Pearson Higher Nationals in

Computing
Unit 02: Networking
Assignment 01

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General Guidelines

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 5. Excuses of any nature will not be accepted for failure to hand in the work on
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Student Declaration

I hereby, declare that I know what plagiarism entails, namely to use another’s work
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Date)

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Activity 1
Answers

Discuss the benefits and constraints of different network system types that can
be implemented in the Matara branch

We can use LAN, WAN, VPN, Extranet, Intranet and MAN types to connect Head
office and the Matara branches together. All network types that can be implemented
in the Matara branch are described below;

LAN (Local Area Network)

LAN (Local Area Network) can be used in computers of a limited geographical

range (probably within a building or a house). In order to connect computers and
devices within a particular network LAN users either Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.
This type also has some limitations such as a limited number of a system that can
only be connected, it covering a limited geographical range, and Network
performance degrading as the number of users exceeds. Hence, the LAN network
type can be used to create the network inside the Colombo and Matara branches.

Some of the advantages of LAN network type are described below.

 Resource sharing – Sharing resources such as hard disk drives, DVD drives
and Printers are made accessible in Local Area Networks. For example, any
resources can be connected to a networked computer and shared with the
connected computer whenever help is needed.
 Software sharing – When a single computer with licenced software can be
shared with other network users. You don’t need to purchase an individual
licence for each computer on your network. All can be worked under one
licence.
 Convenient communication – Exchange message and information in a timely
manner. Since the data resides on a LAN server users can access it at any
time. Any single LAN user can do this with anyone else on the network. So
this is not only saves a lot of time but also ensures that our message reaches
the right person.

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  Centralized Data – Any workstation in a particular network can be used to
access this information. Users can access their data by logging into their
respective accounts.
 Internet sharing – Local Area Network has the ability to share the internet
connection among all users of the Local Area network. A computer
connected to the internet shares the internet with all connected computers.
 Computer identification- Each computer on a LAN is assigned a MAC
address for identification purpose. This address is usually used when sending
and receiving data.

WAN (Wide Area Network)

A WAN is a type of network that provides data transmission over a large area. A
WAN is a combination of a Local Area Network (LAN) and a Metropolitan Area
Network (MAN). The transmission of data is carried out with the help of Routers,
Fiber Optics, Switches, and Hubs.

Some of the advantages of this type are described below,

• Cover large geographical area – WAN covers a large geographical area of 1000km
or more if your office is in different cities or countries then you connect your office
branches through WAN.
• Centralized data – There is no need to buy files, backup servers, and e-mails. All
branches can share information through the head office. Support, Backup, and other
useful data are available from the head office and all data is synchronized with all
other office branches.
• High Band – If you get a leased line for your company then it gives high
bandwidth than a normal broadband connection. You can get a transfer rate that can
increase your company’s productivity.
• Sharing of software and resources – Like Local Area Network (LAN) we can share
software applications and other resources like a hard drive, and RAM with other
users on the internet.

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 The disadvantages of the WAN are below.
 The speed is slower than the LAN network type.
 Wide Area Network have lower data transfer rate.
 The wide Area Network is a combination of various other technologies and
therefore has many security issues compared to MAN and LAN.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

A VPN is a network that uses public telecommunications infrastructure on the

internet to provide remote services or individual uses with secure access to their
network settings. Home users are employee users who work from home. Home users
typically have broadband internet connections at their Matara branch office
protected by a VPN. Can reduce costs tremendously from the reduction of
equipment and maintenance costs.

Advantages of VPN,
 Provides security through anonymity.
 Secure connection for remote work.
 VPN can bypass firewalls.

Disadvantages of VPN,
 A VPN may decrease your speed.
 Dropped connections.
 Not all devices natively support VPNs.
 Quality VPNs will cost money

Extranet

An extranet is a network based system that exist outside of a company’s internal

network and can be connected to relevant third parties via an internet connection.
Often tunnelled through a VPN or secure network connection. In today’s world,
Extranets are often associated with software cloud systems as software. It enables
extensive data sharing.

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Benefits of Extranet

 Increases Productivity
 Reduces the Margin of Error
 Offers flexibility
 Provides Timely and Accurate information
 Improves supply chain management

Intranet

An intranet is a network that organisations use to improve communication

collaboration and information sharing among authenticated users. Protected from
unauthorized external access by means of a network gateway and firewall.

Advantages of Intranet
 Ease of access – If you know how to use a VPN you can access your intranet
anytime anywhere.
 Ease of communication -
 Ease of centralization – Organization have thousands of files that users must
try to read or modify. An intranet centralizes all of this data and ensures that
users have access to everything they need. This easy file access coupled with
a powerful search function leads to a significant increase in productivity
among users.

