The Quality of the Network
This is the one subject that truly makes me nervous, perhaps because I have gone through the trials and tribulations of setting up and maintaining networks in my workplace. I must admit that technology has improved a great deal over the years, and the quality issue has somewhat settled in the most part, but it was not always that easy. We had to deal with all sort of inconveniences regarding; software, PC equipment, peripherals, physical network design, etc. The combination of all these factors is what ultimately determines the quality of the local area network. There is another huge element involved, which is the bandwidth available. I will cover both aspects throughout this paper, and will analyze some relevant issues regarding the importance of quality of service in general
Selection of Equipment
Quality begins with the selection of the components. These components are not only limited to hardware itself, but the software also plays an important roll in the development of quality in general. In the world of networks, cheap, does not work, no matter how hard we try, so our first order of business is to acquire some well known, top of the line equipment. For this matter, we must develop a deep sense of researching and getting to get familiar with what is out there leading the industry. Who is using what, or how effective and reliable the equipment performs, and what kind of efficiency is being provided in general; should be the dictating rules when choosing components. Where to obtain the equipment is another important factor that seems irrelevant, but as a general rule, we must stay away from those stores that advertise products at unbelievable low prices. I will not dare mentioning the name of any these stores. It would not be appropriate for ethical reasons, but if your electronic component fries within a week after you have purchased it, you must stay away from that store.
Consolidating LAN Quality
One of the most significant improvements in network hardware has been the migration from traditional hubs to switches. In essence, a hub and a switch do the same functions, but they are two different components in technological structure and performance. A switch, guarantees the QoS for higher priority traffic, provides adequate security, gives a better response time, and it prevents more collision and packet losses.
In conclusion, a local area network is made up of computers and a myriad of devices, such as routers, servers, switches, and firewalls. In order for it to connect to the Internet, a router must be installed. Servers provide special functions such as printing, file sharing, etc. Switches connect the computers together from different parts of the network. Firewalls prevent unauthorized access. There are a host of other devices that may be used as well. These devices are hubs, gateways, repeaters, wireless access points,
A Hub is a networking device that allows one to connect multiple PCs to a single network. Hubs may be based on Ethernet, Firewire, or USB connections. “A switch is a control unit that turns the flow of electricity on or off in a circuit. It may also be used to route information patterns in streaming electronic data sent over networks. “
As part of its strategies RadioShack needs to expand and a "Worldwide Innovation" initiative, and in an effort to continue being aggressive, their new strategies needs to be innovative and consumer oriented. Additionally, if RadioShack wants to compete, they need to guarantee the best quality at the best price. Therefore, RadioShack requires assistance in sourcing the best quality products and best technology.
In the article, “Connectivity and Its Discontent,” by Sherry Turkle, the author discusses the relationship between human beings and technology. First, the author begins the article by explaining why people choose to text message because it is easier compared to face to face contact. On the other hand, technology can prevent a person from feeling lonely and having power to control a conversation. In addition, the author states how a person can multitask while communicating with someone on video chat, yet a person can feel at times guilt-ridden by ignoring a person sending emails while socializing on video chats. Meanwhile, Turkle contends that some people are choosing to be closer to their devices by focusing on themselves and not show consideration
Meanwhile, the advent of early PC’s and the recognition of the value in networking devices together gave rise to Local Area Networks. These LAN’s were developed from a business customer perspective, which placed more emphasis on costs and ease of use over reliability. There were a number of different competing LAN technologies, two of the most common being Token Ring (IBM) and Ethernet (everyone else). The triumph of Ethernet in the marketplace, to the extent where it is included in every PC, game console and some refrigerators, provides a consistent and relatively inexpensive way to build internal networks with relative ease.
A network hub is a device which enables more than one computer to interconnect on a network.
High quality products which translates into low cost of ownership over the entire life
Token ring networks had significantly superior performance and reliability compared to early shared-media implementations of Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), and were widely adopted as a higher-performance alternative to shared-media Ethernet.
The products will be reviewed by cost as well as functionality, comparing components most closely related to one another.
Network hardware is used in the first three layers of the OSI reference model. The OSI reference model is the Open Systems Interconnections standard and consists of seven layers that build from the wire. At the first layer, “the physical layer”, hubs maybe used for simple, inexpensive technology within a corporation. Hubs, when receiving data sent to it, sends that data too all network interface cards, or NICS on each computer. If the data is at its correct destination, the NIC to read the data, but if it is not, the data is discarded. Of course, this setting is much slower, because the other NICS are waiting for there turn, which is after the first message is delivered or timed out. Raymond R. Panko writes this about the waiting state a hub goes in when transmitting data: “This creates latency (delay), which grows as the number of stations grows. Another way of saying this is that the speed of the hub is shared. (Panko 108)” As, you can tell, hubs are simple, and don’t use more information than needed.
The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model is essential to the world of computer networking. The model was created in 1977 by the International Standards Committee, in response to a difficulty that was facing computer networkers at the time (Shelly, Cashman, and Serwatka 142). In order to understand the difficulty, one must first realize that computer networks consist of computer hardware, the software that is to be used in conjunction with this hardware, and the medium (such as wiring or cabling) that will interconnect the computing devices that are in the network. The computer networker’s job is to determine which hardware, software, and medium types will create the network that will best suit his client’s needs. Then, the networker must combine these elements into a functional system of interconnected computers (Fortino and Villeneuve 112). It was in attempting this latter task that the computer networker of the late 1970s often found himself in a pickle. The problem was that each vendor of computing equipment had developed his own unique set of products; products that were incompatible with the products of other vendors. This incompatibility made it very difficult for a computer networker to combine the various network components into an operational computer network (Stamper 27).
A network switch is a networking device that connects devices together on a network enacting a form of packet switching. It operates in the Data Link layer of the OSI model. It essentially acts like a multi-port network bridge that processes and forwards data. Other types of switches have additional features such as the ability to route packets. Those switches are commonly known as layer-3 or multilayer switches.
Talking on the Internet, people regress. It's that simple. It can be one-to-one talk on e-mail or many-to-many talk on one of the LISTs or newsgroups. People regress, expressing sex and aggression as they never would face to face.
Local Area Networks also called LANs have been a major player in industrialization of computers. In the past 20 or so years the worlds industry has be invaded with new computer technology. It has made such an impact on the way we do business that it has become essential with an ever-growing need for improvement. LANs give an employer the ability to share information between computers with a simple relatively inexpensive system of network cards and software. It also lets the user or users share hardware such as Printers and scanners. The speed of access between the computers is lighting fast because the data has a short distance to cover. In most cases a LAN only occupies one or a group of buildings located next to each other. For larger area need there are several other types of networks such as the Internet.
Assigning the precise amount of network capacity in the right place at the right time is no simple task. Network Planners cannot afford to overbuild, as this would consume scarce investment resources that could be better used elsewhere. They also cannot delay expansion as this may result in poor service to customers and under-utilize other network assets. A balanced approach is needed in order to meet the rapidly growing and changing traffic demands. Advanced network planning and design software provides benefit to network planners in the following ways: