Local Area Networking Technology - Primary School - Coursework Example

By Number Contents Contents 2 Local Area Networking Technology- Primary School 3 Abstract 3 5.0Bibliography 25 Local Area Networking Technology- Primary School Abstract Local Area Networking technologies utilizes the concept of Local Area Network (LAN), which refers to the data communication network that connects computers, terminals, and printers in a building or within geographically limited areas. Wireless links or wired cables could be used to connect devices within a LAN. Examples of LAN technologies include Token Ring, Ethernet, and Wireless LAN through IEEE 802.11. This paper looks into the Local Area Technologies with regard to a primary school setting. In this regard, a specific networking technology is utilized to give a clear insight into the best way of having the primary school’s networking devices connected in the most effective way possible. 1.0 Task 1 1.1 Data Security and Filtering using DiffServ Domain In the primary school being analysed in this case, there is the need to keep the communications of pupils separate from that of the staff members. This would be possible with the use of a DiffServ domain, which entails a group of routers for implementing common DiffServ policies that are administratively defined. To do this, it is important to start by analysing the traffic flow of the LAN in the primary school. The general definition of network analysis is the calculation of the amount of data sent or received over a network within a given period of time. In this regard, it would be possible to control the amount of data used by each category of users. The network traffic in this case would be subjected to both classification and conditioning. It would be done by involving various parameters like source address, the destination address, traffic type, as well as specific traffic class. The traffic classification would be based on DiffServ markings in the received packets. It would be possible to ignore or override the markings. Essentially, the significance of analysing the traffic flow is to determine the bandwidth usage on the LAN network while conducting objective data analysis with the aim of performance tuning, volumetric planning and updating the hardware in use. The traffic flow analysis is performed using analysis software. All the data sent over a given network forms a fraction of data traffic regardless of the source and the purpose it performs (Wong, & Yeung, 2009, p.122). Survey over the set-up of the primary school will allow decision making on the port densities as well as the rate of switch forwarding, hence reaping maximum results. Traffic analysis tools will be highly essential in projecting the trend of data flow over LAN network in order to determine the content accessible to the school pupils and what should not be accessed. The best way of initiating this distinction is to employ an IP address that is fully visible to the primary school management. In this regard, each student or teacher accessing the website for the first time will collect the IP address of the server as well as the service port number (PEARL SOFTWARE, 2014). The Solar winds Orion 8.2 can be effective and suitable in this project since it monitors the rate of traffic flow, recording and presenting the results through charts. This development will facilitate easier interpretation, hence initiating best solution in terms of determining what content the pupils can access as compared to the staff members. Fig. 1 provides an image presentation of the traffic flow analysis. Fig.1: Traffic Flow Analysis 1.2 Traffic engineering for Enabling Wi-Fi Connection Through the primary school LAN, android tablets would be in a position to connect to the internet. Each tablet will be able to connect to the wireless network via an access point (AP) in order to establish a perfect connection to the fixed server, which would be providing the application. In this regard, the system architect will establish an estimate of the number of tablets (terminals) that would be supported by the AP’s in the primary school LAN. The number of supported tablets and computers would depend on the application type, stability factor of the network, and effects associated with hidden terminals. Thus, each tablet should be able to connect to the internet from any class within the school boundaries. Since each tablet will have Wi-Fi capabilities, there will be no need for wired networking capabilities. With the use of the traffic engineering technology, the tablets will be able to receive video streaming material for foreign language lessons. Traffic Engineering is an aspect of networking that entails optimizing the performance of the computers through capacity utilization. In this regard, overutilization on the pupils’ capacities over other capacities would be reduced. The traffic engineering technology will cover measurement, management of the design, modelling, and management, as well as the control of different applications within the network. In LAN networking for the primary school, each unit will be routed independently. The decision to link one LAN packet to the next will be reached depending on the immediate server and the