Devoted For Multi Vendor Network

Devoted For Multi Vendor Network1 IntroductionThis document is comprised of two chapters, bingle each for two case studies given in the assignment. depression chapter defines the diskless workstations and introduces the characteristics of diskless workstations. It too introduces the choices available in the thin client merchandise. First chapter overly discusses on how to choose an operating carcass for the diskless workstations. Later in the chapter, a news is made on interdependence among workstation and cyberspace hardware, when it comes to implementing diskless workstations in the engagement.Chapter two is devoted for multi-vendor net income concept/ Strategy. First, it discusses the pros and cons of multi-vendor engagementing systems. Then it evaluates the impact of current mesh technology and standards. further more than the chapter contains a discussion on how network protocols facilitate multi-vendor networks. In the final part of this document the role of the b undle and hardware components and also the guidelines for selecting innkeeper types for multi-vendor networks is also discussed.2 Case 1Task 1.1a) Diskless WorkstationsDiskless workstation is a computer system with no disk drives inst tout ensembleed locally therefore booting its operating system from a waiter in the local area network. Sometimes when a computer system is having a disk drive simply do not using it, that system is also called a diskless workstation. Diskless Workstations provide less costly but more secure net workings solutions for go-aheads.Characteristics of diskless workstations are,The operating system is loaded from the server when booting up. Obviously all the other software resides in the server. (Firmware is readyed on the diskless workstations itself to initiate the boot process)Processing is by in the diskless workstations, not in the server. In some implementations, processing is also done on the server and those diskless workstations are originall y called foreshorten clients.Both the raw data and processed data are stored in the server. Diskless workstation fetches them when needed.Choices available on the marketConventional Diskless workstations with lower processing power and memory. E.g. Dell Wyse R Thin clientHigh performance Thin clients like HP t510 Flexible Thin ClientServer choicesAlmost all the Linux flavours such as Ubuntu, openSUSE and etc. supports network booting and therefore can be installed on our centralized server. Also windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 supports booting over the local area network and therefore those operating systems can also be deployed. There are exploiter friendly ordinal party software available in the internet to facilitate easy deployment of diskless workstations in the company networks.When choosing an operating system for the diskless workstations following facts can be considered.Linux direct systems and the software are totally free, whereas windows operating systems cost hundreds o f US dollars (Agrawal et al, 2005).Linux supports many a(prenominal) more processor types and architectures than windows does.Since Linux is open source, an experienced IT administrator can change the demeanour of operating system as needed.Linux is extremely stable. It offers a feature called memory protection which prevents a crashed application from crashing the entire system (Agrawal et al, 2005).Linux offer more security measure than windows does. Linux doesnt fork up viruses and malwares as windows and therefore the server can operate freely without a danger to its operating system or data stored in it.Linux outperforms windows when it comes to multi user workstations. But sometimes Linux is more resource hungry than other workstations (Agrawal et al, 2005).Both Linux and Windows supports multi- tasking.b) Interdependence of workstation hardware with other network componentsDiskless workstations have their operating systems in the server. When workstation postulate to use a network component like a printer, the server will have to communicate with that network component. I.e. server has to communicate on behalf of all the diskless workstations. This can lead to congestions and change magnitude in traffic.Also, all the network computers are using the server hard disk, CPU, Memory and etc. workstation (Client) hardware has to wait until server hardware provides the data it requested. So the bottom line is deploying diskless workstations/ Network computers in the network will increase the Interdependence of workstation hardware. thus it is very important to install reliable hardware and software components in the server, and implement backup techniques and redundancy techniques for the server.Task 1.2a) Benefits and constrains of distinguishable network abstractologiesNetwork topologies characterize the carriage in which network elements (Nodes) are inter affiliated to each other in a network. There are four standard network topologies to be ident ified. (Tanenbaum 2006)1) Bus topology2) duck topology3) Star topology4) Mesh topologyBus topologyAll the nodes are attached to a single cable called a Bus.Benefits1) gentle to implement2) Requires less cable length, and therefore it is cheaper3) If a node (Computer) fails, that does not affect othersConstrains1) Suitable only for networks with few computers (Lowe 2008)2) If the cable breaks from a point, entire network will failRing TopologyNetwork nodes are connected as a ring. When two nodes are communicating, data must travel through all the intermediate nodes (Lowe 2008)Benefits1) Easy to implement2) Easy to troubleshootConstrains1) If a node fails, entire network will failStar topologyEach and all computer is connected to a hub or switch.Benefits1) Centralized nature gives simplicity (Easy to troubleshoot) (Lowe 2008)2) If a node (Computer) fails, that does not affect othersConstrains1) If the hub fails, entire network fails2) Require more cable lengthsMesh TopologyEach an d every node is connected to each otherBenefits1) Offers redundancy2) Easy to troubleshoot3) Multiple conversations can take quad at uniform timeConstrains3) Waste of resources4) Require more cable lengths and therefore expensiveNetwork computer was originally a trademark of fair weather Microsystems for their diskless workstations. Later this term was used for all the diskless workstations. Thin client is also a diskless workstation, but unlike diskless workstation, thin client does the processing on the server.For network computers and thin clients, participation topology is not suitable. In mesh topology all the clients are connected with each other, but these connections are useless. Since the server is connected to all the clients and server has the files and processed data, it can directly transfer them to the desired destinations. Bus topology and ring topology are too risky and it is also a waste of resources. If the network has the star topology i.e. each and every disk less node is connected to the centralized server using a dedicated pathway the resources will be used in an efficient manner.b) Impact of current network technology on network computersOne can think, if the files are stored on a remote server, then to access those files from the thin client will take more time than a normal workstation does. Also in one grumpy