Data Communication and Networks
Purpose of the assignment: The purpose of this assignment is to exercise and develop skills required to analyse and design networks to address the need of clients. In this assessment, students will be able to
- Understand the basic concepts and principles of technology relating to electronic data communications and computer networking
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of terminology of network communications technology, network operating systems and network applications
- Articulate the difference between different types of network configurations and indicate the situations in which various options are best/most appropriate
- Understand and explain different role of networking and network operating systems for information systems
- Appreciate the need for different types of networks
Assignment requirements:
All questions from all three scenarios must be addressed.
Scenario 1: EBiz.com has 250 networked computers and five servers and uses a star topology wired network to reach employees’ offices, with a bus interconnecting three floors in its office building. Because of a staggering influx of Internet business, the network administrator’s task is to boost network performance and availability as much as possible. The company also wants a network design that’s easy to reconfigure and change because workgroups form and disband frequently, and their membership changes regularly. All computers must share sensitive data and control access to customer files and databases. Aside from the customer information and billing databases, which run on all servers, employees’ desktop computers must run standard word-processing and spreadsheet programs.
Please address the following questions:
1. What type of topology should be used in this network? Why?
2. Will the network be peer to peer or server based? Please justify your answers.
3. How many computers will be attached to the network?
4. What kind of networking device is easiest to reconfigure? What kind offers the best access to the network medium’s bandwidth between pairs of devices?
5. Please draw a network diagram to represent the EBiz.com network (can be computer-drawn or hand-drawn).
Scenario 2: Review the network diagram below.
Given this information, devise a subnet mask that works for this network if the original network address is 192.168.10.0/24.
Please address the following questions:
1. How many subnets are needed?
2. What is the subnet mask?
3. How many subnets will be created?
4. Provide the network numbers in CIDR and the host address ranges you need in the table below:
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Network number in CIDR
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Host address range
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Scenario 3: As the network administrator for a growing ISP, you want to make efficient use of your network addresses. One of the network addresses IANA assigned to you is a Class C network of 197.14.88.0. you have decided to use the addresses in this Class C network to satisfy the IP address requirements of 16 corporate customer who need between 10 and 14 addresses each.
Calculate a subnet mask that meets their needs. Address the following questions:
1. What is the subnet mask?
2. List the first 4 subnet addresses the mask will create.