A Small Network Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

A Small Network Design - Essay Example The costs of the local area network have also been included by providence of possible prices for the devices. Requirements The company requires a local area network to ensure efficient and effective communication, administration of the branches and it users. The main requirements here then are the devices to implement a local area network without concentrating on wide area network requirements. Some of the devices for a LAN include: routers for communication between branches, switches; for communication between devices in a LAN, cables; to interconnect devices, connectors; which ensure end to end connections between a cable and a device and of course office automation devices like servers e.g., file servers, mail servers and printers for storing and downloading files, for mail exchange and for installing printing software respectively. The company also will require software for their customized uses; the software might be outsourced or in-house. The company also requires operational staff software e.g., word processing. Other devices, which the company is ought to have includes telephony system such as using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and installing VoIP phones. VoIP is IP based and convergent, but use of other implementations like ISDN is possible. The company also requires mail servers e.g. ... The company wants a general LAN design, and it might also decide to include wireless LAN, which uses connectionless media for devices to communicate but not advisable because it is prone to network intrusion such as phishing and spoofing. Almost all computers come with connectors like RJ45 for Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) connection. The main cable type, which will be used, is Unshielded Twisted Pair which are used for LANs. It has several categories according to performance. For this company, the ideal one is Category 5e Ethernet (cat5e). It has a jacket and an outside sheath. Cat5e is an extension of category 5 which has extra features to minimize cross-talk and signal interference, its speed is 125Mbps unlike Cat5 which is 100Mps. Depending on the number of users and need for fast connectivity the company might opt to use Category 7 of UTP. This is also called SSTP (shielded screen twisted pair). It has a data rate of 600Mps. Computers The company requires computers to carry out all the automated work in the company and also to install software for communication. It needs desktop computers for basic office automation software like word processing, emailing and accessing the internet. For software, which require more memory and processing power such as design software and working on graphics, the company will require work stations. Laptops also can be used for both small office work and also large software, a Core i5 laptop can be as powerful as a work station and some can be termed as mobile workstations. Switches Switches are intelligent devices, unlike repeaters and hubs and are suitable for computers in the LAN of the company to