Network Topology and Its Impact

This assignment delves into the significance of network topology within organizational settings. It emphasizes the impact of network design on departmental functionality by analyzing how fast resource transmission between departments is facilitated. The importance of efficient, cost-effective, and scalable network systems is highlighted, considering factors like availability and scalability after implementation. The assignment references various books, journals, and online resources to support its claims.

Networking (RQF L4)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1 Benefits and constraints of different network types and standards...................................1
Network types.........................................................................................................................1
Standards................................................................................................................................2
P2 Impact of network topology, communication and bandwidth requirements.....................2
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................3
P3 Operating principles of networking devices and server types...........................................3
P4 Interdependence of workstation hardware wrt networking software................................4
LO3..................................................................................................................................................5
P5. Description of LAN technology /Topology ....................................................................5
P.6 Test and evaluate the design to meet the requirements including concept of system
growth (Scalability) and Availability . Suggest a maintenance schedule . Produce a test plan 6
LO4..................................................................................................................................................7
P7. Implementation of the network system ...........................................................................7
P8. Analyse test results against expected results....................................................................7
P8. Analyse test results against expected results....................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Networking is considered as the designing and implementation of a network which
includes involving all the basic and physical requirements such as cables, hardware, software,
switches etc. (Nunes, Mendonca and Turletti, 2014). There are various types and topologies of
network that can be implemented for sys-go.co.uk for an efficient development and
implementation of the network. The report is about developing and implementing a new
network infrastructure in a client company, that is sys-go.co.uk by keeping scalability and
availability in mind. Also, it includes different types of network and topologies along with their
benefits and drawbacks. Interdependence and operating principles along with the testing factors
have also been included in the report.
LO 1
P1 Benefits and constraints of different network types and standards
There are various different types of network and some of well known and common
examples include local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area
network (MAN) etc. These networks have been very widely used in different areas but the fact
that is to be ensured here is that as there are some advantages of using these networks, there are
some constraints as well. Similarly, network standards are considered as some specified
specifications that are associated with the essential methods, operations, cabling etc. that is being
used in the network in order to maintain a sort of balance within different media's over the
network. The same way, network standards are also known for having some positive factors as
well as some negative. Discussing the benefits and constraints of both as under :
Network types
Local area network (LAN)
A LAN or Local Area Network is define as the network that helps in the interconnection
of devices in a local area .A local area network is considered as a network in which systems and
other devices in smaller areas. The involved area may be small as of a building or the nearby, bit
it covers the range within a smaller span of area. LAN has a master server from which all other
system are connected and access data within a confined area(Luo and Rosas-Casals, 2015).
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(Source:https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/local-area-network-LAN)
Benefits
 The implementation of a LAN is cost effective.
 As it covers a small span of area, the managing and controlling of the network is
comparatively easy as compared with the others.
There are several other benefits such as it works on centralised system where all devices
are connected to a main hub. Transferring of files occur very fast and there is a great
connectivity between every nodes that serves faster access of information.
Constraints
 Although it is manageable, but it covers a small area only. It only has a narrow scope as it
works in a limited area only.
 Special security features are required in order to control the access from any external
body. Apart from this, if there is a defect in single device then performance of whole system is
affected.
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Wide area network (WAN)
Wide Area Network or WAN is the network which is used to connect the devices of
large areas.Wide area networks are considered as the networks that helps in covering a wide
geographical area as it can be expanded over cities, states etc(Tang, Wu and Fang, 2017).
(Source:https://study.com/academy/lesson/wan-connectivity-techniques.html)
Benefits
 It helps in exchange of private data with the other ones on the network very easily
without sharing it on the internet (Xia, Wen and Xie, 2015).
 Also, WAN's are known to decentralize the whole infrastructure, which means there is no
need to make use of file or e mail servers. It has a wider scope as activities are not limited in an confined area.
Constraints
 As it can be expanded over large areas, its implementation cost is high as well.
 Also, maintenance is hard in case of wide area networks as it depends on the availability
of the service centres in specific cities or areas.
 Apart from this they have low bandwidth that makes this network to easily lose
connections.
Standards
There are enormous network standards and some well known and common ones include
IEEE 802.1 (LAN/MAN) etc. One of the biggest advantage of using these standards is that
various systems can get connected with the help of this but there are various companies that
rather than making use of standards, are involving new techniques which slows down the
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processing of various operations. So, it needs to be ensured to make proper use of it(Zhang and
et.al. ,2016.).
There are two type of standards which are:
1.De Facto Standard
2.De jure Standard
Where De Facto means by tradition or through fact. These are developed without a planning and
De Jure means according to rules and regulation.
Benefits of having De Facto standards are it provides less complications for assessing the
quality. There is increase in safety as well as reliability. Also, protects interest related to
inflammatory interest. Constraints can be fault in operations of products and this standard is not
technically advanced.
