Operating Systems and Networking - Coursework Example

? OPERATING SYSTEMS AND NETWORKING A: Network Design Solution for XYZ College Background and requirements Background Description XYZ College was established in the year 2000 with only 40 staff members and about 500 students. The college had only one campus in North London and specialised in Finance studies. The student population grew rapidly over the first five years necessitating the opening of another campus in West London in 2005. Number of dies staff members rose to over 100. In 2007, the college diversified its products by introducing legal studies as they opened a third campus in East London. In 2009, XYZ College launched its Open and Distance learning services to 5 study centres to cater for its student fraternity outside London. Currently, the college specialises in finance and law, has 3 campuses in Greater London and 5 study centres outside of London and has more than 200 staff members (including administration and academic staff) and over 2000 students in total across the country. The nature of business in the three campuses is the same. There are administration offices, lecture halls, a library, and a computer lab. There are several designated Wi-Fi hotspots for students with laptops. At each of the five study centres, there is an office, a small library, a computer lab, Wi-Fi hotspot, and several rooms that serve as reading areas for students and also as exam centres. XYZ College faces competition from similar colleges in London that offer courses in law and finance such London Business School, King’s College London, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Imperial College London amongst others. Requirement Analysis Keshav (2009) urges that networking involves providing a way of transmitting information from one point to another and providing a mechanism to share available resources. As networks are improved, there two things that change: The speeds of data transmission increases as current network technology is improved and as new technologies are invented in an organisation. New services and products take advantage of the improved network performance andprovide users in the organisation with exciting new applications. The new network design will bring the benefit to improve competitiveness of XYZ College in the following ways: There will be better utilisation of available resources such as printers whereby one central printer will serve the entire department instead of duplicating them in every office. The logical grouping/subnetting of the overall network into smaller networks will optimize its efficiency and availability. This will result to high speeds of data transmission enabling all users to achieve more. It will enable XYZ College to implement new products for its clients. For example the network will have the quality of service required to stream lectures from the main campus and offer video conferencing sessions to students at the study centres. The realisation of this new network will require the following: Hardware: these are the physical devices that will act as nodes in the internetworking. These include: i) Computers - the college already has enough of them. Majority of students also come along with their laptops. ii) Servers – they will provide client stations with access to files, printers, and other shared resources in the network iii) Routers – they will forward data packets between computer networks iv) Switches - determine if data packets should remain on a LAN and transfer them only to the connection that needs them v) VoIP phones – for making calls over the internet vi) Wireless Access Points – for providing wireless signal in Wi-Fi hotspots vii) Printers – they will be one of the shared resources Software: These are the applications that will be running on the hardware to make the network accessible and usable to the users. They include: i) Operating systems e.g. Windows XP, Vista, 7; Linux; Mac ii) Browsers – for browsing the internet e.g. Chrome, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer iii) Video conferencing software e.g. Skype, TokBox Video Conference, ooVoo, MegaMeeting, SightSpeede.t.c. Connection: These are the media used to connect the nodes. They include: i) Cooper cables – these include UTPs that will be used to link devices within the LAN ii) Fibre optic – this will link the LAN to the backbone network of the ISP iii) Electromagnetic radiations – these will produce the wireless signal Network Architecture and Design Network Model The network will be based on the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The logical divisions/subnets are based on geographic locations. In the diagram, the different subnets have been highlighted using a circular border. Logical View This shows the flow of data – maps of devices on the network and the kind of communication between them. The communication within the LANs is based on Ethernet technology (first come first serve) while gateways have a point-to-point communication with ISP routers. Physical view This refers to the configuration of the networking cables, computers, and the other peripherals. Copper UTP cables will be used to connect devices and peripherals within the LANs. Routers will connect to the Backbone network of the ISP using fibre optic cables. Network Components Network Connections UTP category 5e cables will be used within the LANs for work area connections and horizontal wiring. Advantages of using UTP cables a) They are relatively cheaper than STP cables b) They deliver satisfactory speed of up to 1000 Mbps c) Cheaper to implement in the sense that most buildings are already wired with UTP and many transmission standards are adapted to use it Disadvantages using UTP cables a) They can only have a maximum length of 100m. This will require repeaters to be used to exceed this limit. Fiber optic cables will be used to connect the LANs to the Wide Area Network of the ISPs. Advantages of using fiber optics on this portion of the network a) High capacity, throughput, and speed – up to 10gbps b) It carries data over long distances before requiring a repeater c) Does not carry electrical signal and is therefore immune to electromagnetic interference d) Highly secure because it does not emit any external signal Disadvantages a) It is more difficult to install compared to other cables b) More expensive than copper cables Finally, Electromagnetic waves will be transmitted on the designated Wi-Fi hotspots for laptop users. This mode of transmission has the following advantages: a) Easy to deploy b) It will be convenient for the users (students) because they can move around with their laptops c) It will offer connectivity to the internet even on isolated areas d) Will be suitable in areas where cabling may not be possible or is too expensive There are also disadvantages which include a) Prone to interference b) Signal weakens as more user connect to the network c) Signal weakens when user moves away from the access point d) Have a limited coverage area Networking Components Three networking devices have been used: a) Routers – they have been placed at the points where the LANs connect to the internet. They route packets from one network to another. They also regenerate signals, merge multiple connections, and manage data transfers. b) Switches – they have been used inside the LANs. They offer connectivity points of an Ethernet network.Devices connect to switches using the twisted-pair cabling, one port for eachdevice. They forward packets only to the port thatconnects to the destination device unlike hubs which broadcast to all hosts. c) Wireless routers –they are installed in Wi-Fi hotspots. They link wireless networks to the wired Ethernet. They also act as access points for wireless clients B: Critical Analysis and Reflections Critical Analysis and Reflections The biggest strength on the design of the proposed network is the logical geographic demarcations. It will be easy to expand the network and accommodate future enhancements. They will ensure high availability and speeds due to efficient management of broadcast domains. Users will therefore meet their job requirements with satisfaction. However, the network will have sort of a distributed architecture. This will make network management, control, and monitoring difficult. This problem may worsen as the network scales up. Finally, I am happy to have learnt the goals of good designs (functionality, scalability, adaptability, and manageability). I have also learnt how to efficiently design and implement an IP network through subnetting. I have also learnt that networking is a very interesting field in the sense that current technologies are continuously being improved and new ones being invented with the goal of achieving highly efficient and flexible networks. Reference Keshav, S., 2009. Mathematical Foundations of Computer Networking. Waterloo: University of Waterloo. Martin, T., n.d. Design Principles for DSL-Based Access Solutions. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.gsi.dit.upm.es/~legf/Varios/XDSL_MARTI.PDF" http://www.gsi.dit.upm.es/~legf/Varios/XDSL_MARTI.PDF [Accessed 22 April 2012]. Network Design Strategies, 2010. Planning a Logical Network Design. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK " http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=485649" http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=485649 [Accessed 22 April 2012]. Wolfe, M., 2007. Broadband videoconferencing as knowledge management tool. Journal of Knowledge Management, 11(2). Read More