Asia Pacific University College of Technology & Innovation

LAN Switching & WAN Networks (LSWN) -CT032-3-2

Individual Assignment
Intake : UC2F1003 IT {NC}
Lecturer : Salmiah Amin
Email ID : salmiah@apiit.edu.my
Date Due : 17th December 2010 (Week 12)

Question 1
a) Compare and contrast between the functionality, pros and cons of Layer 2 (bridging) and
Layer 3 (pure routing) LAN switches.
[10 marks]

b) Illustrate using diagrams to describe the functionalities of common Layer 2 switches

(Store-and-Forward and Cut Through) and Layer 3 switches (Pure Routers).
[15 marks]

c) Describe the functionality of Spanning Tree algorithm and explain the benefits of
implementing such algorithm.
[9 marks]

d) Designing a medium-sized switched LAN:

This case study is to design a switched LAN that spans two buildings. Each building will
contain about 500 end users and a series of servers and other common resources.
i) Building 1 – Core and Centralized Resources Areas design
Building 1 contains 500 end users, of which 300 are to be attached to
MicroLAN and 200 are to receive dedicated switch ports. Within the
building are five Novell servers and ten UNIX servers providing NFS
services. This building also contains the Internet router/network address
translator for this organization. The core area of this building will consist
of one backbone switch providing 30 fast Ethernet interfaces. This switch
should have a multi-gigabit internal forwarding rate based on the large
number of 100-megabit interfaces required. Attached to this backbone
switch will be the 15 servers and the router. Each server will be given a
100-megabit interface to the backbone switch and as such should be
capable of delivering and receiving that much data. This may require that
the servers be upgraded in some cases.

Module: LSWN Asia Pacific University College of Technology & Innovation Page 1 of 4
 ii) Building 2 – Core and Centralized Resources Areas design
Building 2 houses 500 end users and 20 server-type devices, including
one mainframe. The users are all to be given dedicated switch ports.
To
build the core of this building, a single large backbone switch will be
deployed. This switch will have about 40 fast Ethernet interfaces. The
internal capacity of this switch should be in the multi-gigabit per
second range to support so many interfaces. Each of the server
resources will be given a dedicated 100-megabit Ethernet switch port.
It
may be necessary to provide one FDDI interface to the
supercomputer,
since that is its preferred technology.

iii) Building 1 to Building 2 connection

To connect the two buildings, a trunk group of four to six full-duplex
fast Ethernet interfaces will be used. Other options could include the
use of a gigabit Ethernet link between chassis, if it is available, or the
use of trunked FDDI connections if long distance is needed. The trunk
group should be deployed with only a few links initially, since both
buildings contain servers. Once the system is operational, the traffic
levels and patterns through the trunked inter-building links should be
closely monitored. If the links are saturated, adding more links
should alleviate the issues.

Draw the network diagram to implement the above design specification and requirements.
[21 marks]

Question 2
a) Describe with proper justification the reasons for implementing VLANs.
[10 marks]

b) Describe four (4) methods how MAC layer end-users are associated with a particular
VLAN or VLANs.
[8 marks]

c) Describe the advantages and disadvantages of VLAN tagging.

[8 marks]

d) Describe the minimum functionality, features, and capabilities of 802.1Q standard for
VLANs.
[9 marks]

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ASSESSMENT
Marking Grid
Student name:

Student Id.:

Intake code: Marks

Question 1
a) - Functionality, Pros & Cons of Layer 2 switches [5 marks]
- Functionality, Pros & Cons of Layer 3 switches [5 marks]
(Max. 10 marks)

b) - Functionality diagram of Layer 2 switches [10 marks]

- Functionality diagram of Layer 3 switches [5 marks]

(Max. 15 marks)

c) - Description of Spanning Tree algorithm [5 marks]

- Benefits of implementing Spanning Tree algorithm [4 marks]

(Max. 9 marks)

d) - Designing medium-sized switched LAN

i) Building 1 [8 marks]

ii) Building 2 [8 marks]

iii) Connecting Building 1 and Building 2 [5 marks] (Max. 21 marks)

e) - Referencing/Citations [5 marks]
(Max. 5 marks)

Question 2
a) Justification for implementing VLANs [10 marks]

b) Four methods of associating end-users with VLANs [8marks]

c) Advantages and Disadvantages of VLAN tagging [8 marks]

d) Description of functionality, features & capabilities of 802.1Q

[9
marks]
e) Referencing/Citations
[5
marks]
(Max. 40 marks)

TOTAL:

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ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS

1. You are required to work individually.

2. Attach the marking grid provided in the previous page as the cover page and complete
your particulars accordingly.

3. As part of project management, you are required to develop a Gantt chart (project plan)
that indicates clearly the activities required in order for the project to be a success.

4. The report has to be well presented and should be typed. Submission of reports that are
unprofessional in its outlook (dirty, disorganised, inconsistent look, varying coloured
paper and size) will not fair well when marks are allocated.

5. Every report must have a front cover. A transparent plastic sheet can be placed in front of
the report to protect the front cover. The front cover should have the following details:-

a) Student Name.

b) Intake code.

c) Subject/Module name.

d) Date Assigned (the date the report was handed out).

e) Date Completed (the date the report is due to be handed in).

6. Plagiarism is a serious offence and will automatically be awarded zero (0) marks.

7. All information, figures and diagrams obtained from external sources must be
referenced using the Harvard referencing system accordingly.

*IMPORTANT*

You have to hand in your assignment hardcopy on time with the Course Work Submission
and Feed Back Form.

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