JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

AND TECHNOLOGY (JKUAT)

DEGREE FOR BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

NAME: YEL DANIEL DENG

REG NO: SC221-0586/2016

UNIT CODE: BIT 2116

UNIT TITLE: NETWORK DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT

(Individual Assignment Four)

TASKS: ATTEMPT QUESTIONS

LECTURER PRESENTED TO: FRANCIS THIONGO

DATE: 13th November 2017 DATE due: 25th November 2017

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Consider the following scenario and write a brief response to the questions at the end of the
scenario.
MUNYUGU is a company that sells mobile and landline telephone systems. They have
employed you as their Network Architect. You are responsible for the planning and design of
their new computer system. MUNYUGU is expanding and opening a new store in MOMBASA.
Currently, the company has stores in the KISUMU, MACHAKOS and NAIROBI where the
Head Office is located.
The IT infrastructure must cater for the following specifications:
 There will be four staff at the MOMBASA store: The Store Manager and three sales
staff.
 View the MOMBASA office floor plan in the next page
 Some corporate applications, such as the financial systems and payroll, are run at
Head Office and must be accessible to the Store Manager.
 All computers must be able to print.
 All computers must be able to connect to the Internet.
Question 1
In the NAIROBI office the network is connected via a hub. Laptops used by sales staff are
connected via under floor category 5 cabling. Identify how the NAIROBI office network
design has become obsolete. What could be done to avoid a similar situation at the new
MOMBASA store? [20 marks]
How the Nairobi office network has become obsolete.
 The hub Nairobi office its using does not prioritize or organize traffic and this does not
improving network experience.
 The hub in use by Nairobi office can only communicate in half-duplex mode; therefore,
it can only send or receive data at any given time.
 Hub in a network situation is constantly switching between sending and receiving data,
which creates inefficient data flow process.
 Network hub shares all their bandwidth between every connected device. In hypothetical
situation, a 100-base hub has 100 Mbps worth of bandwidth that it can share between
four different computers that are sharing the connection. If one computer is sending a
large file to another computer, it is going to occupy all the bandwidth and give the other
two computers slow network access.
 Hub in use by Nairobi office is unable to differentiate between the devices on the
network. If one computer is trying to reach another on a hub-based network, the computer
will send the message to every other computer on the network, consuming bandwidth for
each transfer.
 Hubs are unable to support the networks that are large, because hubs send all traffic to all
devices on the network. This does not support network expansion because the more
Nairobi office add devices on a network, the slower the network gets.

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  Nairobi office is using under floor category 5 cabling which is very limited on its top
end for data transfer. The cable can only handle 100 megabytes per second, and thus is
not effective for larger corporate networks or any process that requires large data streams.
 The category 5 cabling is sensitive to interference. Cat5’s effectiveness is greatly
reduced by electrostatic disturbances from many handheld devices and other objects that
project inductive interferences.
 Cat 5 cabling can also be interfered by other cat5 cables nearby and this may results into
cross-talk which can cause serious problems with data transfer and signal strength.
 Cat5 cabling has less transfer speed as compared to cat6 cable and this might have cause
the Nairobi office network to become obsolete.
 Cat5 cabling doesn’t allow staff in Nairobi office to move from place to place because
connection disappears if the staff disconnect the cable.

What could be done to avoid a similar situation at the new MOMBASA store?

Use wireless router instead of a hub. This is because wireless router:

 Is convenient: The ultimate objective of technology is to make lives more convenient.

Wireless router can make lives of staff in Mombasa more convenient by diminishing the
need of wires. No trouble associated with wires when it comes to wireless routers; one
can now avoid mess which is petty annoying.
 Uses radio waves technology to provide internet connections: This is caused by
advancement in new technology that provide countless benefits.
 Provides easy access to the internet: Wireless router will let staff access the internet
easily without any involvement of wires. Staff can now use internet using wireless router
24/7.
 Are advocates of portability: It promotes high mobility. Now staff can carry on their
work while moving within the area of network.
 Allows multiple connections: Wired connections will restrict number of connections.
With wired connections, staff can only use one device at a time. Staff will need extra
wires and equipment to use more than one which will further add to the inconvenience.
Wireless router is remedial in this scenario. Multiple connections get easy with wireless
routers. Staff can connect multiple devices with router each having a distinctive IP
address.
 Routers are more useful in networks that have multiple subnetworks and physically
separated networks in different sites or campuses, as routing protocols allow
heterogeneous networks to talk to each other.
 Routing protocols knows the best paths to other networks (including the internet)
typically without additional configuration.
 Routers regenerate data indefinitely across networks with no degradation.

Use category 7 cabling (cat7) instead of category 5 cabling (cat5)

 Cat7 has advantages over cat5 because of shielding of its twisted pairs, which
significantly improves noise resistance.
 Even though cat7 is the most expensive option, it is the most durable and has longer
lifespan than cat5 and cat6, improving its overall return on investment, and is the best
choices for wiring with the future in mind.