Disadvantages of Intranet
 Difficulty of implementation
 Complexity for users

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MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

A network that covers a modest geographic area such as a town or city. You can
enjoy services such as high-speed Internet connection through DSL/ADSL lines and
cable television. Multiple LANs are connected in a format larger than a LAN but
smaller than a WAN covering a wide geographic area and directly connecting users
around the world. MAN uses various devices such as modems and cables to transfer
data. Metropolitan Area Network offers a range of 10 to 50 km and a wide network
suitable for the connection between an offices building in one of the city’s
headquarters at that location.

Advantages of Metropolitan Area Network,

 High security – Metropolitan Area Network have a high security level than
Wide Area Network.
 Sharing of the internet – Some Metropolitan installations allow users to share
their internet connection. So many users can enjoy the same high-speed
internet connection.
 High speed - Since the Metropolitan Area Network uses fibre optics data
rates can easily reach 1000 mbps. Transfer files and databases quickly.

Disadvantages of Metropolitan Area Network,

 Internet speed difference – Metropolitan Area Network cannot work on
traditional phone copper wires. If Metropolitan Area Network is installed on
copper wires then there will be very low speed. Hence the cost of installing
fibre for the first time is high.
 Difficult to manage – When Metropolitan Area Network becomes bigger, it
has very difficult to manage.
 Multiple wires are required to make a Metropolitan Area Network
connection from one place to another.

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The main IEEE Ethernet standards that can used for the above design,

 IEEE 802.3 – This standard defines the Ethernet standard. That use for Local
Area Communications.
 IEEE 802.8 – This standard specify the fibre optic connections (These consist
of a set of rules that are used for fibre optic connection).
 IEEE 802.11 – This standard defines wireless networking (Wi-Fi).
 IEEE 802.10 – Standards for LAN/MAN security implementations.
 IEEE 802.7 – Standards for exchanging information between systems.

Discuss the importance and impact of network topologies.

Affect network operation. When a proper network topology is used it ensures that the
network works at maximum efficiency with better data transfer. It helps IT
administrators understand how the entire network infrastructure is organized. A
network topology tool allows effective IT operations teams to better visualize the
network and understand the dependencies of each device. A distributed network
enables geographic visibility. This ensures that the IT manager can effectively
implement the company network across multiple countries. Explain how devices and
apps on a network affect others. Knowing device dependencies across the network
topology helps identify which device or application is affecting other devices and
causing network bottlenecks. Helps detect and fix system issues. Custom network
topology maps make it easier to diagnose troubleshooting problems and allocate
network resources.

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Assess the main network protocol suites that are used in network design using
examples.

The main network protocol suites that are used in network design are FTP, HTTP,
SMTP, TCP/UDP, and IP.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) – FTP is a common use protocol for sharing files
over a network (internet). FTP typically uses a client-server architect.
 Example – Suppose you have a website hosted on a server and you need to
transfer some files so you can use the FTP to transfer those files from your
computer to the server where the website is hosted.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) – HTTP is an application layer protocol that

are used by the World Wide Web and this protocol defines how messages is
formatted and transmitted. And this is a connectionless text-based protocol.
 Example – When a URL is typed into a browser the browser sends an HTTP
command to the web server telling it to find and forward the requested web
page.

SMTP (Simple mail Transfer Protocol) – SMTP is an application level,

connection oriented, text based protocol. SMTP provides a basic electric mail
transport facility for transferring message among separate host.

 Example – SMTP used for sending and reserving message between servers
and also the most email systems that send email over the internet users.
SMTP to send message from one server to another.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) – TCP is a connection oriented and reliable

protocol. TCP provides communication between an application program and the
internet protocol.

 Example – When we are browsing the internet out web browser users port
number 80. (We are browsing the web so when a packet arrives at our
computer and its header contains the port no. 80 so the top layer it and sends
the packets to our web browser.)

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UDP (User Datagram Protocol) – UDP is an unreliable and connectionless
protocol. UDP doesn’t have the error checking and ordering functionality of TCP.
UDP is commonly used in time sensitive communications.

 Example – Take a voice all over the internet now this service requires high
performance and low latency, so during the communication if some packets
get dropped, we don’t sometimes feel it. These kind of time sensitive
application uses UDP because dropping packet is preferable than waiting for
delayed packet they just simply drop it and the go with what they have.

