NETWORKING | 2019

Introduction

Computer Network
Computer Network is a set of computers or devices interconnected together through
communication channels and are able to share information and data or allow electronic
communications (Tanenbaum & Wetherall, 2010). Device and components like hub, switch,
routers, cables etc. are used to build a computer network which we’ll discuss further.
“A network topology refers to a network’s physical and logical layout” (Dulaney
& Harwood, 2012). In other words, it is the preparation of a network, including its nodes and
association lines.
Connecting network devices with only cable isn’t going to establish the communication
between them (Dulaney & Harwood, 2012); there is set of rules that governs the communications
between endpoint devices (laptop, smartphone, printers etc.) on the network, which is defined as
Protocol. Bandwidth is data transfer rate in a network and is measured in bits per second (bit/s).
There are different types of network and network standards (OSI model, TCP/IP model,
IEE 802.x). Some of the network types that I’ll discuss here are peer-peer, client-server, cloud,
cluster, centralized and virtualized. Network standards are the rules that is applied to
communicate across the internet among the devices. E.g. OSI model, TCP/IP model, IEE 802.x.

Benefits and constraints of different network types and standards

Network Types

1. Peer-Peer based
It is the simple network which allows to share resources between the interconnected
devices. It is commonly seen in small organization like school, college, small business and
also in homes.
Benefits
The main advantages of this network are it is easy to setup, it can be implemented in less
time. Talking about the cost it is less expensive then the client-server network. There is no
need of dedicated server machine, each node acts as a server as well as client. Each user
controls their own computer.
Constraints
In this network, systems are not centralized, each peer has its own data, so it’s hard to
maintain and apply policies to the data, so the security level is low in this type of network.
Performance might get decreased when peers in the network increased.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 1

 NETWORKING | 2019

2. Client-Server based
In this type network, Dedicated server machine is configured, so that all the pcs in that
network gets centralized where dedicated server gives shared access to the files to all the
client connected to that server.
Simply, A central computer shares the files and other resources to the client computers
connected with that server and much more.
Benefits
It’s is centralized network so the administration is simplified, such as sharing files and
other security settings can be administered on a server which means, no need to set policies
in each and every client. New client can be added any time. All files are stored on the server
so it’s easy to backup and maintain files. This network is suitable for the large organization.
Security is highly maintained in this type of network, some of the hardware and software
used for security reasons are firewall, biometric devices, vpn, proxy etc.

Constraints
Network congestion is the main problem of this network, if large number of clients send
requests to the server at the same time server might get crashed due to the overload. If the
server fails, whole network goes down. Specially, Hackers attack the server computers if they
get succeed whole network gets hacked.

3. Cloud
Cloud base network hosts all the resources and services from the cloud. All the
computing resources were deployed in the cloud and are shared to the clients or customers.
Benefits
This is centralized network so; it simplified the management and maintenance abilities
through central administration of resources. Reliability is the main attribute of this network,
the servers are placed in the different parts of the country so if the server fails, hosted
resources can easily be accessed from any of the available servers. In terms of cost, Cloud
services are affordable for small organization too. Resources can be accessed from anywhere,
just need an internet connection.
Constraints
Although the service providers claim that they have top secured system, every application
and resources are accessible from the internet which opens up the risks, give the hackers the
power to scan, detect and exploit loopholes. Customers don’t have maximum control over the
resources, which means only limited controls are given to the customers, hence if there are
any technical issues, Customers don’t have choice but to call the service providers.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 2

 NETWORKING | 2019

4. Clusters
In cluster numbers of servers are interconnected to form a group and work together also
can be seen as single system.
Benefits
Hence, the multiple computers work together, it provides the great processing power. If
one node fails, other nodes in the group pick up the workload. Resources can be added to the
cluster accordingly so, it is totally scalable solution,
Constraints
Maintenance and monitoring are difficult in this system. Not all server types can be
clustered, so it not that flexible.

5. Centralization
In this type of architecture most of the calculations are performed on the central server,
and is an acting agent for all the communications.
Benefits
It helps to reduce cost, because more equipment and hardware are not needed. Processing
consists in the centralized processing systems.
Constraints
High traffic can cause network congestion. Central system requires a large amount of
storage.
6. Virtualization
In this architecture physical servers get parted into a number of small, virtual servers by
the mean of virtualization software.
Benefits
In these virtual servers, we can run multiple operating system instances simultaneously,
greatly reduces the cost of purchasing different servers. Less energy consumption.