purpose over that network (Tan, 2008, p.611). As a result, cost function will account for many factors such as delay and congestion in network transmission. Integration and simulation procedures will be applied in mounting one layer protocol over the other. Alternatively, continuous routing will be considered suitable to dynamic configuration between Layer protocols. This will ensure that overloads situations are controlled for effective and efficiency transfer of network to each Wi-Fi enable device within the primary school. In this case of the primary school, network elements such as switches and links will be maintained in a dynamic spanning tree-network in order to prevent breakdown of communications in case of any performance failure of the individual computers and servers. LAN technology will enable traffic engineering by leveraging all the applied technology to result into a balanced coordination and switching paths. LAN modulation technique will be applied to select the associated tags for this purpose. LAN technology will also incorporate SNMP interfaces for all the equipment’s required for this project. SNMP will guarantee reconfiguration of the networks without creating communication breakdowns. VLAN tag will be incorporated to select switching path to be followed any unit of end-host, hence simultaneously identifying corresponding tags in the pair of circuits. Failure resiliency is also addressed in LAN technology through selection of VLAN circuit labels. SNMP mechanism is suited for excellent recovery of the stored information in case of failure. Backup paths are node disjointed with id links in order to trace the alternative for recovery of data in case of network failure or power loss (Gratton, 2013, p.221). VLAN circuits will enable the technicians to apply the data transfer knowledge to develop a mechanism of backplane processing. This process will ensure that future failures will be recovered without tremendous time spanning or delay. In addition, topology smart bridge architecture will be essential in developing logical network switches. This methodology supplements short path switching that develops low latency way to achieve load balancing. Consequently, reconfiguration time is 12-22 ms. This aspect improves the performance of LAN technology. Address link to difference resources will be attained through IEEE 804 ID. Multi-protocol label Switching approach (MPLS) creates a reliable routing, switching, labelling, and simultaneous switching. MPLS provides a concrete switching potential to map addresses o access different information over the entire system. Integration of VLAN in MLPS creates a superior capacity to fault tolerance enabling rapid convergence and simulation of algorithms within the LAN system. 1.3 Standard Wireless Protected Setup for Secure Communication Generally, the connection within the primary school LAN has to be secure. The security in this case will be enhanced through the LAN based Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) technology. This technology entails a security standard which tries to allow users to securely access the wireless network. All the access points should however be able to guard against possible attacks for the technology to work. The WPS protocol will define all the devices in the primary school network. One of such types of devices is the registrar, which would entail all devices having the authority to issue credentials and revoke them to the network. This would be integrated into the AP or it could be provided as a completely separate device. Another type would be the enrollee, which would entail all devices seeking to gain access to the primary school LAN network. In addition to these devices, an AP will be used to function as the proxy between the registrar devices and the enrollee. This technology will generally allow the existence of various computer networks on the primary school LAN system. The concept of inter-VLAN routing will also be applied with regard to this technology. In this regard, it will be possible to allow host belonging to different VLANs on the primary school LAN to communicate with one another safely. The technology will be useful in reducing broadcast domains as well as increasing the network performance and its efficiency. The technology aspect will also ensure the centralization of security access control especially between the pupils and staff, who will be using different VLANs. In this case, there will be increased manageability of the LAN through the creation of smaller domains for trouble shooting, in which the impact of one faulty network interface card will be isolated to any of the two main VLANs instead of the entire primary school network. Nevertheless, ultimate care will be observed to see that the inter-routing aspect of LAN technology does not affect the network performance. This technology will be initiated as a spanning tree of protocols that will allow timely communication between network nodes. The project will cover top down approach that assumes spanning tree to link computers to the server or central computer. To maximize the productivity of this system, switch commands are selected at run time in order to accommodate all the links submitted. Moreover, the approach will facilitate inclusive utilization of network thus ensuring that any loop in the network line is aggregated for more security reasons. Such a constrained system will ensure that data packets are switched along the corresponding networks. Therefore the bottom up approach will work effectively in connecting primary school computers in classrooms, staffrooms and computer labs with network security enabled. 