Book:

Stallings, W., & Case, T. (2013). Business data communications: Infrastructure, networking and security (7th ed.). Upper saddle river, NJ: Prentice hall

Question 1

The Internet, TCP/IP, and DNS

• Identify and discuss the two primary protocols that form the foundation of the Internet.

• Define and describe the purpose of DNS. Provide an example of what DNS does.

• Identify the protocol DNS relies upon for delivering data to the appropriate destination.

• Discuss two or more reasons why TCP/IP and DNS are important to the way the Internet functions using information from this week's lecture,

• Your initial response should be a minimum of 300 words in length.

Question 2. Client Server and Cloud Computing

Watch the following video: Fry, S. [Databarracks] (2013, October 22). Changes to computer thinking - Stephen Fry explains cloud computing [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9LK6EtxzgM

• In your own words, define client/server and cloud computing. Compare and contrast the two technologies, and provide examples to support your discussion. Identify which of these technologies is predominant in your organization. Your initial response should be a minimum of 300 words in length.

Question 3. Network Traffic, QoS, and SLAs

• Describe the differences between elastic and inelastic traffic on a network and provide several examples of each from your own experience.

• Describe quality of service (QoS) and its importance for managing network traffic.

• Compare and discuss the differences between QoS and service level agreement (SLAs). Your initial response should be a minimum of 300 words in length.

Question 4. ATM and Gigabit Ethernet

• Describe the differences between asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and Gigabit Ethernet. Determine which you think is the better choice for a high-speed network. Discuss your conclusions and support your position with citations from your research. Your initial response should be a minimum of 300 words in length.

Question 5. VoIP and PoE

Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) has become a standard way to route calls to remote locations for businesses that have nationwide locations and global operations. Power over Ethernet (PoE) is also a standard component of today's business networks.

Discuss why these two elements are found together in business networks. Identify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the PoE technology. Provide examples to support your discussion. Your initial response should be a minimum of 300 words in length.

Question 6. VLANs and Mobility

VLANs are a common element in business communications and mobile connectivity. Identify and discuss the characteristics of VLANs and why they are important to business operations. Provide examples to support the characteristics you identified in your discussion. Your initial response should be a minimum of 300 words in length.

Question 7. Security Policies and Plans

Using information from the course materials and the lecture, discuss the difference between a security policy and a security plan.

Assume you are the information technology director of a small firm and that you are tasked to create a security plan for your organization. Describe the major points you would include in your plan, and discuss why they are important to your plan. Your initial response should be a minimum of 500 words in length.

Assignment 1

Data Center Consolidation

Read the Business Data Communications, 7e - Case Studies provided as part of the online resources from your text found at: http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/esm/ecs_stallings_bdc_7/case_studies_index.html

In at least a two page paper (excluding the title and reference pages), discuss each element listed below and how it plays a key part in a successful consolidation.

• Bandwidth and high-speed communications
• Cloud computing as a consolidation option
• Mobile or ‘pod' datacenters as consolidation options

Provide examples for each of these aspects to support your discussion.

You must use at least two scholarly source, in addition to the textbook and be formatted according to APA style guidelines

Assignment 2

WLANs

Assume you are the IT manager for an organization tasked with evaluating whether or not to deploy internal wireless access for employees. Write a three to five page paper (excluding the title and reference pages), discussing the advantages and disadvantages of deploying a WLAN in an organization. Compare the benefits and risks of three security methods, then identify and justify the best approach for securing a WLAN.

You must include a minimum of two scholarly sources, in addition to the text book, with a minimum of one source from peer-reviewed sources from the Ashford University Library. Your paper must be formatted according to APA style guidelines

Assignment 3

Mobility, CDMA, and GSM

In a paper of at least two pages (excluding the title and reference pages), discuss a minimum of three mobile web applications that are familiar or that you use regularly. Describe the differences between CDMA and GSM. Discuss how CDMA and GSM support the mobile web applications you identified. Provide examples to support your discussion.

In your paper, you must use at least two scholarly sources, in addition to the textbook, and be formatted according to APA style guidelines

Assignment 4

A Walk in the IT Director's Shoes

The final assignment for this course is a Final Paper. The purpose of the Final Paper is for you to culminate the learning achieved in the course.

Focus of the Final Paper

Assume you are an Information Technology Director for a small, growing firm and are tasked with developing an electronic resource security policy to deploy within your organization. The policy needs to protect the organization's valuable electronic assets, but be flexible enough to accommodate employees as they go about executing their jobs and getting business done. It also needs to address communication and data security aspects such as remote data access, smartphone access, and internal electronic communications such as IM (instant messaging) and email.

**(Note that a policy is different from a plan. Be sure you address primarily the policy aspects of this task.).

In a minimum five page APA formatted paper (excluding title and reference pages) using the lecture, supplemental resources, and your own research, discuss the following elements.

• Discuss the differences between ‘implementation' and ‘policy', and describe the importance of their separation.

• Using information from the course, including the lectures and weekly reading, develop an outline of your security policy which addresses the areas identified in the prompt. Be as specific as possible.

• Compare the policy differences between users who work remotely or use wireless hotspots to users who work on site in a traditional office environment.

• Discuss how you would implement your security policy within the organization, including how employees would be apprised of the new policies. Be sure to explain which elements are critical for a successful implementation of your policy

• Include a minimum of five sources, one of which may be the textbook. Of these sources, three must be from the Ashford Library or from IT industry standard periodicals.

Writing the Final Paper

The Final Paper:

Must be a minimum of five double-spaced pages (excluding title and reference pages) in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a title page

• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.

• Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.

• Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.

• Include a minimum of five sources which may include the text. Of these sources, three must be from the Ashford Library or from IT industry standard periodicals.

• Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

• Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style.