Communications Current Trends in Networking †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Communications Current Trends in Networking. Answer: Introduction The Internet has been the prime agent that helped to bring about a major change in the lives of the people of 20th century and ushered them into the digital era (Dillman, Smyth and Christian 2014). Connectivity to the Internet has spread globalization like wildfire and is a necessity in every household in this age (Beck 2015). There are various media through which the connection to the Internet is delivered to the homes. However, there are different connectivity technologies to choose from (El Kadiri et al. 2016). The purpose of this report is to assist the client in selecting the best technology for providing Internet connectivity at the desired location and speed. Choosing the right technology is vital as the stability of the network and the speed of the Internet depends on the type connection that is used to deliver the Internet from the backbone to the household. This report comprises of analysis of different networking technology that could be used to connect the premises at Ken noway, the advantages, the disadvantages and the utility of each technology would be discussed. Technologies like Digital Subscriber Line, Ethernet and Fiber Optic Cable as they are the most common and the most utilized when it comes to transmit data over long distances (Silver 2016). However, technologies like power line networking, LTE and next generation access will also be discussed in this report as these are some unconventional yet highly effective technology that can be used transmit data too. These technologies nevertheless have very serious limitations and are sometimes costlier to implement than their counterparts. The implementation cost of such unconventional technology and their viability in the given scenario will be further analyzed in this report. The house is positioned at the end of the road ta Kennoway past Scalpay Linen in the Isle of Scalpay. The house is located at a serene yet remote location. Therefore, a huge amount of cost has to be incurred to bring Internet connectivity to such a location. There are a variety of technologies that can be used here like digital subscriber line (DSL), fiber optic cable, Ethernet, powerline networking and next generation access (Msongaleli et al. 2016). Maximum efficiency must be achieved and that entirely depends on the selection of the most suitable technology for this scenario. In the given scenario the client has confirmed that he or she has some idea regarding the nature of the technology that is used to connect to the Internet. In his or her current location he or she is using a fiber optic connection that is supporting a transfer speed of 35 mbps. However, using a fiber optic connection to connect a house in Kennoway may not be the best option and this analysis will be covered i n the later parts of this discussion. Digital Subscriber Line A Digital Subscriber Line or DSL is the type of connection where data is transferred over telephone lines (Lima et al. 2016). The telephone cables are made of copper and thus they are cheap and readily available to be connected. Seven types of DSL connections are available that can be used to transfer data. ADSL: Asymmetric digital subscriber line is the type of DSL connection where the downstream and the upstream speeds are not equal to each other. Generally, it is considered that 2 mbps a network connection would have 1 mbps upload speed and 1mbps download speed. However, in case of downstream ADSL, which is the most used ADSL, the same transfer speed would be divided as 1.5 mbps for download and 0.5 mbps for upload (Bai et al. 2017). The download speed in mostly required by individual consumers who need fast yet cheap source of Internet connectivity and thus this type of connection is the most popular among them. ADSL Lite: This is a much lower or lite version of a ADSL connection. It supports a transfer speed of 1 mbps downstream and 0.5 mbps upstream. Therefore, this type of connection is generally suitable for scenarios where simplification of ADSL connections is needed at the terminal end of the user. R-ADSL: Rate-Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line is the type of ADSL that can modify its upload and download speed depending on the requirement of the user (Verdyck, Tsiaflakis and Moonen 2015). This is thus very useful for users who requires either high download or high upload speeds but not both at the same time. Users who upload daily content to the web require such connection. HDSL: High Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line is the type of DSL that provides similar yet fixed download and upload speeds. It supports a transfer speed of 1.5 mbps to 2 mbps where the user is located at a distance of twelve thousand to fifteen thousand feet from the service provider (Xie et al. 2015). These lines are suitable for users who require both upload and download speeds at the same time. Thus, users who use services such as video conferencing can use this technology to easily access such services as constant upload and download speeds are required for video conferencing. IDSL: ISDN Digital Subscriber Line is the type of line that can be used to achieve up to 144 kbps transfer speed (Freeman 2015). This speed is very low for users who require a high-speed Internet connection. However, this connection is an always on line and thus it provides high quality voice transfer without any packet loss. SDSL: Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line is the type where the total transfer speed is equally divided as upload and download speeds (Effenberger 2016). This type of connection is generally required by users who need high upload and high download speeds at the same time. VDSL: Very High Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line is the fastest among all the xDSL lines present. The connection supports download speed of 13 mbps to 52 mbps and an upload speed of 1.5 mbps to 2.5 mbps (Karim and Sultana 2016). Such