Living in a Network-Centric World - Case Study Example

Living in a Network-Centric World The world has become a global village due to the introduction of data networks, especially the Internet. There are numerous advancements in the computers and data networks and their impact on the communication, which are the outcomes of solid state technology and the advent of the large-scale integration (Bertsekas & Gallager, 1992). The major breakthrough in data networks is the emergence of “internet”. The internet benefits can be seen in the human daily life routine, where people are connected in different ways, such as emails. Such electronic mails are of high importance and the websites, due to which the concept of e-business has emerged. Nowadays, many companies have their own websites for all of their operations, such as eBay.com, Amazon.com, or they advertise their products and services through many other sites, for instance google.com. Thus, it has impacted the social life of people through easy communication (Bargh & McKenna, 2004). The Internet has altered the ways of society, business, politics and personal relationships. It has provided an instant kind of communications where people are able to connect to global societies and communities (Clark, 2003). Such global level of communication is being used in enhancing the productivity and efficiency in business operations with a quick exchange of information. Business operations are facilitated by lowering the costs, up-to-date information regarding any emergency and mistakes, and online training and development for employees. The internet has brought many resources, which range from cooking recipes to weather forecasts (Dye & Reid, 2014). Networks are also supporting the education system which is much advanced with networking. For this reason, the trend of online education, or e-learning is much developed nowadays, where the study material is transmitted through networks and students get regular consultancies, assessments of their assignment and feedback It has enhanced the students’ learning experiences and exposure to large information bases (Boling, et al., 2014). In addition to these, it has developed the working environments and efficiency through automated operations and enhanced collaboration of the business vendors, employees, customers etc. This collaboration is not only limited to the information exchanges but many softwares are developed, which are used online and benefit the organizations with automatic data update by integrating all the processes over the horizon (MacDonald & Smith, 2003). Moreover, it has defined new ways of entertainment, such as online gaming, trips and travel guides etc. Figure 1: Internet Application in Business Operations. Source: (Treese & Stewart, 2002) It is important to know the network architectures to get the idea of how this has happened. Network architecture is the design of the network, which is made up of network components. There are three network components, such as devices, services, and media, which are connected to each other through rules that are known as protocols for communication. The hardware components among these are the devices and media, which are the physical parts, such as laptop, switch, PC, wireless access point, router, and the wiring used for the linking the devices. The services component is basically a communication system, which is known as software, occurred through connected devices (Halsall, 2008, p. 249). The network service functions in a way that it sends messages when a request is made. There are a number of examples of these services which are used by all people on a routine basis, such as web hosting services and email hosting services. These messages are directed and moved throughout the network by the processes, which are not commonly noticeable and are crucial for working of networks. Figure 2: Communication over network. Source: (Dye & Reid, 2014) Network architecture can be different in terms of different number of users being connected, the size of the area and the services range available in any network. On this basis, the network is typified in to two main categories, LAN and WAN (Dye & Reid, 2014) Local area network is such a networking architecture that extents a small geographic area and a small number of users, such as for a single school, individual, organization, office, home. In this architecture, the security is high, where access to information is given to only some members and managed by a single service provider. Wide area network extends to the wider-ranging geographical area, such as countries, states and cities. Its basically the interconnection of many LANs among different states and managed by many service providers. But the worldwide network, which is the most prevalent now a days, is the “Internet” (Dye & Reid, 2014). Figure 3: The Network Architecture of three types, LAN, WAN, Internet. Source: (Dye & Reid, 2014) An internet is known as “network of networks”, as it transfers messages amongst a wide range of networks. As there are so different kinds of network types involved in the internet, so there are many service providers who administer the system. It uses Internet Protocols for delivering the messages. Internet necessitates the employment of reliable and generally accepted technologies, standards and collaboration with network organizations for its management. This leads towards the most efficient and effective collaboration, even among so many varied networks (Halsall, 2008, p. 434). Figure 4: Internet Architecture. Source: (Dye & Reid, 2014) Among these networks, there is development of such technologies, which has enabled the alliance of all these networks on a single podium that is known as the converged network. These networks are different from the previously discussed networks, which send messages from the multiple channels and different technologies. On the other hand, the converged networks can deliver the messages, voice or video streams, and pictures to different users but with same communication channel and network arrangement. In these networks, there are many other techniques and methods, which allow users to interact easily and immediately (Dye & Reid, 2014). Figure 5 Difference between the multiple and converged networks. Source: (Dye & Reid, 2014) There are some requirements of the network architecture, which are important to meet the user expectations. Firstly, it is important to consider that how quickly any error or failure can be recuperated, so, “Fault Tolerance” is used for quick improvement, which limit this effect. For this purpose, the Packet Switched Connectionless Network can be used (Dye, et al., 2011). Figure 6 The Packet Switched Connectionless Network for fault tolerance. Source: (Dye, et al., 2011) Secondly, “Scalability” is also a requirement which can multiply rapidly for supporting new users or requests without affecting the performance of already existing services provided to the older users (Dye & Reid, 2014). For that purpose, following architecture is used known as the Scalable architecture. Figure 7: Scalable network architecture. Source: (Dye, et al., 2011) Thirdly, with more advancements in the communications, such as voice and live video communications, it has become a high requirement for good and steady quality levels, which is known as “Service of Quality”, with the continuous delivery, following figure shows the quality architecture (MacDonald & Smith, 2003). Figure 8: Service of Quality Network Architecture. Source: (Dye, et al., 2011) Fourthly, the “Security” and privacy concerns by the users, especially for the business users are, now a days, major requirement. The security issue is more prevailing because there is a need for transference of the private and confidential information that is critical to the organizations. This has led to the exceeding expectations from users to the service providers for building such architectures promoting the security (Zahariadis, et al., 2011). For including these requirements, there are more advancements in the network architecture, but security remains the issue still. This development and advancement in technology and networks has made people’s lives more connected and easier. Business have developed across the borders due to more collaboration between the operations in different countries and quick communication with all of the subsidiaries of a company. So, living in a network centered world, though, there are many issues regarding the security and privacy, but it poses so many benefits to the whole world. References Bargh, J. A. & McKenna, K. Y., 2004. The Internet and Social Life. Annual Review of Psychology, 55(1), pp. 1-23. Bertsekas, D. & Gallager, R., 1992. Data Networks. 2nd ed. New Jersey: PRENTICE HALL. Boling, E. C. et al., 2014. Using Online Tools for Communication and Collaboration: Understanding Educators’ Experiences in an Online Course. The Internet and Higher Education, 23(1), pp. 1-10. Clark, M. P., 2003. Data Networks, IP and the Internet: Protocols, Design and Operation. 1st ed. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Dye, M. A., McDonald, R. & Ruf, A. W., 2011. Network fundamentals: CCNA exploration companion guide. 1st ed. Indianapolis: Cisco Press. Dye, M. A. & Reid, A. D., 2014. Introduction to Networks: Cisco Networking Academy. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Cisco Press. Halsall, F., 2008. Data Communications, Computer Networks, and Open Systems. 3rd ed. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. MacDonald, J. & Smith, K., 2003. The effects of technology-mediated communicationon industrial buyer behavior. Industrial Marketing Management, 33(1), pp. 107-116. Treese, G. W. & Stewart, L. C., 2002. Designing Systems for Internet Commerce. 2nd ed. s.l.:Addison-Wesley Professional. Zahariadis, T., Papadimitriou, D., Tschofenig, H. & Haller, S., 2011. Towards a Future Internet Architecture. Future Internet Assembly, p. 7–18. Read More