HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

Academic Year 2023: January - June

Formative Assessment 1: Praxis N2 (HPXN200-1)

NQF Level, Credits: 5, 20
Weighting: 40%
Assessment Type: Essay Questions
Examiner: C. Zhou
Educator: C. Zhou
Due Date: 31 March 2023

Total: 100 marks

Instructions:

• This paper consists of 4 Questions.

• It is based on Units 1 - 4/Lessons 1 – 8 of your prescribed textbook
• All questions are compulsory.
• A Copyleaks Report will be issued via ColCampus once the assignment is
submitted. Please ensure that you follow the correct steps when uploading your
assignment, to ensure that the Copyleaks Report is correctly issued. If the
incorrect document is uploaded, or if no Copyleaks Report is issued, a mark of
zero (0) will be awarded. If the Copyleaks Report indicates that a 30% similarity
rating has been exceeded, 25% of the assessment total will be deducted from
the final grade. Where a Copyleaks Cheat Detection Report is issued, your
submission will automatically be treated as if you received a similarity rating in
excess of 30% and 25% of the assessment total will be deducted from the final
grade.

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Question 1 [35 marks]

1.1 Explain the two principal functions of network protocols. [6 marks]

1.2 Using the first four (4) layers of the International Standards Organisation’s (ISO)
Open System Interconnection (OSI) model, analyse the small office/home
office (SOHO) network implementation. In your response, pay attention to the
devices and how each OSI model layer is implemented. [15 marks]

1.3 ABC (Pvt) Ltd is a well-established organisation that employs one hundred
people. The organisation is moving to a new building whose construction has
just been concluded. Before the employees can move to the new building, you
have been tasked with setting up the network infrastructure.

1.3.1 As the lead technician, identify the structured cabling scheme you will use when
setting up the network infrastructure for ABC in the new building. [1 mark]

1.3.2 Identify and explain five subsystems within the structured cabling system you
identified in Question 1.3.1. [10 marks]

1.4 Name three tools a network technician needs to use when cabling the new ABC
(Pvt) Ltd building using Cat 6 twisted pair cables. [3 marks]

Question 2 [25 marks]

2.1 There has recently been an increase in the number of complaints by network
users about how the connections have suddenly become slow. You suspect
that some employees are visiting websites that are using up the company’s
bandwidth and opening up channels for malicious content that is causing
connectivity problems on the local area network. To manage the network, you
have decided to install a special driver that interrogates frames received by the
network adapter. Outline the three main options for connecting this solution to
the appropriate point in the network.
[9 marks]

2.2 Ethernet switches are an essential component of a network that uses multiple
ports to communicate between devices on the local area network. Distinguish

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 between the various general categories of Ethernet switches in the market
today. [12 marks]

2.3 Explain two (2) commands that you can use to view the current switch
configurations. [4 marks]

Question 3 [20 marks]

3.1 Joseph is connected to his Internet Service Provider (ISP) through an optic fibre
link. Outline the reasons why he might be experiencing connectivity problems.
[4 marks]

3.2 A fellow technician has recommended that you use a wire map tester for the
problem you are experiencing. Which problems are you likely facing that you
want to identify using a wire map tester? [10 marks]

3.3 Explain the goals of subnetting. [6 marks]

Question 4 [20 marks]

4.1 Which utility command would you use to achieve the following:

a) To delete all entries in the address resolution protocol (ARP) cache. [1 mark]
b) to enable or disable an interface in Linux. [1 mark]
c) To release the internet protocol (IP) address obtained from a Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server so that the interface(s) will no longer
have an IP address in a Windows system. [1 mark]
d) To perform a basic connectivity test using the host’s internet protocol (IP)
address. [1 mark]
e) To show the address resolution protocol (ARP) cache contents. [1 mark]

4.2 Your organisation occupies a two-story building. More than thirty network users
occupy the two floors of the building. A central printer is located in the
Reception area was installed to ensure that printing resources are shared. The
printer is configured that all network users can print from their workstations in
their offices. One of the employees is experiencing problems printing from his
workstation. You have been called to assist in solving the connectivity problem.

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 Give an account of the five (5) steps that you will take to establish and isolate
the source of the problem. [10 marks]

4.3.1 Explain how a broadcast storm occurs. [2 marks]

4.3.2 A broadcast storm has occurred on a network where the Spanning Tree
Protocol (STP) has already been enabled. Identify the possible causes of the
broadcast storm that you may need to investigate. [3 marks]

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