2.0 Task 2 2.1 Cable and Wireless Distribution System as Appropriate LAN Infrastructure With respect to the material described in Part 1, Cable Distribution System will be an appropriate LAN infrastructure for the primary school specifically for linking personal computers within the primary school within staff offices and computer labs. On the other hand, designing the infrastructure system will have to consider that the Android tablets cannot utilized cables for connectivity. Thus, wireless distribution system will also be incorporated in the distribution system infrastructure. The mainstay to the cable distribution system will be based on: current usability, ICT media opportunity, cable routing, interaction between cables, communication in the cabinet’s layouts, ceiling for cable security, as well as raised floors. The network cables in this regard will be routed in pathways. A cable management system will be applied to support cables in their appropriate positions and location in the ducts, trays, and conduits. In our case, optical cabling system will be efficient in order to minimize transmission challenges created by the potential differences between the lightening striking the building and the buildings. The power lines will requires protection against lightening since it may induce charges to link with the earth’s pd. Barrier boxes will be most suitable to cover this gap. Still, the coupling effect can be protected using differently coloured cables. For the wireless distribution system, the ability of the devices to support the wireless connectivity will be considered. The wireless distribution system will enable the connection the tablets. All the wireless devices will be configured to make use of the same network channel. This distribution system will be in a position of accepting clients simultaneously. Fig. 1: Structure of the School Buildings From Fig.1 above, the distribution system/infrastructure will cover computer rooms, classrooms, staffrooms, and all the specialist rooms in the entire vicinity. In addition, mobile solutions will be shown in the Resource room. Computers will be connected to the LAN through cables while a wireless technology will be used for the tablets. Fig. 3: Representation of a Primary School Network Model From Fig.3, the entire connectivity to the system is redirected to the central network. The system has ability to provide the server with internet services to connect to the printers, produce files, and other external devices including pupils’ tablets. This system will be made efficient to produce the sufficient services to the client by deploying modem or a router. A dedicated server will be provided to the connection in order to facilitate internet filtering, proxy caching and web caching (Erikson & Markuson, 2007, p. 21). 2.2 Products for the Cable Distribution and Wireless Distribution Infrastructure Devices/Systems Various products are applicable for the Cable Distribution and Wireless Distribution Infrastructures. For the Wireless Distribution System, one of the usable products is the D-Link product. Wireless N300 Access Point as shown in Fig.4. Fig.4: The Wireless N300 Access Point (Source: http://www.zyxel.com/uk/en/products_services/wap3205_v2.shtml?t=p) With this product, some of its key feature include data transfer rate to a maximum of 300 Mbps. It will ensure enhanced wireless signal that enables the stable transmission of data. The UK price for this product to be supplied by DrayTek is currently at £40.50 (Misco UK Limited, 2015). Another product will be AP-900 Managed Wireless Access PointSME as seen in Fig.5. Fig.5: AP-900 Managed Wireless Access PointSME (Misco UK Limited, 2015) The retail price for this product by DrayTek is £110.30. The AP-900 will provide a reliable as well as a flexible internet coverage all wireless devices on the school LAN. It will help with both LAN management and security enhancement (Misco UK Limited, 2015). For the Cable Distribution System, two products that will be utilized are LAN-XI data acquisition hardware and 1-module Wireless LAN Frame-LAN-XI Type 3660A. The LAN-XI data acquisition hardware constitutes a versatile system for acquisition units of modular data, which could be combined in various way to fit the LAN system (Brüel & Kjær, 2015). This product will be supplied by Bruel & Jack at the cost of £ 263. Fig.6: LAN-XI data acquisition hardware The 1-module Wireless LAN Frame-LAN-XI Type 3660A also by Bruel & Jack will be obtained at a cost of £132. It will be used to connect one LAN-XI analysis module as well as a battery module together in order to generate a wireless front-end. Fig.7: The 1-module Wireless LAN Frame-LAN-XI Type 3660A . 