In this activity, you will take a walk through your home network from the point where you access the Internet to the end user devices (EUDs). If you don't have a home network, don't worry... you can use this exercise to map one out for yourself.

If you already have a home network:

For those of you who have a home network, start with your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Then figure out how they are giving you access to the Internet. It is likely that you have a modem of some sort that they provide to you. Follow the modem inward (inside your home...) to any devices you may have connected to it. Stop when you have fully resolved all the elements of your home network.

Here is an example of my own home network:

I receive Internet access through Verizon. They provide a modem that gives me a gateway to the Internet. From the modem, I use a router that allows for wired and wireless access. I run several networks from the router. One network is  a guest network that is not password protected; friends who come over and would like Internet access can get on the guest network for Internet access only. I run one network for gaming. On this protected network, I run a Windows based laptop for my son who enjoys Internet games. I also run an XBox, a Play Station and a Wii on this network. I run another network for entertainment. My family uses Mac products on this protected network. We run multiple iMacs, Macbook pros, Macbook Airs, iPads, and iPhones on this network. We also have two Apple TVs on the network that allow us to stream video and audio over our TVs. Almost all of our devices connect to the networks wirelessly. We have a Cannon printer and a few large capacity storage devices (Hard Drives) also on a protected network (wired in to the router) that allows all the systems on the network to print and access/store files... 

If you don't have a home network:

First consider how you get access to the Internet. You probably have some sort of network even if you are not familiar with it.

Next, take a trip to your local BestBuy. Tell the salesman that you would like to set up a home network and you want to know which peices of hardware and software you will need. Plan out and design your ideal home network. Be able to provide a description, like mine above, for your ideal home network.

As you go through this exercise, think about how easy or difficult it is to run a home network. Then think about how easy or difficult it would be to do this for a large healthcare organization. When you are at home, if your network behaves badly (i.e. a laptop is having difficulty accessing the Internet because of router settings), you can simply reboot or reset the router. You can't really do that in a large organization. Also, it is likely that your home network is not hosting applications with PHI on them. Securing your organization's network has farther reaching legal and ethical perameters. Think about all these things as you prepare for this week's discussion.