NET102Lesson3 NetworkTrendsandNetworkSecurity
NET102Lesson3 NetworkTrendsandNetworkSecurity
Lesson Objectives:
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2. describe trends in networking that will affect the use of networks in small to medium-sized
businesses, and
3. identify some of basic security threats and solutions to both small and large networks.
Network Trends
As describe in Lesson 1, networks had great impact on our daily lives just like the way we
work, play, and learn. Looking back how the Internet has changed many of the things people do
daily. It has truly transformed the way individuals and organizations communicate. For example,
most businesses have an Internet presence where consumers can learn about their products,
read reviews from other customers, and order products directly from the website. Social
networking sites partner with businesses to promote products and services. Bloggers partner with
businesses to highlight and endorse products and services. Most of this product placement is
targeted to the potential consumer, rather than to the masses. As stated by Cisco Networking
Academy (2016), there are many forecasts about the Internet in the near future, including the
following:
By 2014, traffic from wireless devices will exceed traffic from wired devices.
By 2015, the amount of content traversing the Internet annually will be 540,000 times
time the amount that traveled in 2003.
By 2015, 90 percent of all content on the Internet will be video based.
By 2015, a million video minutes will traverse the Internet every second.
As new technologies and end-user devices come to market, businesses, and consumers
must continue to adjust to this ever-changing environment. The role of the network is transforming
to enable the connections of people, devices, and information. There are several new networking
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trends that will affect organizations and consumers. Some of the top trends include:
Any device, to any content, in any way
Online collaboration
Video
Cloud computing
BYOD is the concept of any device, to any content, in any way is a major global trend that
requires significant changes to the way devices are used. As shown in Figure 1-57, BYOD is
about end users having the freedom to use personal tools to access information and communicate
across a business or campus network. With the growth of consumer devices, and the related drop
in cost, employees and students can be expected to have some of the most advanced computing
and networking tools for personal. These personal tools include laptops, netbooks, tablets,
smartphones, and e-readers. These can be devices purchased by the company or school,
purchased by the individual, or both (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016).
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Online Collaboration
Individuals want to connect to the network, not only for access to data applications but
also to collaborate with one another. As stated by Cisco Networking Academy (2016),
collaboration is defined as “the act of working with another or others on a joint project.” In addition,
Collaboration tools give employees, customers, and partners a way to instantly connect, interact,
and conduct business, through whatever communications channels they prefer, and achieve
business objectives as illustrated in Figure 1-58. For businesses, collaboration is a critical and
strategic priority. To remain competitive, organizations must answer three primary collaboration
questions:
How can they get everyone on the same page with a clear picture of the project?
With decreased budgets and personnel, how can they balance resources to be in more
places at once?
How can they maintain face-to-face relationships with a growing network of
colleagues, customers, partners, and peers in an environment that is more dependent
on 24-hour connectivity?
Video Communication
Another trend in networking that is critical in the communication and collaboration effort is
video. Video is being used for communications, collaboration, and entertainment. Video calls are
becoming more popular, facilitating communications as part of the human network such as FB
messenger video call, Skype, and etc. Video calls can be made to and from anywhere with an
Internet connection, including from home or at work. Video calls and videoconferencing are
powerful tools for sales processes and for doing business. Video is a useful tool for conducting
business at a distance, both locally and globally which helps businesses to create a competitive
advantage, lower costs, and reduce the impact on the environment by reducing the need to travel
as shown in Figure 1-59.
Global workforce and need for real-time collaboration. Create collaborative teams that
span corporate and national boundaries and geographies.
Reducing costs and green IT. Avoiding travel reduces both cost and carbon emissions.
New opportunities for IP convergence. These include converging video applications,
such as high-definition video collaboration, video surveillance systems, and video
advertising signage onto a single IP network.
Media explosion. The plummeting cost of video cameras and a new generation of high-
quality, low-cost devices have turned users into would-be movie producers.
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Social networking: The social networking phenomenon can be as effective in business
as it is in a social setting.
Demands for universal media access. Users are demanding to be able to access rich-
media applications wherever they are and on any device.
.
In addition, video conferencing is now also popular tools in education sectors particularly
schools offering distance learning. With the available video conferencing tools such as Cisco
Webex, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and etc., teachers can now deliver a real-time
lecture to students similar to face-to-face learning environment as illustrated in Figure 1-60.
Another trend in video is video on demand (VoD) and streaming live video. Delivering
video over the network lets us see movies and television programs when we want and where
we want such as Netflex, Ifflex, Muvi, etc. as shown in Figure 1-61.
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Figure 1-61. Video on Demand (VoD) and live streaming (Lee, E., 2019)
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are
delivered as a service over a network (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016). In addition, a company
uses the hardware and software in the cloud and pays a service fee to the cloud provider as
shown in Figure 1-62. Cloud computing offers the following potential benefits:
Organizational flexibility. Users can access the information anytime and anyplace
using a web browser.
Agility and rapid deployment. The IT department can focus on delivering the tools to
mine, analyze, and share the information and knowledge from databases, files, and
people.
Reduced cost of infrastructure. Technology is moved from on-site to a cloud provider,
eliminating the cost of hardware and applications.
Refocus of IT resources. The cost savings of hardware and applications can be applied
elsewhere.
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Figure 1-62. Cloud computing (Anurag., 2020)
There are four primary types of clouds: private, public, hybrid/custom, and community (see
Figure 63):
Public clouds. Cloud-based applications and services offered in a public cloud are
made available to the general population. Services may be free or may be offered on
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be able to have degrees of access to various services based on user access rights. A
custom cloud are clouds built to meet the needs of a specific industry, such as
healthcare or media. Custom clouds can be private or public.