a connection is very useful among users who require very high download speeds. These lines provide stable Internet connection and the cost of the cable is not very high. However, to attain maximum speed the user must be located as near to the service provider as possible. Increase in distance creates a decrease in the transfer speed supported by the connection. Fiber Optic Fiber Optic Cables provide the fastest Internet connectivity among every option available to the consumers. These cables support transfer speed up to 10 at a distance up to 3 km (Winzer 2015). These cables are used to form the Internet backbone connection. General grade cables are used for creating an Internet backbone in a single building or between different buildings. However, the backbone of a larger area needs high quality optic fiber cables that can sufficiently support high transfer rates at very low packet loss. Optic fibers are used for connecting between different countries (Venghaus and Grote 2017). However, these cables are very expensive to implement. These cables are thus primarily used for creating backbone connection. Nevertheless, these cables can also be used to connect to remote places as these cables can transmit at long distances at high speed without any loss. Thus, considering the scenario, fiber optic cable is the most optimum solution for creating a connectio n at Kennoway. However, these cables are very expensive and an entire connection created out of fiber optic cables might not be feasible for the client. There are several other reasons that serve as disadvantages to the use of fiber optic cables. These cables are too expensive to be connected aerially using poles. An underground network of these wires is thus created to prevent any accidental damage to them either natural or man-made. The climate pattern of Scotland suggests that Kennoway does is not affected by extreme weather conditions, although the weather frequently changes due to the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic. Thus, such frequent changes to the weather will produce several problems for the optic fiber cables as these cables are rather delicate and not robust in nature. These cables will break if high stress in applied to them. These cables must be handled with the utmost care as even minute damage to a small portion of the wire will affect the performance of the whole netw ork. It will result into reduced transfer speeds and even complete service disruptions. Fiber optic cables must be installed in a straight line. There are various calculations that must be performed related the stress factor of the line before bending the cable to suit the topography. The maximum allowable stress is directly proportional to the diameter of the cable. Once the wire breaks, it can only be joined using a special machine called the optic fiber splicer. The purpose of this instrument is to join two separate pieces of fibers together so that the light passing through one fiber smoothly passes on to the next portion of the fiber through the splice and the area surrounding the splicing is as strong as the rest of the fiber. Any break in the fiber must be repaired using this equipment and this equipment is very costly. Thus, repairing any damage to the fiber cables might take a significant amount of time in a place as remote as the Isle of Scalpay. These types of connection must only be opted for when there is a service provider in the vicinity with the capability and the equipment to repair fiber optic cables with as little time as possible. Ethernet is currently one of the most commonly used networking technology. It has a wide variety of flexibility and thus can be used in any scenario by utilizing a proper handoff method. It is also one of the oldest utilized networking techniques. This technology is implemented for Local Area Connection (LAN), Wide Area Connection (WAN) and Metropolitan Area Connection (MAN) (Zhang et al. 2014). It is thus evident that this technology must be easy to implement and cost efficient to operate. A fully commissioned Ethernet network lasts for years and thus the return on investment is very high. Various twisted pair cables are used for creating an Ethernet connection. A twisted pair cable is a combination of two cables twisted together to minimize magnetic interference. This wire aids in reducing data loss when transmitted over a long distance. In the current scenario, this technology can be very helpful as an Ethernet network can be used to distribute data over long distances and the hou sehold is located at a remote location. Thus, the client will be able to enjoy a high quality and stable Internet connection if this technology is used. There are various types of cables that can be used to create an Ethernet network among them the CAT 5, CAT 5e, CAT 6 and CAT 6a are the most common types of twisted pair cables that are used (Hailong and Li 2015). CAT 5 supports a transfer speed of up to 100 mbps whereas the CAT 5e variant supports transfer speed up to 1 gbps and CAT 6 as well as CAT 6a supports transfer speed of up to 10 gbps. Such extreme variant of speed is usually not required by individuals. A maximum transfer speed of up to 1 gbps is sufficient for network support that would last to the next decade. Power Line Networking It is one of the most robust techniques that can be used to establish a network connection. In this type of networking, data is transmitted over electrical cables. This is one of the cheapest forms of networking technology as electric cables are used almost everywhere and additional cost is not incurred on network cables (Yigit et al. 2014). A special filter is required that separates the data packets from the electrical signals. A computer system is always near an electrical outlet. The filter can be attached to the outlet and the output of the filter to the computer. This type of networking is primarily used for the internal networking requirements of a household. However, in the present scenario this technology can be very useful as the roads of Kennoway have power lines that lead up