Network Design

Posted on October 12, 2019 Posted in A Level Concepts, Computer Science, Computing Concepts, GCSE Concepts

In this post we will investigate the different components needed to set up a network. We
will investigate their purpose and how all the devices are connected together to create a
basic network diagram/design.

Your task will then to design the network diagram for your school or organisation.

LAN vs WAN
A LAN (Local Area Network) is a network located on one site, where all the computers are
geographically close to each others.

A WAN (Wide Area Network) is a network that is spread accross multiple sites
sometimes geographically remote to one another. A WAN consists of several LANs
connected together, often using third party equipment and cables. (e.g. BT lines in the
UK or AT&T lines in the US)
The Internet is an example of WAN (the largest of all WANs!).
A router is needed to connect a LAN to a WAN (or to the Internet).

Star Topology
A network topology defines the layout of a network. It describes how different
components/nodes of a network are connected together. One of the most frequent topology
used in a LAN is the star topology where all computers and other devices are all connected
to a central node: either a hub or a switch.
 Both a hub or a switch have the same
purposes: to connect multiple computers or devices in a star topology. A hub is not as efficient
as a switch and would often have less ethernet ports (e.g. typically 4 or 8 ports)

A switch being more efficient than a hub

could have a larger number of devices connected (e.g. up to 28 Ethernet ports).
Switch-Star Topology
To build a larger network, it is possible to combine multiple star networks using a central
switch. This create a “switch-star” topology:

Other Topologies
Note that there are other types of topologies which are not based on the star topology. (e.g. bus
topology, ring topology, full and partial mesh topologies). However, for now, we will focus on
star based topologies as these are the most frequently used topologies to build a LAN for a
school or small a business.
Network Components (Hardware)
At this stage, we have already looked at three of the main types of network components: router,
hub and switch. Other devices can also be used on a network such as a Wireless Access Point
(WAP) and a Firewall.

Router

A router is needed to connect a LAN to a WAN (or to the Internet). A router scans data
packets and redirects them towards the LAN or towards other routers depending on their
origin and their destination.

Switches and Hubs

A switch is a network component used to connect multiple devices together in a star topology.
A switch would have a number of Ethernet ports (typically between 8 and 28 ports) to connect to
other devices such as workstations and servers, WAPs, other hubs or switches or to a firewall
or a router.

A switch is more efficient than a hub as it

can redirect traffic towards the device it is aimed at. Switches can hence be used on larger
networks where hubs would be inefficient. (e.g. school network, hospital network, etc).
A hub is a network component used to connect multiple devices together in a star
topology. A hub would have a number of Ethernet ports (typically between 5 and 8
ports) to connect to other devices such as workstations and servers, WAPs, other hubs
or switches or to a firewall or a router.

A hub is not as efficient as a switch and hence should only be used on a small network.
(e.g. home network).

Wireless Access Point (WAP)

A Wireless Access Point (WAP) is a network component used to connect multiple

devices together without using wires. A WAP could hence be described as being a
wireless hub! It provides WiFi access to a network.
Most WAPs have a fairly small coverage area (10 to 30 meters) hence several WAPs
may be required to cover a large building.
Devices equipped with a wireless Network Interface Card (NIC) can connect to a WAP.
Wireless data can easily be intercepted by potential hackers hence the need to encrypt
wireless transmissions and to set a network key to restrict access to a wireless network
(WiFi).

Firewall

A firewall is a network component that usually “sits” just after the main router. It scans
all incoming traffic to identify/block and report potential security threats coming from
“outside” (e.g. the Internet) before they can reach the rest of the Local Area Network. A
firewall is a necessary precaution to to minimise the risk of hackers illegally accessing a
network.

NIC Cards

To connect a workstation to a LAN, the workstation needs to be equipped with

a Network Interface Card (NIC). The NIC card will have a wired connection (e.g.
Ethernet port) and/or a wireless connection to connect wirelessly to a WAP (Wireless
Access Point).

Ethernet Cables

Networking cables are used to connect one network device to other network devices or
to connect two or more computers to share printers, scanners etc.
 The most widely used network cables are Ethernet Cables of different categories (Cat3,
Cat5, Cat6, etc). These are fairly cheap, strong and can support a bandwidth of either
10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) or even 10Gbps.
Other types of cables that can be used on a network include coaxial cables (10 Mbps)
and optic fibre cables (10 Gbps).

Did you know?

On a home network, a router is often an “all in one” device which includes a router, a
hub or a switch, a Wireless Access Point (WAP) and a firewall, all in one box called
router (or home hub).

SERVER CLIENT NETWORK

A computer on a network is called a workstation. Two types of network can be setup.

 Peer-to-peer networks
 Client-server networks

Peer-to-peer networks

In a peer-to-peer network, all computers are sharing files and other resources between
each other without the use of a central server. This makes it easy to setup the network
as there is no need to acquire and setup expensive servers. However, this can be
difficult to manage as maintenance and computer upgrades (including security patches,
virus protection) have to be performed on each single computer instead of being done
centrally. This is the main reason why peer-to-peer networks are considered as less
secure than client-server networks.

Client-Server networks

In a client-server network, end-users access the network by logging on a client

computer/workstation. Other computers called servers (often with higher specifications)
are also connected to the network and provide a dedicated and centralised service to all
the workstations. There are different types of servers as described below. On a small
network, a single server can have multiple purposes (e.g. web server and e-mail server
or a proxy and a cache server)
 A server with large storage capacity used to store all the files from all the network users as
File server from shared network areas.

A server that manages all e-mail accounts and transfers (sending/receiving) of e-mails for all

E-Mail server users.

A server with large storage capacity used to store backups (copies) of files and data from
Backup servers/workstations. Should the live data be corrupted or deleted, backed up data ca
server recovered from the backup server.

A server that manage all print requests from network users, manage print queues and en

Print server print credits.

A server that has all the applications and software upgrades files so that they can be cen
Application managed and centrally applied to all workstations that connect to the applications server t
and install the latest upgrades when relevant. On occasion applications can also run direc
server
an application server, reducing the need to install these on each workstation of the net

Multimedia A server with large storage capacity used to store all multimedia content (video clips, aud
etc.).
server

A server used to host a website or internal webpages. The server contains all the necess
Web server (web pages, graphics, etc.) and processes all web requests from web users.

A server that temporary stores recently accessed data/files so that they can be retrieved fr
Cache server cache server at a faster rate.

A proxy server functions as an intermediary between a client and a server.

Proxy server It can be used to monitor access to the Internet and apply necessary restrictio
and filters to allow or block access to specific websites (e.g. educational filter
 A server on the Internet used to lookup domain names to retrieve their matching IP addr
These are necessary as end-users prefer to type web addresses or e-mail addresses
DNS server domain names such as www.101computing.net as these are easier to remember tha
addresses. The domain name servers will convert/lookup such domain names to find
matching IP addresses needed to connect to the relevant servers.

Design Your Own Network

Use our network designer tool to create the layout of the network used in your
school/organisation: