Networking Skill Overview
Networking is the skill of connecting systems to enable data transfer and routing between those systems. Having the proper networking technical skills and foundational knowledge is necessary to be able to understand and complete relevant cybersecurity tasks which is fundamental to excelling in the field of cybersecurity.
Artifact #1
Artifact 1 is a networking scenario response in the form of a memo which proposes a network upgrade and explains the financial and networking reasons as to why such an upgrade would be preferred.
TO: Vick Perez, Vice President
FROM: Parker Fitch, Network Specialist
DATE: October 15, 2024
SUBJECT: Network Investment
The networking team is expecting that within the year the amount of bandwidth and network usage needs will increase dramatically with new incoming educational technology on our systems. As the bandwidth and networking needs of our organization increase, the current 10base-T cabling will no longer be able to handle the expected needs efficiently and will lead to relatively long amounts of downtime as the network runs. With the increase in need for higher bandwidth and network usage capabilities in the field of education, our currently weak networking posture is expected to cause a few minutes to a few hours of downtime daily on active systems. The expected financial loss from even a minute of downtime falls around $300 to $400 on average for educational facilities such as our own. This means that even an hour of information technology downtime for our facilities caused by weak networking posture can cause $18,000 to $24,000 in financial loss for the organization which only goes up as the downtime continues day by day. With the increase in reliance on online services within our field it is imperative that we make the proper investment into our networking capabilities now so that these losses incurred by downtime stack up as the network needs increase.
The investment specifically in question is in the purchasing of cat 6a cabling, keystone jack faceplates, keystone outlets, 48 port patch panels, and switches in Constant Hall. The total cost of the equipment investment above comes out at $15,028.23. The total cost of the equipment is less than the average expected financial loss in a single day incurred by downtime due to weak networking posture. As such, it would be worth the investment after only a single day once the bandwidth and network usage needs rise drastically later this year. With that in mind, the network team is pushing for the equipment to be purchased and installed sometime this month or the next so that proper preparations and testing can be made before the deadline comes across. The purchase of the new equipment mentioned above will drastically reduce the expected downtime per day to less than a minute per day meaning that the expected financial loss incurred by network downtime will be reduced from upwards of $18,000 per day to less than $300 with an expected savings of at least $17,700 per day after the equipment has been purchased and the network demand increase deadline passes. With that being the case the financial return on investment would be approximately 3582% after the first month of the network demand increase deadline passing. The equipment purchasing and installation is expected to take at minimum 2 weeks and at most 3 weeks so approval will be needed 3 weeks prior to when the organization should expect the upgrades to be finished.
Artifact #2
Artifact 2 is a networking practice that tasks students with researching an answering questions around the importance and innerworkings of domains and how that ties into the financial and social aspect of companies.
Companies & Domains
1.
domaintests.com
Price: $2288
IP: 207.148.248.143
amazonencounter.com
Price: $1888
IP: 66.81.203.196
appleboard.com
Price: $2988
IP: 208.91.197.195
superiorschedule.com
IP: 216.92.30.104
girlsgeekout.org
IP: 216.92.30.104
cnn.com
IP: 151.101.131.5, 151.101.3.5, 151.101.67.5, 151.101.195.5, 2a04:4e42:600::773, 2a04:4e42:c00::773, 2a04:4e42::773, 2a04:4e42:e00::773, 2a04:4e42:400::773, 2a04:4e42:200::773, 2a04:4e42:800::773, 2a04:4e42:a00::773
2.
Why do companies pay thousands of dollars for the rights to use a domain name?
Companies pay thousands of dollars for the right to use a specific domain name since their websites domain name is typically the companies exact name which is important not only for easy navigation and marketing but also to prevent blatant use of the companies name as a malicious website domain by shady entities which protects their reputation and credibility as well as their customers.
Why do you think a company would want more than one IP address assigned to a single name?
A company would want more than one IP address assigned to a single name in order to spread traffic across multiple different servers which increases performance efficiency and reliability by introducing balancing and redundancy.
One or more of the names on your list correspond to the same IP address, but when you type those names into your web browser, you see different pages. Why would more than one name be assigned to a single address?
More than one name would be assigned to a single address in order to make better use of a limited number of addresses or to simplify web server management or to host various subdomains or attached web pages to an overarching domain or primary web page. This can be done for a variety of reasons such as security implementations or budget limitations.
Diagram
Key
Triangle = Workgroup Switches
Circle = Core Switch
Artifact #3
Artifact 3 is a networking practice that tasks students with designing a network layout for a college building and deciding on the proper amounts and type of networking materials needed for it as well as the associated costs.
Building Layout Details
First Floor
43 numbered rooms
86 cables necessary
Pink Equipment Room Section
Longest Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 150 ft
Shortest Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 50 ft
Average Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 100 ft
Total Cable Length (Multiplying by 86 cables for the 43 rooms): 8600 ft
Second Floor
155 numbered rooms
310 cables necessary
Red Telecommunication Closet Section
Longest Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 120 ft
Shortest Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 40 ft
Average Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 80 ft
Total Cable Length (Multiplying by 104 cables for the 52 rooms): 8320 ft
Blue Telecommunication Closet Section
Longest Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 160 ft
Shortest Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 40 ft
Average Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 100 ft
Total Cable Length (Multiplying by 104 cables for the 52 rooms): 10400 ft
Green Telecommunication Closet Section
Longest Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 120 ft
Shortest Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 40 ft
Average Cable Length (Including length to ceiling on each side): 80 ft
Total Cable Length (Multiplying by 102 cables for the 51 rooms): 8160 ft
Total Material Budget
Total Cable Across All Sections: 35480 ft
Price Point: $0.27 per ft
Total Price For Cables: $9579.60
Price Source Link: Amazon
Assumptions (30 ft added to each cable run to account for 10 ft ceiling height drop and flex)
Network Layout Diagram
Key
Circle = Equipment Room
Lightning Bolt = Telecommunication Closet