implementation of a thin client all the processing is done in the server. But thanks to the modern LAN technologies that is not a problem at all. Gigabit Ethernet provides 10-100 gigabits per second data rates within the LAN.Also in the last decade hard disk drives and processors evolved a lot better-looking greater speeds, memory capacities and performance to the network. Since all the clients are storing their data on central server, server needs to have high capacity hard disks with high access speeds. Also the technology has become cheaper over the time. These facts really help the evolvement of network computer concep t.c) How network protocols enable the effective utilization of Network computersIt is evident that a network with diskless workstations/ Network computers has much data to be transferred back and forth between the server and itself than a network with normal PC workstations. So there will be more traffic in the network and almost all the time server will be accessed by many client workstations. This will lead to collisions and collisions will trigger retries from the clients and that will also add up to the network traffic, thus making exponential growth of the traffic. Therefore an impressive multiple access protocol is needed for the network, in order to effectively utilizes the true strength of network computers. TCP/IP protocol locoweed provides a powerful multiple access technology in its data link storey.Ethernet, fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet are some of the most important physical layer protocols that enable fast communication between network computers.3 Case 2Task 2 .1a) Benefits and constrains of Network systems and topologies in multi-vendor networksWhen a network evolves with the time the enterprise would want to purchase more equipment for the network. But by now there may be cheaper products in the market, from other vendors than your original vendor. So multi-vendor networks can alleviate initial cost for the evolved network. Also when a new technology is introduced by a different vendor, that saves time and cost, it is good to purchase those equipments than sticking to the same vendor. different vendors have different configuration changes, different user interfaces different terms and etc. Therefore working in a multi-vendor system is a harder chew over and requires more expertise and experience. Also it will require training programs for existing professionals and it may demand more IT professionals for the company.If we consider star topology, each node is connected to the hub or switch. Therefore at most only two nodes of different vendors will be communicating with each other physically. But if we take mesh topology, the situation is different. Each node is connected with every other node in the network. Therefore a machine built by a particular vendor will have to communicate with many more machines manufactured by different vendors.b) Impact of Current Network Technology for the multi-vendor networksNew network operating systems are compatible with each other. Services are built in to those operating systems and therefore they can co-exist after little or no configuration changes are done.Network protocols are standardized by IEEE to maintain consistency in networking devices and operations. This facilitates the multi-vendor network environments to grow popularity.c) Duty of Network Protocols in multi-vendor network environmentsDifferent network components may have different hardware and/or software specifications. They may be manufactured by different vendors. But at the end of the day, a network administ rator must be able to connect all those network components with each other and build a working network. This is achieved by the use of network protocols. (Lammle 2007)Generally todays multi-vendor networks use TCP/IP protocol stack which comprises of five layers. A layer normally has two interfaces with the adjacent bottom layer and the ready top layer. Each layer provides a set of functions to the layer above, and relies on the functions of the layer below (Kozierok 2005). Interface on the top will clearly specify the services that are available from that layer. And Interface on the bottom will clearly specify the services that required from the immediate bottom layer (Kozierok 2005).So, as long as network components manufacturers stick to this layered protocol architectures, it does not matter how the hardware work, what are the hardware and software specifications inside and etc.d) Role of software and Hardware in multi-vendor networksDifferent vendors will implement the same p rocess using different hardware units with different performance. Even though the hardware is vendor specific, sometimes same software can be installed on them and then the user will have the same interfaces and that will hide the complexity induced by the multi-vendor network for some extent. But sometimes the vendor itself develops the software that runs on its hardware and that will increase the overhead of remembering configuration settings and menu items for different vendors. So in a multi-vendor network environment the job of the hardware would be to perform the task in a unique way with its available hardware chips and processing powers. The job of the software is to control the unique hardware as needed but presenting common configurations settings and interfaces to the user.e) Server types for multi-vendor networksWhen selecting a server for a multi-vendor network environment, the IT administrator must take into account the vendors that are in the network. Some vendors are interoperable while some are not. Server can be used to make communication possible among those non interoperable vendors and that technique is called Server Interoperability. This is accomplished by installing communication services on the server as opposed to the other approach where software are installed on the clients to make communication compatible. This way we can connect an Apple Macintosh client to a Windows network environment. Microsoft Windows provides software that facilitates network services for Apple Macintosh and Linux clients. Some modern servers have these services built into them, so that the network administrator doesnt have to worry around it.4 ConclusionFrom this assignment I was able to sharpen my association on Diskless workstations and thin clients. I identified the characteristics of diskless workstations and the choices available on the market both in hardware aspect and in software aspect. I discussed close the network operating systems available fo r the diskless workstations and also about the interdependence of workstation hardware in the context of networks with diskless workstations.Also, in order to provide answers for task 2, I canvass about the advantages and dis advantages of multi-vendor network Strategy. Then I discussed the impact of multi-vendor network Strategy on current network technology and standards. Also I studied about how network protocols enable machines of different vendors coexist in the same network. Also I did a small research about selecting a server for a multi-vendor network environment and about the role of software and hardware in a multi-vendor network. That was really helpful for me and the results were introduced in the latter part of the assignment.