LAN and WAN Analysis Current Release OS

¶ … LAN and WAN Analysis

Current Release

OS X Mountain Lion

Linux kernel 3.4; GNU C. Library

Windows Server 2008 R2 (NT 6.1.7600)

S-Net

SP

IBM AIX Variant

(UNIX System V Release

Range of compatible hardware

Low

Performance

High for fine-tuned applications to the processor and O.S. API calls (1)

Very High for natively-written applications

Medium for applications using emulation mode; very high for 64-bit applications

Slow for applications emulating MS-Windows; fast for direct API-call based applications

Very high for applications written directly to the UNIX API; support for emulated API calls slows down performance

Corporate Acceptance

Medium

Very High

Very High

Medium

High

Installed Base

Millions of Users

Millions of Users

Millions of Users

Thousands of Users

Millions of Users

Directory Services Power

Medium; not as well defined as Microsoft

Very Strong; supporting taxonomies

Very Strong with Win64-based Directories

Very High; the operating system is based on this

High

Stability

High

Very High; strong base of developers

Very High; Microsoft now into 3rd gen.

Moderate; Novell is seeking a new revenue model

Very High

Software Cost

Very High

Low to Free

High including site licensing

Medium to High

Medium to High

TCP/IP Support

Partial of the entire TCP/IP command set

Full support due to the developer community

Full support with advanced security

Partial of the entire TCP/IP command set

Full support due to the developer community

Security Strength

Strong; now several generations into this operating system

Very strong; global developer base continues to refine it

Medium to Strong; needs more focus on enterprise support

File Server; NDS make this one of the most secure server operating systems

Very strong, especially the IBM AIX operating system

(1) Application Programmer Interface (API) calls

Sources: (Bajgoric, 2003) (Bradley, 2009)(Cass, 2003) (Hong, Rezende, 2012) (MacKinnon, 1999) (Spinellis, Giannikas, 2012) (Tankard, 2012)

A LAN and a WAN may be differentiated by the types of media and devices used, by the distance over which they operate, by the network and subnet topology, and by the dominant communication protocols. Describe how LANs and WANs differ in each of these aspects.

A Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide-Area Network (WAN) are differentiated in how they rely on different media types, devices used in their configuration and use, networks and subnet topologies and communications protocols. All of these factors taken together differentiate these two approaches to enterprise-wide networking.

A LAN is often used throughout a small geographic region and in companies, often used only in a single business or at most, a small office complex. A WAN is a much broader network in structure, covering metropolitan, regional, national and international boundaries. The speed of a LAN is significantly faster, with 1K MBps being typical while WANs average 150 MBps. LANs are also often created in Ethernet and Token Ring configurations while WANS are often designed to ensure X.25 connectivity and advanced ATM support across longer distances. From a components standpoint, LANs are often based on Layer 2 devices including switches and bridges, with additional support from Layer 1 devices including hubs and repeaters. WANs are often created on a foundation of Layer 3 routers, multi-layer switches and technology-specific devices including advanced frame-relay and ATM switching devices.

Dominant communications protocols on LANs including CSMA/CA-based protocols that seek to alleviate data packet collisions on a network. Collision Avoidance is the foundation of the IBM Token Ring protocol for example. Both LAN and WAN configurations also run the standard TCP/IP networking protocols based on the CSMA/CD standard approach to managing collision detection across networks.

You are hired by a firm that has offices in Peru, France, United States and Hungary. Your job is to coordinate a team of IT employees to connect all of the individual sites into one large WAN. Explain what the personnel implications are when setting up a WAN on a global basis. What are some of the barriers involved with global teams?

In addition to the obvious cultural factors that need to be planned on and managed well from a change management standpoint, the correct mix of technical skills is also critically important. This requires transformational leadership skills that can take into account the cultural strengths of each member of the team while also seeking to create a unified and highly qualified team from a technical perspective as well.

A large WAN site will require extensive expertise in the TCP/IP protocol in addition to expertise with the ATM protocol and advanced switching technologies as well. There is also the need for technicians and advanced expertise in the areas of network configuration planning, configuration of gateways, firewalls and development of training and support materials in languages specific to each country. All of these technologies will also have to be successfully integrated into a global network that shares common enterprise applications, databases and systems. The integrative aspects of a WAN project across these nations will also require intensive levels of expertise on state, local, regional and national laws as well. All of these factors take together will also need to manage across a diverse virtual team, further making the attainment of ATM, Frame Relay and X.25 connectivity possible. There will need to be in-person planning and development meetings completed to ensure a high level of shared goal accountability and responsibility for results as well. What will make this challenging is the integration of local LANs in each country, which is typically a required in a project this global in scope.

For the network that you have chosen to characterize, identify all items (peripheral devices, data, applications, access points, etc.) being shared by users on the network. Explain how each is shared.