Advantages of Dejure Standard is it uses technically advance process of assessing
quality. It is a systematic structure that works on logical facts. Also, it has more accurate results.
Constraints can be involvement if high cost and complex techniques.
P2 Impact of network topology, communication and bandwidth requirements
All these factors, network topology, bandwidth requirements and communication play a
very important role in an efficient and appropriate networking. Discussing the impact of these as
under :
Network topologies
Network topologies means the connection of different nodes in a network. Their
communication relies on the way these nodes are connected. There are various topologies such
as bus topology, star topology etc. Every such topology has a different influence and a different
structure as well. Out of the all, bus topology is considered to be the easiest to implement but as
the cable is limited, so some specified stations can be connected only. So, network topologies
helps in analysing different ways in which the connection of the nodes can be made(Luo and
Rosas-Casals, 2015). Impact of network topologies is that it enhances the performance of a
networks and determines the perfect medium to be used for developing networks and appropriate
accessing methods .
There are following type of network topologies:
Bus topology:
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In this type of network every device is connected to a single cable line which has exactly
two end end points.
(Source:https://www.studytonight.com/computer-networks/network-topology-types)
Star topology:
In this type of topology all devices are connected to a hub through multiple cables where
hub is situated at the centre.
(Source:https://www.studytonight.com/computer-networks/network-topology-types)
Ring Topology:
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Ring topology forms a ring pattern as each device is connected to each other in a circular
pattern with the last one connected to the first.
(Source: https://www.studytonight.com/computer-networks/network-topology-types)
Communication
Communication refers to the transmission of information, digital data between different
systems. It also throws an impact on the system as if the speed of the transmission will be slow,
then it can affect the processing as well (Sartran, Gay and Vasseur, 2018). Impact of
communication can be, it supports the rate of exchanging information between several nodes.
Also, data can be accessed without any constraints.
Bandwidth requirements
Bandwidth is the rate of data that is transferred per second over a network. Bandwidth is
considered as one of the factors that impacts the performance of the network. There are some
factors that affect the bandwidth such as the maximum usage of the internet, background data
upload etc. It is because often there are various automatic updates etc. so, in that cases, it may
affect the range of bandwidth. Apart from this, effect of bandwidth can be it increases the speed
of performance with transferring of data. Also, improves latency which means amount of time
for transferring data.
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LO 2
P3 Operating principles of networking devices and server types
As the new network infrastructure is to be designed for sys-go.co.uk, it is very important
to ensure that there are three departments and the requirement of the network is web, DNS, email
and file servers. So, a total of four servers is the requirement of the network along with 114
computers and printers. So, the company should ensure some principles of networking devices
and different server types before designing and implementation of the network for sys-go.co.uk.
As per the requirement of the network, there must be four servers and all should be shared as
well between the users. It means as there are three departments, the servers must be connected to
all their systems along with printers. These are discussed as under :
Web server
It can be regarded as a server software or a hardware for running particular programme
which can provide contents to World Wide Web. Also, processes network requests which
generally incomes.
Web server is a program that uses Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).The main role
includes the serving of files that form web pagers for users. It is a wide area network. Web
server is considered as a server hardware or software that helps in serving different content
factors to the WWW (World Wide Web). It loads the required file from the disk and the same is
being transmitted to the particular web browser. It can actually help sys-go.co.uk in getting an
optimum performance rate along with a higher level of security(Sartran, Gay and Vasseur,
2018).
Operations
 Secures and stores data of a website
 Serves access to web database
 Interact with the request of end users Act as a virtual host
E mail server
It is a software that provides facilitation in exchange of messages among people. An e-
mail server is a computerised form of server in which every single email is being passed to a
series of servers and then it is being received to the final destination (Iyer, Kumar and Mann,
2014). Various common examples of it include Post Office Protocol (POP3), Simple Mail
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Transfer Protocol (SMTP) etc. These are comparatively fast, so it can help sys-go.co.uk in
achieving their objectives at a much faster rate. It helps to send mails to people with whom your
email address domain matches(Shen and et.al., 2016).
Operations
 Transfer of data at virtual level
 Serves as a connecting Software for different users
DNS Server
It is regarded as hierarchical decentralisation system used for naming different system for
services, computers and other resources for connecting to internet. A domain name server
(DNS) is considered as a server that implies a public IP address along with their host names.
These are also termed as special running special applications. It will help sys-go.co.uk as
whenever a user will enter a link for some specific website, it will help in providing the best
suitable option to the user. It is a system that translate humanly memorable domain names to
corresponding numerical Internet Protocol(Nunes, Mendonca and Turletti, 2014).
