 Week 1 Discussion

Discussion Topic
 

 Due June 4 at 11:59 PM

The discussion assignment provides a forum for discussing relevant topics for this
week based on the course competencies covered.

For this assignment, make sure you post your initial response to the  Discussion
Area by the due date assigned.

To support your work, use your course and text readings and also use outside
sources. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide
references for the citations in APA format.

Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the
week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates. Participate in the
discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a
point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or
indicating a relationship between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion.
Complete your participation for this assignment by the end of the week.

The OSI Model

In this assignment, you will study the network architecture and learn how
information moves between the layers of the OSI model.

Using the South University Online Library or the Internet, research the following:

 Network architecture
 The OSI model

Based on your research and understanding, respond to the following:

 What is a telecommunications network protocol? What is
telecommunications network architecture? Select a network protocol and provide
details on the steps that preceded the formal adoption of the protocol by the
industry. Make sure you provide dates and organizations which were involved in
the process.
 How are analog signals converted to digital signals for transmission
over a telecommunications network? What are the advantages and disadvantages
of digital over analog? What is the role of digital modulation in transmitting digital
signals from source to destination? Make sure you use diagrams to support your
discussion.

In the OSI model, three layers divide the application layer from the network layer:
presentation, session, and transport. The application layer is closest to the end
user and the network layer is closest to the physical network. Based on the
functions of the three layers between application and network, how do you
anticipate the implementation of these layers changes from application to
network, as information is moved from one layer to another? What is the
importance of understanding the functions of these layers? How are layers
represented in the TCP/IP model?

 Week 1 Project
Assignment
 

 Due June 8 at 11:59 PM

This assignment consists of two parts:

 Online TestOut Simulator Hands-on Lab 1

 Part 1 of the course project
Here are the details of both parts of this assignment:
     1. TestOut Simulator Hands-on Lab
 Click each link below to complete the following labs and practice questions:

3.3.3 Select a Router

4.3.4 Practice Questions
4.4.5 Explore Physical Connectivity
4.4.7 Troubleshoot Physical Connectivity 2
4.4.8 Troubleshoot Physical Connectivity 3
Note: To be able to do the labs correctly, you are encouraged to review the
materials provided under the Section 3 - Networking Basics and Section 4 -
Ethernet sections of your TestOut account.
Once you complete your lab, click Done for your score to be submitted. You
can do each lab up to three times. The average score will be considered.
Create a word document showing the scores for these labs via screenshots
to submit along with the course project document.
     2. Course Project—Part 1

The course project assignment is a comprehensive assignment. Each week,

you will be completing one part of this assignment based on the content
covered in the week to design a network.

Network design is a skill of the telecommunications professional. It is the

science of examining the entire telecommunications project from an end-
user perspective. It focuses on network requirements, the components and
equipment that support these requirements, and the process of designing
the network architecture to interconnect the components and equipment.

The network design process is used by any organization that requires a new
network or needs to upgrade an existing network. Network design
considerations include the size of the network, traffic flows, and required
capabilities. Network design also includes knowledge of current technology
trends and vendor selection. The resulting network design must meet all the
needs of the organization. The network design should be technically sound,
cost effective, reasonably upgradable, and capable of growth.

For this network design assignment, you are free to come up with a fictional
midsized company engaged in a dot-com business for which you will select
the business focus. The company can be a service-oriented or information-
provider enterprise. You should note that the company is a start-up and sells
no physical products but the company is positioned to manage any type of e-
commerce operation online and through its office-based and mobile
workforce.

Assume that you are a telecommunications professional hired by this

company to design its telecommunications network, serving all management
and operations activities. The company has its offices in five different cities
across the United States, with its main office in a major city. The company
has around 250 employees, which include executives, managers, support
staff, salespeople, and technical staff. As the company is new, the size of
the client base is small but the company is expected to grow steadily in the
foreseeable future. All clients are corporate clients.

Each office has a general manager, office and department managers, and
support staff. All executives as well as the technical staff are located in the
main office and all the salespeople are mobile. The telecommunications
system must support interoffice communications across all locations and
with the mobile salespeople. The executives must be able to communicate
securely with the general managers, and the general managers must be able
to communicate with the office and department managers on a regular basis
to get both voice and data information about clients.

In addition, the salespeople must be able to communicate with clients and

the main office via voice, e-mail, and two-way videoconferencing. The clients
must be able to communicate directly with the general managers and
 executives in the same way. All communications must be kept secure and
then archived as part of the organizational knowledge base of the company
that will be used to support decisions across the current enterprise and as
the company grows and expands to more locations.

You need to prepare a comprehensive network design proposal for the

company. The network design proposal should address all the perceived
telecommunications requirements. In addition, the network design should
also address any additional telecommunications requirements that you may
identify in the process of describing your chosen company and explaining its
business and operations. You are required to prepare a formal proposal and
a customer-briefing presentation.

Each week, you will be required to present a deliverable in the

designated Project Area. Every network design project that you get involved
with as telecommunications professionals brings together all the knowledge
and experience that you acquire from academic work and the
telecommunications business practice. You build on your previous
experience in network design and your refined knowledge in current state-of-
the-art telecommunications. For this assignment, you will incrementally add
to your knowledge and understanding of telecommunications by applying it
to your assignment as it progresses through the course.

The weekly breakdown of the course project is as follows:

Weeks Deliverables
Week In Week 1, you will start your network design assignment by describing your customer
1 and the customer's network requirements.
Week
In Week 2, you will examine the role of the OSI model in network design.
2
Week
In Week 3, you will focus on TCP/IP services in network design.
3
In Week 4, you will focus on network security based on your network topology and
Week
logical network design. You will also consider physical security, information security,
4
and appropriate security technologies.
 In Week 5, you will add specifications for the wireless component of your wireless
Week
network system to support mobility of the salespeople. You are required to identify the
5
need for adding bandwidth on the WAN or LAN.
Week 1 Tasks

In this week's assignment, you will start your assignment by describing your
customer and the network requirements of your customer. You may refine the
customer's network requirements through the rest of the weekly deliverables.

In addition, you also need to complete the following tasks:

 Create a scenario for a fictional midsized company.

 Work on your proposed technical solution by describing the network
topology required to address all the requirements of the scenario.
 Prepare a table in which you identify the vendor equipment, cost, and
other charges, keeping in mind that your design should provide a cost-effective
solution. Compare various vendors' costs and other charges.
 Finally, create a network topology diagram.
Note: Click here for a website that allows you to choose a tool to create a network
topology diagram.

Compile your answers to both parts of this assignment in a 4- to 5-page Microsoft

Word document.

Submission Details:
 Support your responses with examples.
 Cite any sources in APA format.
 Online TestOut Simulator Hand-on Lab 1 - Name your document
SU_ITS3103_Lab_Results_LastName_FirstInital
 Part 1 of the course prjoect - Name your document
SU_ITS3103_W1_Project_LastName_FirstInitial.
 Submit your document to the Submissions Area by the due date
assigned.