Constraints
When something goes wrong in virtualized system, troubleshooting is very complex in
this system. It takes time to fully grasp this technology, and in terms of virtualization non-
experienced person might mess up with the server.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 3

 NETWORKING | 2019

Network Standards
1. OSI Model
This is the standard conceptual model which defines how the application
communicates or the data transmit over a network. This model is divided into 7 layers in
which data transfer breaks down. These are the 7 layers of OSI model form bottom to top.
 Layer 7: Application Layer
 Layer 6: Presentation Layer
 Layer 5: Session Layer
 Layer 4: Transport Layer
 Layer 3: Network Layer
 Layer 2: Data Link Layer
 Layer 1: Physical Layer
Benefits
Devices from the different vendors can work together because it’s absolutely
generic model. Each of the layers of OSI model do different function moreover network
transferring process is divided into smaller and simple components which facilitates the
component design and development and makes easier to diagnose the problem in
different layers. Changes that occurs in one layer doesn’t affect the whole layer.
Constraints
Grasping the concept of OSI model is very complex and difficult to manage at the
first implementation. Each layer of OSI model are independent of each other so, they
don’t work in parallel. They need to wait to obtain the data from its precursor.

2. TCP/IP model
Although OSI model recognized as generic model, on the internet there is a vast
majority of traffic which is depend on TCP/IP model. Hence, for many network designers
and administrators most relevant model is TCP/IP model. (Wallace, 2011)
Altogether it has 4 layers:
 Application Layer
 Transport Layer
 Internet Layer
 Network Access Layer

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 4

 NETWORKING | 2019

Benefits
This model is standard to the industry which can be easily installed in practical
networking problems. Communication between cross-platform among heterogenous
network is possible. It embraces open protocol suit which means vendors equipment are
public available to interoperate without any propriety interfaces. Error, flow and
congestion control mechanisms are some of the good point of this model.
Constraints
Major disadvantage of this model is it is designed for WAN network and not that
much capable for the small networks, and it also runs several layers simultaneously
which slows down the network speed.

P2

Network Topology and Its impact

Basically, topology is a just a logical or physical arrangement of a network. How you
design the topology affects the communication and bandwidth speed of the network. Types of
topologies are:
1. Bus topology
2. Ring topology
3. Star topology
4. Tree topology
5. Mesh topology
6. Hybrid topology
Bus topology
Bus topology requires one main cable which serve as a backbone for network where all
the nodes get connected. T-connectors or taps (known as vampire taps) are used to connect
system to the backbone. Ethernet Network commonly relied on this topology in the early days.

Figure 1Bus topology (Wallace, 2011)

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 5

 NETWORKING | 2019

Impacts
Ring topology
In this topology data flows physically in a circular form in a closed network loop (which
is ring).

Figure 2Ring topology (Wallace, 2011)

Impacts

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 6

 NETWORKING | 2019

Star topology
In star topology a hub remains at the center of topology and each collection of clients are
connected to the hub individually, unshielded twisted-pair cable (UTP) used to connect clients to
the switch ports. (Wallace, 2011)

Figure 3Star topology (Wallace, 2011)

Impacts

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 7

 NETWORKING | 2019

Tree topology
Like a name it’s a combination of bus and start topology and arrange the connected
elements in a tree structure. It consists a root node and every other node are connected to it
forming a hierarchy.

Figure 4Tree topology

Impacts
Mesh topology
Here each node is interconnected with every other node. For the data transfer flooding or
routing technique is used.

Figure 5Mesh topology (Wallace, 2011)

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 8

 NETWORKING | 2019

Impacts

Hybrid topology
This topology is a combination of two or more topologies, and each contains its own
nodes.

Figure 6Hybrid topology

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 9

 NETWORKING | 2019

Impacts

###Compare common networking principles and how protocols enable the effectiveness of
networked systems.

Common network principles and effectiveness of protocol in network system

In network system, different end users communicate with each other on the basis of
principle and protocol. And these principles and protocols makes network system very effective.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 10

 NETWORKING | 2019

In this part I’ll be comparing two network principle, OSI model and TCP/IP model on which
most of the devices communicate with each other in a standard way.