3.0 Part 3 3.1 Appropriate IP Address Allocation The network designed should have an appropriate IP address. Given that all the devices may not have an officially assigned address, a specific and acceptable way of allocating addresses to each device should be devised. This will be done without causing conflicts with other networks. The process of devising the IP address will be based on the RFC 1918, which is the official document from which IP addresses are used within non-connected/private networks. Determination of a specific an appropriate IP address will be based on three blocks of numbers that have been designed for the purpose. The blocks from which the IP address will be devised is as shown in table 1 below. Table 1: Three Blocks for Private Address Space 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 The first block is a 24-bit block, while the second and third ones are 20-bit and 16-bit blocks respectively. The first block constitutes on a single class A network numbers. The second block constitutes 16 class B network numbers that are continuous while the third block constitutes 255 class C network numbers that are also continuous. For the primary school network, the specific IP address would be 192.168.110.23. In this regard, a Class-C subnet mask would be used. The use of a correct subnet mask will be critical. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and the Static DHCP will be used to assign IP address to the pupils’ tablet devices. In this case, whenever a tablet connects to the LAN network, but it has no IP address, it will broadcast its Mac Address over the school LAN. After reaching the router, the router will acknowledge the tablet by sending the specified IP address alongside the exact IP information. In the case of static DHCP, the tablets will broadcast their MAC addresses when they are turned on in order to find a router for a unique IP address. In this case, each tablet user may tie a specific MAC address to a given IP address. This will happen as long as the IP address will not change, which will not happen in this regard. 3.2 How Wireless Access via Wi-Fi is Configured in Windows With the aid of screen shots, it is feasible to show the way wireless access via Wi-Fi can be configured in Windows. The focus here will be on security requirements of connecting to the existing wireless LAN for the school with the use of an appropriate encryption technology. In this regard, the first step is to enter a range of IP address for scanning. Then, a static IP address is assigned. From the Start key, control panel, network and sharing centre, to local area connection, the static IP address is set as follow (PEARL SOFTWARE, 2014): The next step is to click on the properties icon then select “Internet Protocol Version” and then click on "properties." The manual setting of IP address could be used to set five values including the Subnet mask, Default gateway, Preferred DNS server, and Alternate DNS server. The system would also allow the option of sending an IP address automatically. The system would reqquire new users to enter the school’s security key as shown below. 3.3 Test for Proper Working LAN It would be good to test whether the Wi-Fi connection has been well established or not. The tests would also inform the users that they can connect to the local server and then to the internet as well as whether they can initiate other processes like printing. Once the Wi-Fi connection is fully established, three tests can be performed to ensure that the LAN is working properly. The tests usually depend on the system’s capabilities. The first test is LAN testing for security, which entails querying for signal strength, accessibility, and Wi-Fi vulnerability. The test would notify users whether they can connect to the local server and to the internet. This test can mainly utilize the Centralized LAN assessment tools to ensure compliance with the rules and regulations governing information system security (Bedell, 2011). The other test involves the troubleshooting of LAN. This test is meant to test for any failures with the LAN network connectivity and provides information regarding when it is not possible to connect. The troubleshooting test also identified the possible problems affecting the connectivity to all devices such computers, printers, and the internet. The user would often be given some suggestions on how to restore the connection (Bedell, 2011). The third test is LAN performance testing. In this case, the use of performance measurement tools would be required to determine the downlink and uplink performance of the LAN. This test would be important in generating client devices for measuring the quality of experience regarding web, voice, and video streaming (Phifer, 2010). Printing would be possible mainly through this test. 4.0 Part 4 Network monitoring is critical for the primary school to ensure that the network keeps on performing correctly. The tool to be considered in this case is the Nagios software. The network monitoring software would be effective in ensuring that the primary school’s network systems, all applications, as well as network services are ever up and smoothly running. The network monitoring software/tool is designed to incorporate features like event handling, alerting, as well as reporting. The tool will utilize the Nagios Core, which