Week 2 Individual Assignment Essay

Week 2 Individual Assignment
Kevin Thistlethwaite
NTC/362
August 20, 2012
Antonio Tovar

Week 2 Individual Assignment
For this week’s assignment, the company chosen is Kudler Fine Foods. Kudler Fine Foods is an upscale grocery store, specializing in specialty foods, along with everyday grocery items. The company has three locations in the San Diego area of Southern California. The three locations are: La Jolla, Del Mar, and Encinitas.
The goal of this assignment is to analyze the company’s network system; how the network is put together, the components that make up the system, and what are the standards that are applicable to the project.
Network Characteristics and Components
All three locations has its own network. All three networks are very similar in construction, and do have many of the same components and characteristics. The network is based on a 10.1.50.0 Ethernet network with a Novel 4.11 Server for POS (Point of Sale). At this time the network has many computers linked to the network; each one running Windows9x as the operating system. The current network is a simple network that consists of only 56k modems for accessing any networks outside of the store’s location. 56k modems are outdated and only support speeds of 56Kbps which are not sufficient for the needs of Kudler Fine Foods. The main issues with having only a 56K dial-up modem is the modem is not always on; with a broadband connection the connection will be there all the time, so there will not be any issues when trying to communicate with another store. Another issue with having a 56K modem is the company will find it difficult to add more POS components because the system will potentially become overloaded with only a 56K modem.
Added to the current system are an external CD burner, and a bubble Jet printer. Both of these could be improved with the installation of the new and improved system. In fact, the Encinitas network does not even show either component, so this would be a...