Operations
 Mechanism for resolving problems related to IP address of users. It act as a recursive and caching name server
File server
File server provides exact location for sharing access to disks or storage of several types
of files in computer. It is considered as a server that helps in providing the location for the disk
access that is being shared. It can also involve texts, videos, images etc. Implementation of file
server in sys-go.co.uk can actually help the company in a faster transmission and access to the
data. Also, its configuration is simple as well. So, it can act as a suitable option for sys-go.co.uk.
It can help in central storage and data file management so that devices can access the same file
which are connected to a single network (Iyer, Kumar and Mann, 2014).
Operations
 Provides remote information easily
 Centralised Management of every data
 Effective recovery of data
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P4 Interdependence of workstation hardware wrt networking software
Factors which affects the performance of a computer are:
 Speed of the CPU
 Size of the RAM
 Speed of the hard disk
There are various devices that can be implied in the workstation hardware and these
include the NIC (network interface card), system bus, input output devices, processor, memory
etc. so, all these are associated with the suitable networking software's and thus, throws an
impact on the performance of the network (Index, 2015). So, the company should ensure that
these devices can be implemented effectively while the implementation of the network for sys-
go.co.uk. It is important as well because these are connected with the software's , thus
maintaining a balance between both can help in an effective and appropriate processing of the
operations and services. A very common example of this can be considered as the network
interface card (NIC) and it is being installed in a system, because of which it can get connected
to the network further. So, it is obvious that after inserting it in a system, a specified software
must be included as well to ensure a proper connection between the two. Similarly, other
hardware devices such as processors, memory are also related to the factors of the software
development, thus they can be implemented successfully. Therefore, it is clear enough that these
workstations hardware's are directly or indirectly dependent on the software requirements. So, it
helps in analysing inter dependence of workstation hardware's with all the relevant and suitable
software's of the networking.
There are 3 departments which are needed to be connected through 4 servers. Web server
provides various kind of information which can be searched on internet and can help these
department to investigate or build up strategies. Email would lead to connect users of these units
and can send or receive different data. File servers provides access for using different kind of
information rested to several operations of the company. Along with that DNS will centralise all
these department into a particular system at management level.
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LO3
P5. Designing of a network system
While implementing a new network infrastructure in the client company, involvement of LAN
can be done as local area network can help in achieving the requirements of the client company
sys-go.co.uk with star and ring topology that can handle several departments in a company. As
the requirement of the company is that there are three networks, so the involvement of local area
network can prove as a beneficial feature as it will provide enough scalability so that they can be
able enough to achieve their objectives and targets. The designing of the LAN for the client
company is represented as under :
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LAN topologies can allow multiple number of workstations to access data or to
communicate with each other. It has a high speed of transmission system. The server can also
allow sharing of resources among each other where resources can be data, information, voice
mails or e-mails, software and hardware (Shen and et.al., 2016). There is no decentralized access
in the network as any system can access each other’s file. It will be used in only in a single type
of transmission medium. There can be two type of LAN topology used for the fulfilment of the
requirement which is bus topology or ring topology. Diagram is illustrated below (fig 1).
The first arrangement of the scenario can be like a bus topology as here one computer will act as
the master of all which will be the main server of the organisation and it will control the
transmission and other will follow the instructions. The most popular example can be depicted as
Ethernet 802.3 which has a decentralised control and can operates at 10 or 100 Mbps.
Advantages:
 It is easy to implement and extension can be done with great ease.
 It is a quick setup so best suited for temporary networks.
 Requires less expenditure at initial as compared to other topologies.
There can be some disadvantages of this topology as it is difficult for trouble shooting,
only limited cable length and stations can be implemented and if there is a problem in one station
the whole network will goes off. As the present scenarios have limited number of station so, bus
topology can be implemented with great ease.
Another topology is related to ring structure in which all stations are connected to each
other in a circular network. Message travels in one direction which can be clockwise or anti
clockwise. They are faster as compared to bus topology. An example can be IEEE 802.5 which
can operates at 4 and 16 Mbps.
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Advantages
 Transfer of data is very fast.
 Data can be transmitted in a simple manner.
 Network collision is prevented.
This topology has very few drawbacks which are if one system fails, the whole network
will breakdown and troubleshooting is difficult as well as in order to communicate, all system
should be turned on.
P.6 Test and evaluate the design to meet the requirements including concept of system growth
(Scalability) and Availability . Suggest a maintenance schedule . Produce a test plan
In the given scenarios, bus topology (fig 1) is the best suited LAN topology for the given
devices and servers. As all the systems of each department will get connected with the servers,
which are already connected to each other. This will lead to the faster access of the resources
which can be any sort of information required between different departments or within a
department. The requirement of transmission cable will be less which means this is cost and time
effective topology structure. It has great availability which means the system has high percentage
of capability to serve when required, it has less chance of getting fail. The transmission service
of this network is very effective (Zhang and et.al., 2016). Another aspect of this topology is
scalability which means how well the system can expand to meet the increase demand of the
service. Here, the scalability of of bus topology is less but the number of servers and systems are
given in a fixed ratio which means this network can be implemented very well. As servers will
be the master system, they can provided command to systems of other departments or within a
department.
