Fundamentals of Computer Systems Final Assessment – Research Task: Question 1: Networking (15 marks) A small college has an office and two classrooms. In the office there is a router/switch connected...

answer the questions, no plagiarism, use simple vocabulary and include computer science terminology


Fundamentals of Computer Systems Final Assessment – Research Task: Question 1: Networking (15 marks) A small college has an office and two classrooms. In the office there is a router/switch connected to the Internet, a computer that acts as a file server for all the other computers and another computer that is used by the college principal. In each classroom there is a computer for the teacher with an interactive screen. Each computer is connected to the router/switch using Cat5 ethernet cables. This is shown in figure 1. Next year the college is expanding so they will have the office, 5 classrooms and a teachers’ staffroom with 4 computers. They would also like students to be able to connect their laptops to the file server and Internet while they are in the classrooms or in the student breakout area as shown below This is shown in figure 2. (a) Describe in your own words each of the following network topologies · Bus topology · Mesh topology · Ring topology · Star topology · Tree topology[3] (b) State which topology the college is using before expanding and give a reason for your answer. Your reason should be in your own words and be specific to the connections in this example.[3] (c) Write a recommendation to the college describing how they should upgrade their network after the expansion. The recommendation should be in your own words and should include: · Which topology or topologies they should use (and why) · How the computers will be connected (and why) · Which additional pieces of hardware will be needed (and why) (Your recommendation should be about 200 words and may include diagrams. If you include diagrams from another source, you must give a reference to the source).[9] Figure 1- Floor plan of college before expansion showing networked devices and Cat 5 ethernet cable connections in blue Figure 2 – Floor plan of college after expansion (connections not shown) Question 2: Protocols used on the internet (10 marks) A protocol is a specification for a set of rules used in internet communications. Several protocols are used to specify different aspects of the communication. For convenience, these protocols are arranged into layers so that the protocols in each layer govern one aspect of the communication. Two models for organising protocols into stacks of layers are the OSI Seven-Layer model and the TCP/IP model. (a) Describe in your own words the function of each of the seven layers of the OSI model. [5] (b) In your own words, compare the OSI Seven-Layer model and the TCP/IP model. [5] (Your answers to parts (a) and (b) should be about 200 words in total and may include diagrams. If you use diagrams from another source, you must give a reference to the source).