ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

QUALIFICATION UNIT NUMBER AND TITLE

PEARSON BTEC HND IN COMPUTING (RQF) 02. NETWORKING (LEVEL 4)
INTERNAL VERIFIER UNIT TUTOR
MARIAM QASIM
DATE ISSUED SUBMISSION DATE RESUBMISSION DATE
THURSDAY, 05TH JANUARY 2023 FRIDAY, 14TH APRIL 2023 THURSDAY, 20TH APRIL 2023

ASSIGNMENT TITLE LAN DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION AT NEXTWIL

LEARNING OUTCOME AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

PASS MERIT DISTINCTION
LO1 EXAMINE NETWORKING PRINCIPLES AND THEIR PROTOCOLS
P1 DISCUSS THE BENEFITS AND CONSTRAINTS OF
DIFFERENT NETWORK TYPES AND STANDARDS. M1 ASSESS COMMON NETWORKING PRINCIPLES
P2 EXPLAIN THE IMPACT NETWORK TOPOLOGIES AND HOW PROTOCOLS ENABLE THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF NETWORKED SYSTEMS.
LO1 & LO2
HAVE ON COMMUNICATION AND BANDWIDTH
REQUIREMENTS. D1 EVALUATE THE TOPOLOGY PROTOCOL SUITE
SELECTED FOR A GIVEN SCENARIO AND HOW IT
LO2 EXPLAIN NETWORKING DEVICES AND OPERATIONS
DEMONSTRATES THE EFFICIENT UTILISATION OF A
P3 DISCUSS THE OPERATING PRINCIPLES OF NETWORKING SYSTEM.
NETWORKING DEVICES AND SERVER TYPES.
M2 EXPLORE A RANGE OF SERVER TYPES AND
JUSTIFY THE SELECTION OF A SERVER FOR A GIVEN
P4 DISCUSS THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF
SCENARIO REGARDING COST AND PERFORMANCE
WORKSTATION HARDWARE AND RELEVANT
OPTIMISATION.
NETWORKING SOFTWARE.
LO3 DESIGN EFFICIENT NETWORKED SYSTEMS
P5 DESIGN A NETWORKED SYSTEM TO MEET A
GIVEN SPECIFICATION.
M3 ANALYSE USER FEEDBACK ON YOUR DESIGNS
WITH THE AIM OF OPTIMISING YOUR DESIGN AND
P6 DESIGN A MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE TO
IMPROVING EFFICIENCY. LO3 & LO4
SUPPORT THE NETWORKED SYSTEM. D2 CRITICALLY REFLECT ON THE IMPLEMENTED
LO4 IMPLEMENT AND DIAGNOSE NETWORKED SYSTEMS NETWORK, INCLUDING THE DESIGN AND
P7 IMPLEMENT A NETWORKED SYSTEM BASED DECISIONS MADE TO ENHANCE THE SYSTEM.

ON A PREPARED DESIGN. M4 RECOMMEND POTENTIAL ENHANCEMENTS

P8 DOCUMENT AND ANALYSE TEST RESULTS FOR THE NETWORKED SYSTEMS.
AGAINST EXPECTED RESULTS.

SUBMISSION FORMAT
THE SUBMISSION IS IN THE FORM OF A REPORT; A REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION; PRESENTATION EVALUATION; AND AN INDIVIDUAL EVIDENCE PORTFOLIO.

THE REPORT SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN A CONCISE, FORMAL BUSINESS STYLE USING SINGLE SPACING AND FONT STYLE TIMES NEW ROMAN AND SIZE 11. YOU
ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE USE OF HEADINGS, PARAGRAPHS AND SUBSECTIONS AS APPROPRIATE, AND ALL WORK MUST BE SUPPORTED WITH RESEARCH AND
REFERENCED USING THE HARVARD REFERENCING SYSTEM. PLEASE ALSO PROVIDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY USING THE HARVARD REFERENCING SYSTEM. THE
RECOMMENDED WORD LIMIT IS SPECIFIED .

THE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION WILL HAVE THE FOLLOWING INCLUDED IN IT:

▪ THE NETWORK WILL NEED TO SUPPORT TWO FLOORS OF OPEN PLAN OFFICE WITH APPROXIMATELY 50 WORKSTATIONS EACH.
▪ THE WORKSTATIONS WILL NEED A SECURE, FAST AND ROBUST ACCESS TO THE COMPANY DATABASE.
▪ STAFF WILL BE EXPECTED TO USE EMAIL AS A REGULAR COMMUNICATION METHOD BUT NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB GENERALLY.
▪ THERE WILL BE A NEED TO PROVIDE FOR SOME HEAVILY CONTROLLED WIRELESS ACCESS.
▪ SECURITY IS A MAIN PRIORITY AS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION WILL BE IN CONSTANT USE AND IS COVERED BY GDPR.
▪ THERE WILL BE A NEED TO CONTROL USER ACCOUNTS, SYSTEM ACCESS, RESOURCE SHARING AND ACCESS PERMISSIONS ACROSS THE NETWORK OF
YOUR DESIGN.
 ▪ THERE WILL BE A NEED TO SECURE BROADBAND ACCESS VIA THE COMPANY’S VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK TO THE OFFICES IN THE USA.
▪ IT IS PROPOSED TO USE AN INTRANET TO DISSEMINATE COMPANY INFORMATION INTERNALLY TO THIS SITE .
▪ CORE HARDWARE MUST BE KEPT IN A SECURE PLACE.

