Activity 1: why I prefer online learning and ways of ensuring I succeed.
One of the main reasons why I prefer online education is flexibility of the modules and mode of study. Online learning enables a student to attend classes from wherever thus there is no excuse that one is late due to traffic problems or any other reason. The mode of assessment and availability of reading materials is also favorable to me thus I see more advantages in online study than physical study by school attendance in person. So as to ensure I succeed in online study, I will have to own a laptop which will be Wi-Fi enabled so as to access the online learning materials from whichever place I am. The laptop will also give me an option of submitting my assignment in time. The other means I would refer to ensure my success would be direct supplement of the theory learnt in class with practical sessions with my laptop. In IT and networking, a lot of practice is necessary thus online learning, which is an application of IT networking, would enable me to assess my practical ability in the field of IT.
I have chosen to major in IT networking mainly because it is my passion. I believe in pursuing what is my passion thus I find myself well placed in networking. The other thing is market outreach for the program. Networks are cropping out everyday thus being well equipped with knowledge about networking makes a person always in the job market.
The main things I would do to ensure that my program becomes the best is to breakdown the complex network architectures into sub networks which will be easy to analyze and construct. By doing so, one will have a better chance to improve on the weak areas and understand how to create even large networks from the simple networks.
Activity 2: obtaining a digital certificate.
Moving on to means of obtaining a digital certificate be it individual or WLAN, the steps are similar but the procedures are different only in terms of certificate ownership. To begin with, one has to have the network architecture ready for deployment once the certificate is issued. The main factors that determine the cost of certificate is size of network which dictates the amount of memory allocated and the use of the network. These certificates ensure that security and deployment of the work are optimum. The basic steps are:
1. Creating the network and installing the necessary security passwords.
2. Since the network is a website that can be accessed from outside, set the permission levels for the different users.
3. Purchase a domain name which is dictated by the size of the website.
4. Pay the hosting fee of the website and start enjoying the network resources.
In case of a wireless LAN, contact the local communications governing body so as to receive acknowledgement on the network and the preferred area of coverage and then follow the above procedure. The domain seller is the one to help you have the digital certificate which will help protect the network and the website in general (Wi-Fi alliance, 2005). Normally, for an individual network, the coverage and size of the website and the whole network is small compared to a WLAN. This would mean that the memory allocated to the personal network is small thus a smaller charge compared to WLAN. The actual fee ranges from $20 to $30 for personal networks and $100 - $140 for the WLAN (Wi-FI alliance, 2005).
Activity 3: server configuration.
For the server configurations, the two main servers will have administrator access privileges. This will ensure that the data contained in them can only be altered by an administrator. The alternative route to follow in access the data in these two servers would be through the third server which is a member of the served devices. Accessing a server through another sever ensures security of the second server. So as to secure the member server, the data in it must be backed up as regularly as required. A server being used by many clients usually call for periodic back up usually using an external mass storage device to ensure that the memory of the server is not filled up and security of the data in an event of server failure of crushing of the operating system of the server (Roberts, 2007).
References
Wi-Fi alliance, 2005 WPA and WPA2 Implementation white paper. Penguin Publishers
Roberts D. 2007. Server configuration guide retrieved from http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_301_201_server_config.pdf
