. Security There will be a need to observe and install security in the network since once it becomes connected to the internet it will be prone to hackers (online criminals). She should install firewalls and powerful anti-viruses since they can also be used in form of spy wares to spy on their business accounts and proceedings (Bass et al., 2003). Since Peter will be working away from home the business can be attacked by an ID thief who might pose as Peter and access the business files and may even jeopardise it. In order to counter this threat, the network will need to have passwords and security questions (questions that a user trying to access an account is asked in order to provide proof that he/she is not an imposter). References Bass, L., Clements, P and Kazman, R. (2003). Software architecture in practice. Boston, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Professional. Berson, A. (1996). Client/server architecture. New Jersey: McGraw-Hill. Bicsi, B. (2002). Network Design Basics for Cabling Professionals. New Jersey: McGraw- Hill Professional Davie, B. and Rekhter, Y. (2000). MPLS Technology and Applications. SanDiego, CA: Morgan Kaufmann. FitzGerald, J. and Dennis, A. (2008). Business Data Communications and Networking. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Gen, M. and Cheng, R. (2000). Genetic Algorithms and Engineering Optimization. New York: Wiley. Gray, J., and Reuter, A. (1993). Transaction Processing: Concepts and Techniques, San Mateo: Morgan Kaufmann Publisher. Jablonski, S. (2000). Transaction Support for Activity Management, Proc. Workshop on High Performance Transaction Processing Systems, Asilomar: CA. Kershenbaum, A. (1993). Telecommunicurions Network Design Algorithms. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lerner, M. (2000). Middleware networks: concept, design, and deployment of Internet infrastructure Volume 18 of Kluwer international series on advances in database systems. New York: Springer. Rosenblatt, J. and Shelly, G. (2011). Systems Analysis and Design, Gale: Cengage Learning. Tanenbaum, A. (1992). Modern Operating Systems, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs. Stamper, D. (1993) Local Area Networks, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Stallings, W. (1990), Handbook of Computer Communications Standards, Volumes I and II, Carmel: Howard Sams and Company. Zimmermann, H. (2000). “OSI reference model - the ISO model of architecture for open systems interconnection”. IEEE Trans Commun; 28:425-32. Read More