Community Clouds. Community cloud allows systems and services to be accessible
by group of organizations
According to Aniket (2020), particularly, the entire cloud computing environment revolves
around three of its service models, SaaS, PaaS and IaaS as shown in Figure 1-64 and 1-65.
-Application
-OS runtime
-middleware
-network
-storage servers
Figure 1-64. Service model in cloud computing (Aniket, 2020)
Figure 1-66. Examples of cloud computing providers classified according to deployment and
service model (courtesy of xyfon.com, 2014)
IT leaders should recognize that there are eight (8) fundamental elements that are vital in
enabling the cloud computing concept below. For the cloud model to work in the public or private
sector, it is essential that there be:
universal connectivity — users must have near-ubiquitous access to the internet
open access — users must have fair, nondiscriminatory access to the internet
reliability — the cloud must function at levels equal to or better than current
standalone systems
interoperability and user choice — users must be able to move among cloud
platforms
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security — users’ data must be safe
privacy — users’ rights to their data must be clearly defined and protected
economic value — the cloud must deliver tangible savings and benefits
sustainability — the cloud must raise energy efficiency and reduce ecological impact.
Data Centers
Cloud computing is possible because of data centers. A data center is a facility used to
house computer systems and associated components including:
Redundant data communications connections
High-speed virtual servers (sometimes referred to as server farms or server clusters)
Redundant storage systems (typically uses SAN technology)
Redundant or backup power supplies
Environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression)
Security devices
A data center can occupy one room of a building, one or more floors, or an entire building.
Modern data centers make use of cloud computing and virtualization to efficiently handle large
data transactions. Virtualization is the creation of a virtual version of hardware platform, operating
system (OS), storage device, or network resources.
As explained by Cisco Networking Academy (2016), networking trends are not only
affecting the way we communicate at work and at school, but they are also changing just about
every aspect of the home. The newest home trends include “smart home technology”. This is
technology that is integrated into everyday appliances, allowing them to interconnect with other
devices, making them more “smart” or automated.
Powerline Networking
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Powerline networking is an emerging trend for home networking that uses existing
electrical wiring to connect devices, as shown in Figure 1-67. The concept of “no new wires”
means the ability to connect a device to the network wherever there is an electrical outlet. This
saves the cost of installing data cables and adds no cost to the electrical bill. Using the same
wiring that delivers electricity, powerline networking sends information by sending data on certain
frequencies similar to the technology used for DSL. Powerline networking is not designed to be a
substitute for dedicated cabling for data networks. However, it is an alternative when data network
cables or wireless communications are not a viable option (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016).
According to Fruhlinger, Josh (202), an IoT brings the power of the internet, data
processing and analytics to the real world of physical objects. For consumers, this means
interacting with the global information network without the intermediary of a keyboard and screen;
many of their everyday objects and appliances can take instructions from that network with
minimal human intervention such as smart appliances. Likewise, in enterprise settings, IoT can
bring the same efficiencies to physical manufacturing and distribution that the internet has long
delivered for knowledge work. Additionally, researchers can also use the IoT to gather data about
people's preferences and behavior, though that can have serious implications for privacy and
security.
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The fundamental elements of the IoT are devices that gather data. These devices are
internet-connected devices, have unique IP address. They range in complexity from autonomous
vehicles that haul products around factory floors to simple sensors that monitor the temperature
in buildings. They also include personal devices like fitness trackers that monitor the number of
steps individuals take each day. To make that data useful it needs to be collected, processed,
filtered and analyzed, each of which can be handled in a variety of ways. After collecting the data,
it will be sent over the internet to a data center or a cloud that has storage and compute power or
the transfer can be staged, with intermediary devices aggregating the data before sending it
along. Finally, data processing takes place. Processing the data can take place in data centers
or cloud. With the help of smart edge device, it can aggregate data, analyze it and fashion
responses if necessary, all within relatively close physical distance, thereby reducing delay. Edge
devices also have upstream connectivity for sending data to be further processed and stored.
Figure 1-68 shows a simplified flow on how IoT works.
IoE is a wider aspect of IoT. As stated by Sakovich, Natallia (2019), IoE is the connections
between people, things, data and processes combined into a common interrelated system, the
aim of which is to improve experiences and make smarter decisions. Furthermore, she also
mentioned that IoT is the interconnectivity of physical objects that send and receive data, while
the IoE is a wider term that includes, apart from IoT, numerous technologies and people as the
end-nodes. To make it simple, IoE encompasses four components such as things, processes,
data and people as shown in Figure 1-69.
Wireless Broadband
Connecting to the Internet is vital in smart home technology. DSL and cable are common
technologies used to connect homes and small businesses to the Internet. However, wireless can be
another option in many areas (Cisco Networking Academy, 2016).
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Figure 1-70. Wireless broadband service (courtesy of Cisco Press, 2016)
Figure 1-71. Layers of Wireless Body Area Networks for eHealthcare Systems (Ghamari, M. et
al.,2016)
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Security Threats
Security Solutions
There is no single solution can protect the network from the variety of threats that exist.
For this reason, security should be implemented in multiple layers, using more than one security
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Access Control Lists (ACL). To further filter access and traffic forwarding
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS). To identify fast-spreading threats, such as zero-
day or zero-hour attacks
Virtual Private Network (VPN). To provide secure access to remote workers
Summary
Internet has changed many of the things people do daily. It has truly transformed the way
individuals and organizations communicate.
Network security is an integral part of computer networking, regardless of whether the network
is limited to a home environment with a single connection to the Internet, or as large as a
corporation with thousands of users.
In networking, there is no single solution can protect the network from the variety of threats
that exist. However, if all network security components work together, thus we can minimizes
maintenance and improves security.