During the design of most real-world, networks, you'll discover that using more than one type of networking medium is common. The usual reasons for needing more than one type of medium include the following:
• Two or more areas must be interconnected, and the distance separating them is greater than the max segment length for the type of medium used in each area.
- Connections must pass through high EMI/RFI environmental factors.
• Certain parts of an internetwork might have to carry more traffic, such as the backbone of the network in comparison to other parts of the network.
Using this information, suggest solutions that involve at least two types (if possible) of networking media to address the following problems:
A. XYZ Corp. is planning a new network. Engineers in the design shop must have connections to accountants and salespeople in the front office, but all routes between the two areas must traverse the shop floor, where arc welders and metal-stamping equipment create potent amounts of EMI and RFI. Given that both the design shop and front office use 10BaseT (twisted pair Ethernet), how might you interconnect these two areas? What medium guarantees immunity from interference?
B. After the front-office network at XYZ Corp. is set up, an accountant realizes that if the loading dock connected to the network, dock workers could log incoming and outgoing shipments and keep the inventory more current. Even though the loading dock is nowhere near the shop floor, the dock is 1100 feet from the front office. What kinds of cable will work to make this connection? What kind would you choose and why?
C. ABC Company occupies three floors in a 10-story building, where the elevator shaft provides the only path to all three floors. In addition, users on the ninth and tenth floors must access a collection of servers on the eighth floor. Explain what kind of connections would work in the elevator shaft. Choose the best option and back up your answer. Assuming that interfloor connections might someday need to run at much higher speeds, reevaluate your choice. What's the best type of medium for open-ended bandwidth needs? Explain your answer.
D. Very Big ISP Corporation wants to increase the bandwidth it can access at its downtown location in New York City. The distance between locations is about 20 miles, and the bandwidth needed between locations is at least 50Mbps. What media types could work to provide this connection?
E. Following a year of major sales increases in the Pacific Rim, MarTexCo decides to open a second plant in Malaysia. The company wants the new plant to be able to access the headquarters database in Des Moines, Iowa, in real time, but long-haul telephone connections aren't possible, owing to the lack of communications infrastructure at the Malaysia location. What kind of wireless networking alternative makes the most sense when considering network links that span an appreciable portion of the globe? Explain why laying cable might not be feasible.