(A DIAGRAM OF THE LAYOUT OF THE TWO FLOORS IS PROVIDED IN PART B).

THE INDIVIDUAL EVIDENCE PORTFOLIO SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN A CONCISE, FORMAL BUSINESS STYLE USING SINGLE SPACING AND FONT STYLE TIMES NEW
ROMAN AND SIZE 11. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE USE OF HEADINGS, PARAGRAPHS AND SUBSECTIONS AS APPROPRIATE, AND ALL WORK MUST BE SUPPORTED
WITH RESEARCH AND REFERENCED USING THE HARVARD REFERENCING SYSTEM. PLEASE ALSO PROVIDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY USING THE HARVARD REFERENCING
SYSTEM. THE RECOMMENDED WORD LIMIT IS SPECIFIED. IT WILL CONTAIN THE FOLLOWING:
▪ NETWORK SYSTEM DESIGN PLANS AND BLUEPRINTS WITH CLEAR JUSTIFICATIONS FOR YOUR CHOICES.
▪ A FULLY COMPLETED TEST PLAN INCLUDING AN EVALUATION OF HOW THE NETWORK MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION , COLLECT USER
FEEDBACK ON YOUR DESIGN AND SHOW HOW YOU ANALYSE IT WITH THE AIM OF IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE NETWORK WHEN YOU INSTALL
IT.
▪ EVIDENCE OF HAVING IMPLEMENTED THE NETWORK TO YOUR FINAL DESIGN.
▪ DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE OF INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING NETWORK SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS ONTO YOUR NETWORK
▪ A PROPOSED AND JUSTIFIED MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE FOR USING THE NETWORK LONG TERM .
▪ A CRITICAL REFLECTION EVALUATING AND JUSTIFYING YOUR WORK ON THE NETWORK.
NOTE: THE NETWORK INSTALLED NEEDS TO INCLUDE ALL CORE SYSTEMS AND A SAMPLE OF THE STANDARD WORKSTATIONS ONLY . DEPENDING ON
CIRCUMSTANCES THE NETWORK INSTALLATION CAN BE VIRTUAL USING A SUITABLE NETWORK MODELLING TOOL.

ASSIGNMENT SCENARIO AND GUIDANCE

SCENARIO

Cloud networking is a type of IT infrastructure in which some or all of an organization’s network capabilities and resources are
hosted in a public or private cloud platform, managed in-house or by a service provider, and available on demand.
Networking in the cloud-based environment remains a particular challenge for NEXTWIL. You have recently started working as a
Networking expert in a software company ‘NEXTWIL’. NEXTWIL is in the process of acquiring a new cloud-based system and needs
to bring in new networking facilities across countries.
If you prove your understanding, you will have the assistance of an installations technician who is an expert at installing cabling,
fibre optics and hardware such as switches and firewalls but has little understanding of designing or configuring them, possibly
using cloud-based networking.
PART A – GUIDANCE
In the first instance you will need to produce a critical evaluation of the topology and protocol you select and use this to
demonstrate the efficient utilisation of the networking system. You will need to include some elements of theory:
▪ How can cloud based networking influence NEXTWIL? Discuss a comparison of common networking principles and
explain how protocols enable the effectiveness of networked systems, with special reference to cloud-based
networking opportunities for NEXTWIL.
▪ A discussion of the various benefits and constraints relating to different network types and standards.
▪ An explanation of the impact different network topologies have on communication and bandwidth requirements.
And some explanation of the hardware and operations involved:
▪ Influence of cloud-based computing on the choice of servers and infrastructure for NEXTWIL must be evaluated. An
exploration of the range of available server types, choose and justify a suitable server for the requirements specification
NEXTWIL should be given by you with due regard to cost and performance optimisation.
You will need to produce a discussion of the operating principles of the main networking devices and server types and relate this
to the interdependence of workstation hardware to the appropriate networking software. You must also critically evaluate the
ways in which a particular topology can selected for the company.
PART B – GUIDANCE
After your submission to the operations manager, you have met expectations as to your theoretical knowledge and have been
given the go ahead to proceed with designing and installing the new network. Firstly, develop a network design to meet the
requirements of the company from the specification given. Then test and evaluate the design against the requirements
specification, collect user feedback and perform an analysis on that with the aim of improving the efficiency of your designed
network. Implement the network as per your design. Install and configure the appropriate network services and applications on
your network. Produce and implement a test plan for the network clearly showing outcomes against your expected results. Then
recommend possible enhancements to your network. Design a long-term maintenance schedule to support the running of your
network. Finally use critical reflection of the whole design and implementation process to evaluate what you have done and
justify the conclusions you draw from that to the operations manager.

PART C – GUIDANCE

Present your work in 25 slides.

EVIDENCE CHECKLIST SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE REQUIRED BY STUDENT

PART A Report (2500 words). Requirements Specification.
PART B Individual Evidence Portfolio
PART C Presentation (25 Slides)