to the individual houses. Thus, the power line that enters the house that the client is thinking of moving into, can be used to transmit Internet for his or her use. The only equipment that the client has to buy additionally are filtering equipment that would filter the electrical signal from the transmitted data (Lampe 2016). This technology might seem very suitable to use in the current situation, nevertheless this technology has some serious drawbacks. The major drawback is that the transmission loss in this technology is very high in the event of a long-distance transmission. This technology is although very robust and the implementation cost is low. Therefore, with some advances in the transmission technology, perhaps by using repeaters at some fixed intervals, power line networking can be used to transmit data over very long distances (Yoon et al. 2014). The current generation of networking technology that individuals can access supports up to 24 mbps. Thus, the technology that supports data transfer speed above 24 mbps is termed as Next Generation Access (NGA) (Jaunaux and Lebourges 2015). In this method, a combination of optic fiber cable and copper cable is used to transmit data at high speed. The optic fiber leads up to a certain location and then the connection is switched over to copper cables. Six types of connections have been developed and is termed as FTTX or Fiber To The X (Hirooka et al. 2016). The X signifies the location at which the fiber connection ends and the copper connection starts. X can denote node, curb, building, office, home or desktop. A convertor is installed at the location X that converts the optical signals to electrical signals. The location of the convertor placement or the X is selected based the distribution planning of the connection. The selected position for the termination of the optic fiber can be a node if a single connection is to be distributed across a large area. The selected location can be a curb if the connection is to be distributed in a small locality. A single connection can be distributed in a single building in the event of use by an office. The fiber optic connection can be directly terminated in a home or a desktop depending on the preferences of the individual user. This technology offers the highest speed at a reasonable cost among all other technologies that is in use till date (Pfeiffer 2015). Various operators around the world are adapting this technology to serve a fast and stable Internet connection to their customers. Various governments are also taking initiatives so that the common people can utilize fast Internet connection through the implementation of this technology. Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access or WiMAX is a technology that is not implemented globally. However, this technology holds great potential. In the previous section, it was discussed that the optic fiber connection at a selected location and then converted to a copper connection containing electrical signals. The phase of the connection containing the copper cable can be replaced with WiMAX. Here, data is transferred using high frequency microwave over long range. This technology thus can be used to provide wireless broadband to a locality or a household located within a one-mile radius of the WiMAX terminal. Wireless internet is a great advantage in locations where an Internet connection using a cable is not viable. This technology is cheaper to implement than 3G or even LTE (Al-Omar, Landolsi and Al-Ali 2015). However, this technology cannot be implemented for individual as the cost to usage ratio will be low. Thus, this technology is not feasible in the current scena rio as only one household will be utilizing this connection and the cost that would be incurred to create such a setup would be high for a single individual to bear. Standard Wi-Fi devices cannot be used to connect to this network (Cao, Cheung and Yuk 2015). Separate devices dedicated to WiMAX are required to access the network to utilize Internet. Recommendation Various networking technology have been discussed in the previous sections of this report. Among the different technologies that has been discussed, the most suitable form of connection would be to use either Ethernet or DSL. However, these types of connections fail severely when it comes to connecting remote places. Thus, it is strongly recommended that a hybrid connection is used so as to increase the efficiency by maintaining high data transfer rates yet keeping the cost of the network as minimal as possible. As discussed in the section of Next Generation Access networking technology, a combination of optic fiber cable and Ethernet cable would produce the most satisfactory result to the client. An optical fiber cable connection can be created from the nearest optical fiber backbone located near Kennoway up to Scalpay Linen. An Ethernet connection can be created from the terminal at Scalpay Linen using an Optic Fiber to Ethernet conversion box. This connection would lead to the pre mises of the house of the client that he or she wishes to move into. This connection would provide transfer speeds up to 1 gbps which is the upper limit of an Ethernet connection. The Ethernet cable is easy to procure and repair and thus it will be cost efficient up to the distance where it does not induce any loss in the Internet connection. The optic fiber connection from Scalpay Linen to the Internet backbone is necessary as it will minimize the data packet loss that arises in other networking technologies due to long distance transmission. The use of optic fiber cable thus removes the effect that long distance has on the quality of the transferred data. Conclusion Thus, it can be concluded that there have been some great advances in the field of networking technologies. However, each technology has its own specific purpose and use. Every networking technology is not applicable in all the scenarios and therefore the most suitable technology must be selected to achieve optimum results. 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