Task
This assessment item aims to develop and gauge student understanding of the key topics covered so far. Answering these questions will help you build some understanding for the next assessment item as well as for the entire subject material. It is expected that answers to the assignment questions be succinct (i.e. precise and concise) with all sources of information fully referenced as per APA referencing style. You have to reference the text book and any additional material you have used in your answers.
Note that the guide for APA referencing is provided in the Resource section of Interact site.
Answers MUST be written in your own words. If an answer contains more than 20% direct quote (referenced or unreferenced) 0 marks will be awarded for this question. One or two sentence answers will be too short and only receive low marks. Answers longer than 1.5 pages (12 point font, single line spacing) may incur a penalty if too much non-relevant information is stated. For mathematical and subnetting questions it is expected that you show intermediate steps of your working. Just stating the correct solution will result in low marks, on the other hand if the working is correct and you only made minor mistakes, you will still be awarded marks, even though the final answer is wrong.
Question 1
What is a protocol in the context of communication network? Describe the purpose of protocol analysis. Your answer should contain description of a real-time situation where protocol analyser can be used. List any three popular protocol analyzer solutions currently available in the market. [ 5 Marks]
Question 2
You are asked to visit a pharmaceutical company to help troubleshoot some network connectivity problems. The company’s network consists of 11 workstations connected by a single 24 port hub. The company manager describes the problem as consistent and explains that every morning there is a five minute delay to connect to the main server. The manager indicates that every user on the network has the same problem. Using your protocol analyzer where would you tap into this network and why? Explain how this network is different to modern networks. [ 5 Marks]
Question 3
Differentiate between distance vector routing and link state routing. Your answer should describe the key features of the two utlising some real time examples and where possible supported by diagrams. [ 5 Marks]
Question 4
Complete following Hands-On Projects from the prescribed textbook (Pyles, Carell & Tittel 2017).
i. Hands-On Project 1-1
ii. Hands-On Project 1-2
In order to complete this activity, students should insert screenshots in the assignment document along with a short description of each step taken to complete the projects. [ 5 Marks]
Question 5
As a network administrator for a medium sized company, you have been asked to design a network by utilizing 10.0.0.0 private IP address. The network will span six buildings with a router in each building to join the networks. Currently, the company has approximately a total of 1,000 workstations in the following locations:
• Building A - 200 workstations
• Building B - 125 workstations
• Building C - 135 workstations
• Building D - 122 workstations
• Building E - 312 workstations
• Building F - 105 workstations
It is assumed that each building will have its own single subnet, design a simple addressing solution that leaves room for growth and is easy to administer. Explain what happens to your design if the number of hosts per network jumps to over 1,024 per building. [ 5 Marks]

Question 6
Explain the purpose of QoS on a TCP/IP network. Define the basic purpose and differentiate between IP precedence, TOS, ECN and Diffserv functionalities. [ 5 Marks]
Rationale
This assessment aims to assess the following learning objectives of this subject:
• be able to analyse IP addressing requirements and design an addressing scheme;
• be able to analyse the requirements of IP routing and choose appropriate routing methods;
• be able to demonstrate how internetworking devices obtain their network configuration;
• be able to explain how data flows through the internet; and
• be able to ascertain and evaluate selection of applications and protocols for transferring data across the internet.