January 7, 2003 Week 1: Day 1
Welcome to the Course!
Remember the most basic concept of telecommunications is that any two connected computers comprise a network. Most network communication, in fact, consists of conversations between two computers. The primary reason for implementing a network: sharing resources. Whether sharing data or sharing printers, networks are created to share resources. When it comes to sharing data, no standalone computer is as powerful or convenient as a group of networked computers.
As we discuss the concepts of Telecommunications, this semester we often forget about the key terms: Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) and Campus Area Network. These network types are often implemented as a middle state between a LAN and a WAN. MANs use WAN technologies to connect LANs within a fairly small geographic region, such as a city. Campus Area Networks sometimes use these same technologies or longer-distance LAN technologies to connect multiple buildings in a campus.
This question is worth a
prize package worth considerably less than 5 million
dollars. I challenge you to contact the network administrator on your
campus and ask them what type of configuration (in general) is the current network.
Also ask them what is the future plans for the network. Report this on the bulletin
board. I will guarantee that the question will appear on your midterm exam!
Hence, you are responsible for the answer!
First, let's define the term protocol
in regard to networking. Just as when two dignitaries meet at the UN, certain
rules apply to communication. These rules, or protocols, define how the computers
are identified, how they place data on the medium, and how they initiate and
manage communications sessions.
For two computers to communicate, they must use the same rules. Say, for example,
that two ambassadors met at the UN, one who speaks French, and one who speaks
Russian. If they do not share a common language, communication is impossible
without a translator. The same applies to computers on a network. They must
use the same "language" to communicate. The interactive exercise will
help you work through a few of the protocols that are important to this course.
Even though two computers may be using a common medium and protocol, they must
have networking software to communicate with each other. The client networking
software decides whether network access is needed. The server networking software
controls who has access to the information on the server and handles sharing
resources. The most prominent NOSs today are Microsoft's Windows 2000, Windows
NT and Novell's NetWare.
A very important concept to networking is the layered approach. For example,
the client NOS instructs the protocol to access the medium through the NIC to
exchange information with another computer. Each layer depends on the layers
below and above to supply particular pieces in the network communication model.
One of the key elements to this course is the MANAGEMENT of the telecommunications function. I would like for you to consider the following case:
Conglamo, a large, multi-national company is currently running a peer-to-peer network at each of its 35 sites. The sites are not currently connected, but they are planning to do so. To keep costs low, management would like to continue to use the peer-to-peer network. However, as the sites are linked together data will need to be shared between the users and security is very important. Should the company continue to use peer-to-peer networking? What arguments could you use to convince management to switch to a server-based network?
I will discuss the solution to this problem in the next lecture. Make sure that you work through the interactive exercises and the vocab section is very important.
ALSO, don't forget to upload your lesson when you are finished.
See you Thursday!
mdm