The above table is comparison between OSI model and TCP/IP model. I’ve mentioned
almost required typical differences of these model, above in the table.
Protocols are just the rules that governs the communication between devices. There are
different Protocols that are used in network, FTP, HTTP, SMTP, POP3, SSL are some of the
protocol that I’ll be describing.
FTP stands for File transfer protocol; it allows the secure file exchange between the
remote computers over the network. Anonymous FTP server doesn’t require any passwords and
usernames to authenticate, but other than anonymous FTP server client must authenticate using
passwords and usernames to connect to the server first. FTP is way older than the HTTP protocol
even precedes the standard internet protocol, i.e. TCP/IP.
HTTP stands for Hypertext transfer protocol, communication between web server and
web client initiate via http request/response. A browser sends request message to the specific
server and the server respond http status code to the browser.
SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol; it sends and receive emails. SMTP
server always listen to the client, which means it’s always in a listening state. Client who is
willing to send the mail opens the TCP connection and when connection opens SMTP service
begin to create a connection on port 25. As soon as connection established without any trouble
client service send emails immediately.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 11

 NETWORKING | 2019

POP3 stands for Post Office Protocol 3, it receives the emails from the email server and
when client download it to the computer local storage it automatically deletes the mail, it ensures
only the first computer to open will able to read the mail. Once the mail downloaded you can
even read it offline. But, if you the mail account second time from other computer, you’ll not
able to read that mail because it’s already deleted from the mail server and stored to the first
computer in which you viewed the mail.
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer; it secures the insecure connection on the local
network or on the Internet. Different Cryptography functions e.g. combination of private key
encryption and public key encryption are used to secure the connection on the network.
P3
Discuss the operating principles of networking devices and server types.
Network Devices
Different Network devices use different protocols to connect to different types of
networks. Different devices work at a different layer of the network. There are different network
devices, some of the device that I’ll mention here are hub, switch, bridge, router, and firewall.
Hub
Hub is a simple device that send data packets to all devices connected to hub, it isn’t
intelligent to find the best route for the data packets, simple it doesn’t make any forward decision
so it’s inefficient device and can create performance bottleneck on busy networks. Hub just
forwards data; it doesn’t perform any processing and error checking on the data. Hub comes with
the variety of size having five or eight connection ports in smaller one and in larger device its
ports is normally up to 32. Hub works at Layer 1 (physical layer in OSI Model). Often UTP
cable is used to connect hub to the other network devices.
Bridge
Unlike hub, which blindly forwards received bits, a bridge makes intelligent forwarding
decisions based on the source and destination MAC address contain in a frame which is very
good feature of this device. It’s also used to connect two LANs operating on a same protocol. It
works on a Layer 2 (Data Link Layer in OSI Model). It makes forward decision in software.
Switch
Like Bridge, it also makes a forward decision by learning MAC address attached to the
frames. So, only by the matching the destination Address it forwards the data only to the
destination which should receive it. It greatly improves the performance of the network. Rather
than making decision in a software, it makes forward decision in hardware using ASIC
(application-specific integrated Circuits).

Router

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 12

 NETWORKING | 2019

It’s a Layer 3 device, and it makes forward decision based on logical network address (IP
address) information. Routers create larger networks by combining two network segments and
connects a user to the internet. It’s more feature-rich and support a broader range of interface
types. Firewall is also included in Routers. Provides unique IP address to the connected clients
which means it acts as a DHCP servers too.

Firewall
Firewall is a primary security appliance for the network. It’s either hardware or software
based. It guards the network from the malicious Internet traffic.
Server Types
Some of the servers that I’ll mention here are Web Server, FTP Server, DNS Server and
Telnet Server. There are lot more servers then I’ve mentioned.
Web Server
Web Server are the computers which host web pages. Often web pages are encoded in
HTML. Every Web Server has address, In Computer Zone we call that address as IP address.
And also, often it has domain name too.
FTP Server
FTP server stands for File Transfer Protocol Server, which is basically used for
transferring the files between remote computers. File transfer is pretty secure and transfer control
is used.
DNS Server
DNS server store all the IP address and its related records, also known for phone book of
Internet. It basically converts domain name to the IP address.
Telnet Server
It enables the user to logon to the server or the host computer and execute the
administration commands via Telnet Protocol.

