Assignment 1: The Benefits of Twisted Pair Cable
You are a recently hired consultant for a NCF, the Networking Consulting Firm, and your first consulting assignment is at Ocper, Inc. Upon arriving at the client, you learn from the president that there is no one dedicated to information technology or networking on the staff and there are 20 Windows peer-to-peer client computers all connected via coax cabling. The president also indicates that the company plans to double in size over the next two years, but she is weary of drastically changing the computing environment.
Write a 2-3 page paper in which you:
1. Describe what changes you would suggest in terms of the current network type / structure and how you would lay out the benefits of the changes you recommend.
2. Describe why you would suggest connecting all current and new client computers using twisted pair cable instead of staying with the current coax wiring structure.
3. Discuss the possibility of using fiber optic cable instead of either twisted pair cable or staying with the existing coax wiring structure.
4. Research the costs involved with making these changes to the network (not including the cost for buying more computers) and determine whether or not there is a cost benefit.
Your assignment must:
• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.
The specific Course Learning Outcomes associated with this assignment are:
• Contrast why different technologies are deployed in different contexts of networking, such as topology, bandwidth, distance, and number of users.
• Explain the relationship of bandwidth and latency and how they impact throughput in a data communications channel.
• Deploy a basic Ethernet LAN and compare it to other network topologies.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in networking.
• Write clearly and concisely about introductory networking topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.