LAN Technologies: Impact, Design, Implementation and Management

LOCAL AREA NETWORK
ASSIGNMENT
Student name:
Student ID:

Table of Contents
Task 1 :Understand the impact of LAN technologies.....................................................................3
1.1 Critical Analysis among the Network Topologies for choosing the best for Design............3
1.2 Robustness of LAN................................................................................................................7
1.3 Imposing Hierarchical Network over LAN for Security, Reliability & Performance...........8
Task 2 :Be able to design LAN infrastructures.............................................................................10
2.1 Design network infrastructure to fulfill the requirement of above scenario........................10
2.2 Evaluation of network components and design...................................................................13
Task 3 :Be able to implement LAN infrastructures.......................................................................16
3.1. Build and configure the entire network...............................................................................16
Task 4 :Be able to manage LAN infrastructures...........................................................................23
4.1 Tools to Monitor LAN.........................................................................................................23
4.2 Immunity of LAN from attack.............................................................................................23
4.3 Improvement of LAN...........................................................................................................24
References......................................................................................................................................25
2

Task 1 :Understand the impact of LAN technologies
1.1 Critical Analysis among the Network Topologies for choosing the best for Design
In a large building, or in a business area or in an office, all the systems are connected using Local
Area Network or LAN. In this section we will discuss about the analysis of the existing network
topologies with their sound attributes. After analysis is done, we will consider the particular
topology to be suitable for our design.
Bus Topology
This is most simple and widely used configuration where all the connecting devices are attached
with a single bus which is terminated at each end by terminator resistor. Ahmed and Farag
(2014), all the connected devices have equal access to the bus. It is very easy to install and the
number of devices can be modified according to our need and this is dependent upon the terminal
load.
Fig-1: Bus Topology
(Source: https://www.kullabs.com)
Advantages:
 It is a small and less costly network.
 Length of cable required is very small.
 Configuration is lucid to build and understand and easy to modify.
Disadvantages:
 Relatively slower for small cable length and greater load.
3

 If any part of the cable creates any problem for data transmission, the whole system
faces the similar problem.
Ring Topology
Another topology of importance is the Ring Topology. In this configuration, a ring of connection
is formed so that every device meets their exactly two neighbor devices. This is created by a
point-to-point link method. While data routing, the main server checks for the proper destination
address and when it is matched, it drops. Jiang (2014) stated it has a basic unidirectional data
transmission system but it can be made bi-directional using Dual Ring Topology architecture.
Fig-2: Ring Topology
(Source: https://www.kullabs.com)
Advantages:
 Data transmission not affected by number of nodes
 Installation cost is lower.
 It can be modified easily as per our requirement.
Disadvantages:
 If in this topology, any device fails, the whole system breaks down.
 It is difficult for troubleshooting.
Star Topology
4

In this network architecture, each and every device is connected using Optical Fiber or Twisted
Cable individually with the central hub which works as a data repeater.
Fig-3: Star Topology
(Source: https://www.kullabs.com)
Advantages:
 Speed of data transmission is very high for individual connection.
 If any of the devices is failed, only that part affected but the rest part remains working.
Disadvantages:
 The Central hub must be used with high enough capacity to undertake sufficient load.
 Maintenance cost is very high.
Mesh Topology
In this network architecture, Central hub and all the devices are interconnected. There are
basically two models of Mesh, Routing model and Flooding model. Among the all, Davis (2018)
stated it is the fully connected and robust network. It will be in such cases where interconnection
of each device is required.
5

Fig-4: Mesh Topology
(Source: https://www.kullabs.com)
Advantages:
 It is secured and the fault can be diagnosed easily.
 Individual connection carries their respective data.
Disadvantages:
 High length of wiring is required.
 Installation is difficult and fault finding is easy.
These are the moderate discussion for comparing the available topologies. Let we sort out the
main topics for our conclusion as below:
Table-1: Formal comparison among Bus, Ring, star & Mesh
Parameters Bus Ring Star Mesh
Dataflow
Efficiency
More Moderate More Highest
Cable Length Less Moderate More Highest
Security Less Less High Moderate
Traffic Less High Medium Not
Applicable
Robustness No No Yes No
Cost Low High High High
Failure Easy to solve Difficult to solve Easy to solve but
may be difficult if
Hub fails
Easy to
solve and
partially not
dependent
upon Hub
So, according to our comparison and looking to our requirement, we can say for this particular
architecture, we use Star Topology as the devices like PC, Printers are connected to each
6