###Discuss the inter- dependence of workstation hardware with relevant networking software.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 13

 NETWORKING | 2019

Inter-dependence of workstation hardware with relevant networking software

Computer are assembled of different hardware, but what if hardware weren’t instructed to
do something, well then, that would be the useless stuff ever made. So here comes the software,
which play significance roles in the computer system. Similarly, in Computer network, hardware
and software are inter-dependent, like two side of a same coin. If one doesn’t exist the other one
is just useless. Hardware and software interact with each other to perform some useful task.
Workstation
Typically, workstation is same as personal computers but bit more powerful, specially
designed to use in business area where the networking is carried out.

Minimum Workstation and Hardware requirement for modern network system

Software requirement and interdependence: -

To work with the above hardware there are lots of software in the market. Firewall and
Router interact with the server computer which might be using Window Server 2012 as a
software, which provides different services to the workstation. Workstation are connected to the
server with the LAN cable which is possible by NIC card, so that the services provided by the
server can be use by the work station. Storage are used to store the files that are processed by the
software which the company is using. And the CPU where all the calculation is done. Main thing
is that Workstation is using OS e.g. (Microsoft Windows 8 pro), which is the collection of the
software, and interact with hardware of the workstation from the beginning (when you turn on
the Workstation) till the Workstation turns off.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 14

 NETWORKING | 2019

M2 Range of Server Types

I’ve mentioned Server multiple times in this project, Server is just a main computer
which provides services to the connected clients and many more. To built a Server Computer we
need to research about every thing like where it is meant to be implemented, how many clients
would be connected to Server, what services would it be providing to the client etc. I’ve
researched on the internet to find out the most suitable Server Computer for the scenario. Here I
comes with the 3 different vendors, and after the deep overview I’ll select one computer and
justify why I select that vendor as server computer to the given scenario.
1. Dell PowerEdge T330 Tower Server
Tech Specs; price = $873.00 - above $1,985.00

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 15

 NETWORKING | 2019

2. Asus TS500 E8 PS4

Tech Specs; price = $675.00 – above $1,788.00

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 16

 NETWORKING | 2019

3. Lenovo ThinkServer TS150 Tower Server

Tech Specs; price = $1,279.36 - above $2,035.00

All the description and specification of the 3 computers of different vendors are shown above.
I’ll choose Lenovo ThinkServer TS150 over other 2 computers.
Justification of the chosen Server Computer
Although other two server computers are good for the network, I’ve chosen the Lenovo
ThinkServer TS150. It’s not about the price, if you spend more money on computer you can
upgrade parts and performance too. Lenovo has become number 1 customer satisfactory
company recently in 2018.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 17

 NETWORKING | 2019

If there is any technical problem Lenovo provides top ranked technical experts for
customer support. Lenovo has been consistently providing the customer support for many years.
Beside that Lenovo is very royal in case of reliability which means Lenovo systems encounter
whether the system crashes or hangs by running CPU-intensive program for long period of time
to meet rigorous reliability standards.
Talking about the hardware all above three computer Intel Xeon processor, which support
ECC (Error Correcting Code) memory. ECC memory is very helpful for finding soft memory
problem and fix the problem before they cause trouble, also drastically reduce the data
corruption and system crashes. It supports up to 64 GB ram, which would be very effective and it
enhances the performance of server in bank. Banking System performs electronic transaction,
and many staff of the bank might perform transaction at the same time which means all the staff
computer might request information or save information on the server, if the server computer is
slow then it’ll be hard to balance the load, with 4-core processors up to 3.7 GHz core speeds and
up to 8 MB cache and 64gb RAM, we could say bye to sluggish performance. For the network
interface it supports up to 9 ports, on board 1 Gb Ethernet std. and 2 opt. 2/4 1 Gb Ethernet
adapters. Up to 40 TB storage is supported, which would be very good for storing client’s
information. It also supports RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), which is kind of
data storage technology combines multiple physical disks into the virtual disk with huge capacity
by RAID controller, fault tolerance, improvement of speed, large storage etc. are the some of the
features of the RAID. Using RAID technology is bank is pretty good idea, beside fault tolerance,
speed transmission, large storage etc. it also provides data redundancy by saving the data into the
multiple location, so if bank lost any data, data can be easily recovered. It supports different OS
Windows Server 2016, 2012, VMware Vsphere and also Red Hat Linux Server.

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 18

 NETWORKING | 2019

John Sherchan (BTEC HND/ 1st Semester) 19