The following assignment is taken from the Network Consultants Handbook. Your responses should come from that text. However, you may also select any other text (the more recent, the better) and submit the following photocopies together with your response:

• The title page of the other text, showing the title, author, publisher, and date
• The page(s) that show the answers to the question. (Be sure to mark the photocopy, indicating the exact location of the answer).

Instructions:

• Answer each question completely
• Answer each question in your own words
• Answer each question according to this book and not according to any other sources.
• Use simple language so that I can be sure that you understand the topic
• Allow less than a month to complete the assignment and to schedule the next meeting
• Next to each answer, write the following:
  • The number of the page where you located the answer
  • The location on the page where you found the answer
  • A note or comment about any problems or difficulties you may have had with this question
• Answer eight out of nine questions

When your project is ready,

• Type your answers to the assignment
• Give me TWO (2) printouts of your answers
• Give me the book
• Give me a list of your questions about the material

After I have received all of these materials, we will schedule the next session.

Content of the next session

• Answering any questions that you submitted in advance.
• Oral examination on the book.

The assignment

1. You want to set up a fast Internet connection
   • Explain the differences among the various types of available Internet connections
   • What are their advantages and disadvantages?
   • What problems may occur or be foreseen with each option?
   • What is the procedure for setting up each option?
2. List and explain four different kinds of LAN topologies
   • What are the advantages and disadvantages of using each topology?
   • What is the speed of each topology?
   • Explain that speed in terms that a client can understand
   • Explain your considerations to the client, in terms of pros and cons
   • What is the procedure for setting up each topology?
3. You are setting up a network for a client who knows very little about computers
   • Explain what you are about to do in simple terms
   • Describe the pros and cons of your method
   • Help the client evaluate the different options, and then help him select the one that is best for his needs
4. What kinds of cables are used in different types of networks?
   • Describe each one
   • What is unique or different about each one?
   • When is each type of cable used?
   • What precautions are necessary when cabling networks?
   • Are certain cables better suited for certain topologies?
5. When should I use a router, a switch, or a hub?
   • Are there other ways to connect computers?
   • Describe each of these devices
   • Show what is similar and what is different among all of them
   • What are their advantages or disadvantages?
   • Describe if and when the topology affects the use of a different device.
   • When and why is each one used?
6. What different protocols are used in computers?
   • Explain each of the protocols
   • Why are there different protocols?
   • What are there differences among them?
   • When and why is each one used?
7. Describe the different kinds of gateways and firewalls
   • Why does each one exist?
   • What is unique or different about each one?
   • When is each one used?
   • What precautions have to be taken when setting them up?
   • When would you recommend each one to a client?
   • What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one?
8. Describe how banks and airlines set up networks over large distances
   • What cables, protocols, or other technology are used?
   • What considerations must be taken into account when setting up these large networks?
   • What advantages and disadvantages are there for each method?
9. A bank president who knows nothing about computers wants to know how to set up a multi-national network. He wants to know everything that is necessary in order to make an informed decision.
   • How would you help him select the components and system that are best for his bank?
   • How would you explain what you are doing, so that he understands the advantages and disadvantages of the final decision?