Recommend suitable network topology and network protocol for above

scenario and evaluate with valid points how the recommended topology
demonstrates the efficient utilization of the networking system of Matara
branch

Suitable network topology

 Star Topology
1. Easily add new nodes without rebooting all currently connected
devices. (it is very scalable. New computers or devices can be added
or removed without disrupting the entire network.)
2. This topology allows efficient use of cables and is easy to maintain.
3. If one node or link goes the rest down the rest of the network is not
affected. Other computers and their connections can continue to
function with zero interruption.
4. A star network can accommodate many different machines, so we can
build a wider network.
5. The star network is more secure in the event of a cyber-attack. Let’s
say you run an organization with several branches. If a branch or
office is attacked the server will be notified and the others will be
blocked. One branch goes down but the other keeps going with
complete safely.

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Recommended suitable network protocols

 File Transfer protocol (FTP)

 Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)
 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
 Transmission control Protocol (TCP)
 User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

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Activity 2
Answers

Network devices – (Hubs, Switch, Bridge, Router, Repeater, Access point, Modem,
Content filter, Firewall, Load balancer, Packet shaper, VPN concentrator).

 Hubs – A Hub is a simple networking device that connects multiple computers

and devices together. It is a common connection point for network devices.
Multiple computers and devices are connected to a hub using a single cable
(RJ-45 network cable) so that the computers can communicate with each
other.
 Switch – A switch is a networking device that connects multiple computers
together in a network. Data can be sent from any computer to any computer in
the network with the help of a switch.
 Bridge – A device that connects two local area networks or two parts of the
same Local Area Network that use the same protocol. Information will cross
the bridge only if a host on the other side is invoked (selective forwarding).
 Router – A router is a network device that connects different networks. It
sends data to other routers on other networks. It decides the best way for a
packet to be forwarded to its destination.
 Repeater – A network is used to reconstruct or reproduce the signal. Repeaters
are used in transmission systems to reproduce analog or digital signals that are
distorted by transmission loss. Digital repeaters can reconstruct a signal closer
to its original quality.
 Modem - Modems are used to transmit digital signals over analog telephone
lines. Hence the digital signal is converted into an analog signal with a
different frequency by the modem and sent to the modem at the receiving
location. The receiving modem performs the reverse conversion and provides
a digital output to the device (usually a computer) connected to the modem.

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  Access Point – While an access point can technically include a wired or
wireless connection it usually means a wireless device. An Access Point
operates at the data link layer second to the OSI layer and can act either as a
bridge connecting a standard wired network to wireless devices or as a router
that forwards data traffic from one access point to another.
 Content filter - Content filtering is the process of using software or hardware
to filter or restrict access to objectionable email, websites and other suspicious
content. Organizations often use content-based filtering called data filtering as
part of their internet firewall. A common security measure is content filtering
which helps organizations enforce corporate policies on the use of information
systems. For example, filtering and blocking social media platforms.
 Firewall – A firewall is a network security device that monitors and filters
incoming and outgoing network traffic according to an organization’s
predefined security policies. Basically, a firewall is a barrier between a private
internal network and the public internet. The primary purpose of a firewall is
to allow non-threatening traffic and block dangerous traffic.
 Load balancer – A load balancer is a device that acts as a reverse proxy and
distributes network or application traffic across multiple servers. Load
balancers are used to increase application capacity (concurrent users) and
reliability.
 Packet shaper – Packet Shaper provides full visibility by automatically
classifying network traffic by application and content type.
 VPN concentrator – A VPN concentrator is a hardware device that allows you
to create and manage multiple VPN connections remotely. Like a VPN it
encrypts data sent and received and uses security protocols to create a secure
tunnel but, on a larger scale. Widely used by large companies with many
remote employees.

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Server types that can be used & server that are available in today’s market with their
specifications. / Recommended servers for the above scenario

Types of servers
 Web server
 Email Server
 FTP Server
 Identity Server
 Proxy Server
 Application Server

Web Server – (Software – Apache HTTP Server, Microsoft Internet Information

Server, Nginx, Lighttpd, Sun java System Web Server)

Email Server – (Software – hMail server, Mailenable , Zimbra, Axigen , Aparche

james, FirstClass, Kolab Groupware, iRed mail, zentyal )

FTP Server – (Software – FileZilla Server, Xlight FTP Server, CompleteFTP, Core
FTP Server, Vsftpd, ProFTPD, Rebex Tiny SFTP Server)

Proxy Server – (Software –FoxyProxy, SOAX, Oxylabs, Bright Data, Apify)

Application server – (Software – IBM WebSphere Hybrid Edition, Plesk, Apache

Tomcat, F5 NGINK)

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Discuss the inter-dependence of workstation hardware and networking software.

Examples for networking software

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Activity 3

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