is the application’s heart since it encompasses the main monitoring engine as well as the basic web UI (Tabona, 2013). The network monitoring software tool will allow the implementation of plugins to allow the management monitor all the network services, metrics, and applications. Add-ons would also be used to enable data visualization, load distribution, graphs, and the support of MySQL database (Cottrell, 2014). Core, you are able to implement plugins that will allow you to monitor services, applications, and metrics, a chosen frontend as well as add-ons for data visualisation, graphs, load distribution, and MySQL database support, amongst others. The primary school can also make use of this network monitoring tool to benefits from various network management components such as reports, alerts, charts, dashboards, network maps, and scheduled discovery among others. All the network management components to be utilized by the primary school are solely based on standard data process as well as presentation facilities of the management tool (Tabona, 2013). Nagios monitoring software would be as shown in the figure below. Figure: The Nagios Monitoring Software (Tabona, 2013) 4.1 Monitoring and troubleshooting the LAN The Nagios can be used by the primary school network management to monitor and troubleshoot problems on the school LAN. In this regard, it would be effective in capturing, displaying, as well as analysing the LAN’s protocol messaging traffic. It would also capture, display, and analyse other system and application messages in the course of the troubleshooting processes as well as in diagnostic scenarios (Tabona, 2013). It is relatively powerful in capturing and analysing protocol messages, which implies that it would be of great help to the primary school. 4.2 Resolving LAN Issues for Security Improvement, Reliability, and Performance The tool is also essential for the organization to ensure network security, reliability, and performance. The tool’s primary objective would be to troubleshoot the LAN network for possible problems including connectivity, performance, and security threats. The tool in this regard would monitor and figure out any possibilities of new or existing threats. Such threats could be due to new intrusion, especially from unauthorized access. In this case, the tool can detect possible threats and send the right feedback to the LAN administrator (Tibbo Technology, 2015). Regarding the issue of reliability, the Nagios tool would be important since with its ability to analyse various problems that could be affecting the LAN network, the LAN reliability could be established (Tabona, 2013). The LAN would be considered as fully reliable once legible or no problems have been identified. The LAN on the other hand would be considered unreliable if serious problems that include security issues and performance problems are identified, but no possible means of rectifying the problems without adverse effects. With such analysis, the performance of the LAN network would be identified. 4.3 LAN Performance The performance of the primary school LAN is expected to be great. The performance would allow for various connectivity layouts such as media bays. Media bays will be achieved through a connection of 4 to 5 computers. Scanners and printers will be linked to access necessary materials. To facilitate sufficient peripheral systems, the entire connection is networked through the central computer, while ensuring that the internet access is maintained (Tabona, 2013). To stimulate their access and service to the users, these computers should be located within safe public area. They will be utilized by learner to tackle group work activities as well as accommodating individual tasks such as learning and assignments (Huang, T., & Wiseman, 2011, p.216). Both learners and teacher will have internet access without disturbance from intruders or any public disturbances. However, security issues would have to take charge to facilitate control and management to sites that are accessible to the learners as well as preventing misuse of date. Calculated security measures will also ensure that cache files and harmful links to hackers and detrimental software are not accessed. Flexibility would be enhanced whereby learners and teachers would be able to accomplish various activities through computers. For instance, student can prepare assignment and save in the public domain and later access it in another computer. Similarly, teachers can made media presentation from staffroom and remain productive. Work ethics between teachers and learners is stimulated by cooperative utilization of computer networks. Regarding security effectiveness, the security for files, programs and private information will be highly guaranteed using LAN technology as compared to using external hardware devices. Programs as maintained up to date thus ensure that viruses’ infections and hacking threats are eliminated. Changes can be made on the previous data without fear of loss or alteration of the initial meaning and purpose (Scheffknecht, 2000, p. 67). In addition, passwords are established to prevent unauthorized access to the information saved. 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