The_Benefits_of_Twisted_Pair_Cable

The Benefits of Twisted Pair Cable Gwendolyn Harris Strayer University CIS 175/ Week 4 Assignment 1 Introduction You are a recently hired consultant for a NCF, the Networking Consulting Firm, and your first consulting assignment is at Ocper, Inc. Upon arriving at the client, you learn from the president that there is no one dedicated to information technology or networking on the staff and there are 20 Windows peer-to-peer client computers all connected via coax cabling. The president also indicates that the company plans to double in size over the next two years, but she is weary of drastically changing the computing environment. Body 1. Describe what changes you would suggest in terms of the current network type / structure and how you would lay out the benefits of the changes you recommend. I would advise the president to change the current network type to twisted pair cable because by having coaxial cable, it carry a high frequency signals along a single center conductor where as for twisted pair cable twisting two insulated wires together improves their electrical characteristics at lower voice frequencies and prevents signals from crossing into adjacent wires. It also allows the signal to travel longer distances. 2. Describe why you would suggest connecting all current and new client computers using twisted pair cable instead of staying with the current coax wiring structure. Twisting two insulated wires together improves their electrical characteristics at lower voice frequencies and prevents signals from crossing into adjacent wires. It also allows the signal to travel longer distances. Coaxial cables carry high-frequency signals along a single-center conductor surrounded by a foil or braided copper shield. Coaxial cable has less loss than twisted pair, and the shield protects the signal from interference (Dean, 2010). There are two type of twisted pair cable, shield and unshielded. Unshielded twisted pair, or UTP, is so closely identified with Ethernet implementations that it is often called "Ethernet cable." This form of cable can contain any number of wires, but the most common form used for networks contains eight wires, configured as four pairs, with the two wires in each pair twisted around each other for the length of the cable. The configuration and performance expectation of different grades of UTP is defined by the Telecommunications Industry Association. It classifies cable as a category number. Shielded twisted pair comes in a variety of configurations. The cable has two twisted pairs which mean it is not suitable for Ethernet networks, which require four twisted pairs. In this configuration each pair is wrapped in foil and the entire bundle has a woven metal case beneath the outer jacket of the cable.. This category can be used as a substitute for UTP cable in Ethernet networks because it has four twisted pairs. Each has a foil, or woven metal shield beneath the plastic coating of the cable. 3. Discuss the possibility of using fiber optic cable instead of either twisted pair cable or staying with the existing coax wiring structure. The possibility of using fiber optic cable is that all the gigabit Ethernet recommendations include versions using two types of fiber optic cable. These are multi-mode fiber and single-mode fiber. Multi-mode is the more common of the two types because it transmits data as light coming from an LED source, which is cheaper to implement than single-mode fiber. The single-mode fiber is the most expensive medium of all network cables and so is less often implemented. It requires a small laser as a light source for data signals. 4. Research the costs involved with making these changes to the network (not including the cost for buying more computers) and determine whether or not there is a cost benefit. The biggest advantage of twisted pair cable over coaxial cable is the cost. Coaxial cable is more expensive than twisted pair on a per-unit basis. For example, solid UTP category 5 cable costs $87.99 per 1,000 feet, or about 9 cents per foot (as of May 2011). One foot of RG 58 coaxial cable costs 94 cents, almost 10 times the cost of twisted pair cable. However, the use of coaxial cable becomes more cost competitive, due to the loss characteristics of coaxial cable, when used in certain Ethernet topologies. When it comes to transporting signals over a long distance, twisted pair is usable for approximately 100 m or 328 feet. Coaxial cable can increase this to 500 m or 1640.4 feet. If a particular Ethernet topology uses a lot of very long cable runs, coaxial cable can be a very competitive alternative. This would be cost benefit for the Ocpher, Inc in saving money by using the twisted pair cable. It also use less wiring and easily to connect the computer to the network. Summary or Conclusion It would be beneficial for Ocpher, Inc to change their network system over to twisted pair cable because it is cheaper and faster. Twisted pair cable data transfer runs at speeds up to 1 GB per second. Coaxial cable falls short, with speeds ranging from 10 MB per second up to 350 MB per second. If the company plans to add more computers to the network, this would benefit them in the long run. References Dean, T. (2010). CIS175: Network+ guide to networks: 2009 custom edition (5th ed.). Boston: Course Technology, Cengage Learning. Twisted Pair Cable Vs. Coaxial Cable Vs. Fiber Optics Cable | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8594381_twisted-vs-fiber-optics-cable.html#ixzz1tSc79fUx What Are Two Advantages of Using Twisted Pair Cabling Over Coaxial Cabling on a Network' | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8480209_two-over-coaxial-cabling-network.html#ixzz1tTClWu8D