IT 200 Wk 2 – Computer Networking and Configurations

You are hired as a chief technology officer (CTO) of a start-up company, which has two branches: one in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco. The company hired employees to begin working on the design of the product. As CTO, you need to explain to the board of directors your idea in interconnecting the two offices to ensure consistency and collaboration. Employees’ computer systems need to be connected and permitted to connect remotely (i.e. from outside of the office).

The following needs to be taken into consideration:

• Network topology
• Network protocols
• Cost of implementation
• Cloud productivity software

Choose a delivery method from the following options to present your explanation to the board of directors:

• Visual diagram with a brief explanation (PDF format)
• Diagrams can be made using any Microsoft®Office® product or a site like Lucidchart.
• Matrix
• 5- to 7-slide presentation with narration or detailed speaker notes
• Instructions on how to add audio to Microsoft®PowerPoint® presentations can be found on the Microsoft® Office® Support site: Add or Delete Audio to Your PowerPoint® Presentation.

Note from the Instructor: I know this assignment can seem intimidating if you do not have IT or network experience, but it is something you can do, and most students do fine. Some hints:

The key thing is to answer all parts of the assignment. For example, some students do not even mention network topology or protocols and lose points for that (you need to explain which topology and protocols you are recommending as part of your solution and why, not just give a definition of the terms). The same goes for all other parts of the assignment instructions (which become my grading template).

You can choose which delivery method (in the assignment instructions) you feel most comfortable with. For example, you could do a PowerPoint. One slide could have a drawing where you put LA and San Francisco as dots, label them, and draw a line between them then label it to show how they might connect to each other to communicate. You could also add comments under each city to explain if each office has a LAN or how they connect within the office, and how do the remote offices connect with each other, etc.

You could add slides to cover each part of the assignment, such as Network topology, Network protocols, Cost of implementation, and Cloud Productivity software. Or you could put those in a matrix in Microsoft Word or Excel.  You don’t have to be a networks expert, just take your best shot at creating something. You can find sources of info and examples by watching videos or doing some quick Google searches.

If you use other diagrams or materials from research, please make sure to properly reference it.

For this assignment, the costs don’t have to be real detailed. Once a student decides what they are recommending, they can do a Google search on it and include a rough cost with a reference. For example, if a student recommends a Star LAN at each office, do a search for “Star LAN cost” and find something, just put it in as a rough estimate. The costs are not going to be critical, just show at least a little research and some rough costs. The main thing is showing a clear explanation of what the technology recommendations are (many students will do a simple picture in PowerPoint, and then explain it…show that all the key components have been thought of).

I hope that helps. This can be one of the more challenging assignments in the course, but I have had several students come back later and say they learned a lot doing it.

Submit your assignment.