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  By using cat7, staff at Mombasa store is going to get a reliable smart store that works
every time.
 With a cat7 cable, the manager at the Mombasa store can create an expandable and
flexible cabling system which will save staff the expense of re-wiring for new features in
the future.
 Cat7 provides more power and less voltage than cat5. This is because it has larger copper
cross-section than the cat5. This also means that the individual cores in cat7 are easier to
work with.
 Cat 7 is much more resilient to interference compared to cat5 cable. This is because cat7
has an overall shield as well as individual shielding of every pair.

Question 2
Which networking devices would be appropriate to connect the MOMBASA store to the Head
Office? [15 marks]

The appropriate networking devices:

 Switches or wireless routers should be deployed within the Mombasa store office.
 Fast internet connections and an operating system that support wireless networks are
needed.
 Wireless access points could be used to access the internet from the head office. It is
much cheaper than using the ground cabling from the head office to the Mombasa store.
 Microwave will also be used as an accessing point from the main office, because wireless
signals should be received by the Mombasa store through microwave device.
 Radio waves, infrared and the laser. In this, signals flows through the air.
 Using antenna. Antennas pick up the incoming signals or radiating outing Wi-Fi signals.
Some Wi-Fi antennas are mounted externally while others are embedded inside the
device’s hardware enclosure.
 Towers: Towers are a very tool iron-framed structure on which microwave, satellite or
other communication antennas are installed.
The tower in this case is used to hold the repeater and raise it higher in the space in order
to have clear line-of-sight (LOS) for the signal so that such signal cannot be interfered with
by obstacles such as mountains or tall buildings

Question 3
The MOMBASA store is located on the ground floor of an office block. In the future it is hoped
that one of the floors within the office block could be acquired to establish a regional
headquarters. Describe the appropriate infrastructure required to connect the ground floor store
with the office floor? Consider networking devices, communication media and structured cabling
requirements. [15 marks]

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  To connect the ground floor with office, we connect it through vertical cabling. Vertical
wiring is where the cable coming from top of the roof to the floor of the ground room.
 Horizontal cabling must be used to connect the computers within the ground floor store
after receiving the vertical cable from the office floor.
 The appropriate infrastructure required to connect the ground floor store, are networking
hardware, software, cables for the wiring.
 The networking designer always considered the network the infrastructure before starting
installing the internet in an organization offices. These infrastructures are the backbone of
any internetworking.

 The internet connection in the ground floor will be based on the physical cabling, hence
the computers within the store should be wired in order to access the internet.

The networking devices that will be used for the network are:
Routers:
 A router can be used to connect different types of networks
 It has access to level 3 routing information, can dynamically make the best (cheapest,
fastest, etc) choice of route between the networks.
 Routers divide the network logically instead of physically.
 Routers operate at the network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI model, and they are far more
intelligent than bridges in sending incoming packets off to their destination.
 Routers can route only protocols that are routable.

Switches:
 Permits separate pairs of computers to communicate at the same time
 Higher cost than hub
 They are connection-oriented and dynamically switch among their various ports to create
these connections
 Can switch connections from one port to another, and they can do so rapidly.

Network Interface Card:

 Provides the physical connection between the network and the computer workstation.
 NICs are a major factor in determining the speed and performance of a network.

Communication media required:

A wide variety of media are available, but they fall into two classes;

Bounded media:
 Confine the data to specific physical pathways.
 Common examples include copper wire and optical fiber cables.

Unbounded media:

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In this media data signals flow through the air. Unbounded media include: radio waves,
microwave, infrared and the laser.
Transmit the data-carrying signal through space, independent of a cable.

Types of bounded media

 Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
 Shielded twisted pair (STP)

Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)

UTP- is the most common type of telecommunication when compared to STP which consists of
two conductors usually copper, each with its own color plastic insulator for identification. UTP
cable consists of 2 or 4 pairs of twisted cable. Cable with 2 pair use RJ-11 connector and 4 pair
use RJ-45 connector.

Shielded twisted pair (STP)

STP- this cable has a metal foil or braided-mesh covering which encases each pair of
insulated conductors. Electromagnetic noise penetration is prevented by metal casing.
Shielding also eliminates crosstalk.

Structured cabling requirements.

Cat 6 UTP cable could be used for cabling

Question Create a network diagram outlining your proposed network design for the new
MUNYUGU MOMBASA office.
[15 marks]

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 The Munyugu Network Design Diagram

Shared Resources (Printer)

The store Manager s computer

Wireless Router Modem ISP

Staff sales computer 1 Staff sales computer 2 Staff sales computer 3

The diagram above shows the architectural network design for Munyugu, Mombasa office.
The office comprise of manager’s store, three staff sales computers and shared resources e.g. one printer.

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