The maintenance of the network is easy but when a single system will fail, the whole
network has to get shutdown as every system is interconnected to each other. As the trouble
shooting can be done easily the maintenance does not requires complex measure to keep a check
on network. A quick setup of whole network can be done which is less time consuming and also
the complexity in the structure is not there. But security issue can become a major concern as
there is an easy access to every system in the whole network.
After the implementation of the network, it has to get checked whether every system is
interlinked with each other and servers as well. Even the servers are connected with each other.
After that, transmission of file from server to other system should be checked, following the
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testing of the transmission of data from one system to another. Also, every system of a single
department should be able to access each other. The communication issue may be created due to
dis functioning of even a single computer as well.
Here, three departments must be connected with other department in a ring topology
where they are interlinked with each other for transferring various information to each other. In
each department , every user is connected in a star topology so that they are connected with the
higher employee and can transfer their researches or task to them in an individual manner
LO4
P7. Implementation of the network system
The network system will consist of several stations and one station will control the access
of every other systems which can be the master of this network. The linear structure provides
least requirement of cable that are required to connect the systems. The linear structure of
network provide a less transmission time as there is no complexity in the structure. In the other
structure there are two end points from where topology can be expanded in a distributed
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form(Tang, Wu and Fang, 2017). The workstation will be the end nodes of the whole structure
and the site from where the data packages would be sent to each other. User will access data
from these node points and can successfully send the data to other system as well.
There are many benefits which are related to this topology and the reason why every
network designer prefer to implement. Maintaining this topology does not require much effort
due to least complexity among other available structures makes it convenient to implement by
other user also who does not have designed the structure earlier. The whole systems of every
department will be connected to four main servers.
This network system has many combine advantages of ring and star topology as at
department level connectivity of different servers can be easily involved and disruption to users
will occur. Apart from that faults can be easily detected which would not waste time. Also, when
each department is connected in a ring topology then it avoids the collision of several
information and it has higher access with each other and additional departments can be added to
mi server without disturbing any working unit.
P8. Analyse test results against expected results.
There will be a host in this network which will be known as station or workstation,
receiving all the network traffic generated from each of the station and will have equal priority of
transmission of information or the data file. The nodes of this topology will transmit data and
will perform their work simultaneously with the help of media access control technology without
interrupting the work of other station. An example for this technology can be the master of this
network.
There can be two types of bus topology one can be a 'linear bus' where every nodes of the
provided system is connected with a single cable to the master in a linear structure. Other one is
“Distributed bus structure” where all the nodes of networks are connected to a single cable for
the transmission where it has more than two endpoints and addition can be done by adding
branches to the main transmission medium cable. It can be used to implement in the scenario
given as further the department will get increased there will be no problem in expanding the
structure of the systems the structure of the network is very easy , there will be requirement of
low maintenance cost for it, therefore making the process convenient and effective to maintain.
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The advantages of the implementation of this topology is that it require less time to get
set up .Even the cost of maintenance is low thus making it the best option to implement. The
complexity of the topology is least which means it is easy to find the problem causing element in
the whole structure.
P8. Analyse test results against expected results.
Before the implementation of any network topology, every network designer concentrates
on the two aspects which are availability and scalability of the topology. Here, having many
merits of applying bus topology gives the effective transmission of data files and other resources
with high speed. Second aspect of implementing it includes the maintenance cost of the whole
structure and whether it requires maintenance in short period of time or for a longer interval. The
complexity of the structure is also kept in concern as it makes easier for another network
designer to understand the whole structure and amend it according to the present need of the
structure (Luo and Rosas-Casals, 2015).
Scalability or growth of this network is important factor where it means that every station
is able to work effectively according to the need of scenario and can be expanded with the
increase in the demand. The network which is implemented currently covers every aspect of the
perfect network topology, only the major concern will be of security or whether a system fails
which will affect the performance of other system as well. Within the implemented structure, it
has been checked whether the communication of every system of department is successfully
done and the transmission of resources between every department is done without any problem
and disrupting other system from their work must be checked. Following is the screen shot for
the whole networking system.
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CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that network topology plays an important role in the implementation
of the working system of any organisation, as it requires easy functioning of the department
which can be only possible through fast transmission of the resources between them. Therefore,
an effective network system is required which is time and cost effective, less complex and can be
quickly set up for faster implementation. However, to judge any network topology, it is
important to consider two aspects which are availability and scalability after implementation.
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Online:
Bradley Mitchell, 2017.Types of Network Topology. [online].Available
through<https://www.lifewire.com/computer-network-topology-illustrated-4064043>
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