You are the IT manager of an Elementary School. The school is adding computers that have been donated by a local company. An extended star topology has been suggested, using some hubs that are available. The school agrees with your idea of adding a switch working as a backbone switch, as shown in the figure below. The plan is to replace the classroom hubs as the budget allows.
Scenario: For now, the very basic details are as follows: the Elementary School is a four-year-old, single-level building with 12 classrooms and a library. Each classroom currently has 24 students but could possibly seat 32 students. There are currently no portable classrooms but a student enrollment growth is just starting to hit the school.
Enough computers are available for six classrooms and the library immediately, and the intent is to outfit the remaining six classrooms next year. The plan is to make the Internet and some online services available to the students. The computers are current enough to be useful for at least two years.
The library, which is somewhat centrally located, is where the server(s) and router connecting the school to the Internet will be located. Assume that all rooms will have 24 computers and that each room will use a stackable hub solution that combines a 12-port hub and a 24-port hub for 36 total ports. Being stackable units, the network will see each stack as a single 36-port device.
Review the room requirements above. What type of network media is most appropriate for this situation?
How many IP addresses does the school need immediately? How many might the school eventually need for the initial seven rooms? How many could it need if it gets enough computers for the entire school? Exact numbers aren't expected, but you should be able to estimate pretty close from the data provided.
What class(es) of IP address do you need now and in the future?
The school district informs the group that it can afford 2 public IP addresses for the Internet access. Is this a problem if the school wants all the computers to access the Internet? Explain why or why not.
Visit the Library and look up links to find the prices of routers, cable, and switches. In some sites, you may have to choose Networking on the site's main page to get started. If you aren't familiar with manufacturers, try Cisco, 3Com, Novell, D-Link, and Linksys.
To determine the most appropriate network media for this situation, we need to consider the distance between the classrooms and the library, as well as the cost and performance requirements. Generally, for local area networks (LANs) in a school setting, Ethernet cables are commonly used due to their reliability and cost-effectiveness. Specifically, you can consider using Category 5e or Category 6 Ethernet cables, which provide sufficient bandwidth and support for the required distance.
Regarding IP addresses, we need to calculate the total number of devices that will require an IP address. Based on the information provided, there are currently 6 classrooms and 1 library, each with 24 computers. Therefore, the school needs 6 classrooms + 1 library = 7 rooms * 24 computers = 168 IP addresses immediately.
For the initial seven rooms, assuming each room will eventually have 32 students, and considering that each student will have a computer, we can calculate the potential number of IP addresses needed. Therefore, 7 rooms * 32 computers = 224 IP addresses might be needed for the initial seven rooms.
If the school eventually gets enough computers for the entire school, we need to know the number of classrooms. Assuming each classroom will have 32 students and computers, and considering the 12 existing classrooms along with the additional 6 classrooms, the total number of IP addresses needed for the entire school would be 18 classrooms * 32 computers = 576 IP addresses.
To determine the class(es) of IP addresses needed, we can consider the number of IP addresses required. In this scenario, the school needs at least a Class C IP address range (with a range of 256 addresses) for all three cases described above. However, if the school expands and requires more than 256 addresses in the future, then a Class B IP address range (with a range of 65,536 addresses) would be needed.
As for the availability of public IP addresses for Internet access, having only 2 public IP addresses could be problematic if the school wants all the computers to access the Internet. Public IP addresses are globally unique, and each device that accesses the Internet generally requires its own unique public IP address. With only 2 public IP addresses, the school would not have enough addresses to assign to each computer. However, this can be resolved by implementing Network Address Translation (NAT) on the router, which allows multiple devices to share a single public IP address.
To find the prices of routers, cables, and switches, you can visit the websites of networking equipment manufacturers such as Cisco, 3Com, Novell, D-Link, and Linksys. You can start by searching for their respective websites and then navigate to their networking products section. From there, you can explore the product listings and check the prices of routers, cables, and switches that suit your requirements and budget.