Learning Outcome 1: Arrange, plan and prepare for configuration task

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

- refers to the legislation, policies, procedures and activities that aim
to protect the health, safety and welfare of all people at the workplace.

Personal safety while working with PC’s

Safety precautions to take before working with any computer devices:

- Listen to your teacher’s instruction to prevent accidents or any unwanted events that may occur
on your workplace.

- Do not work on computer when you are wet because you might get electrocuted.

- Do not remove internal devices of the computer when it is turned on.

- Be sure not to mix electronic components and water.

- Avoid playing or running while inside the room.

- Always wear personal protective equipments (PPE) like coverall, shoes with rubber sole, anti-
static wrist strap, etc.

- Ask for assistance from your teacher when it comes on dealing with computer devices.

- Applying safety measure when handling tools and equipment are necessary to avoid certain
damages

Computer Network
- interconnected group of computers.
Network
- refer to any interconnected group or system.
- any method of sharing information between two systems
BENEFITS OF SHARING INFORMATION VIA NETWORK
In addition to reducing hardware costs by sharing expensive printers and other
peripherals among multiple users, networks provide additional benefits to the
users.
- Software and data files can be shared for access by multiple users
- Electronic mail e-mail can be sent and received
- Collaboration features allow contributions by multiple users to a single document
- Remote-control programs can be used to troubleshoot problems or show
new users how to perform a task
SHARED HARDWARE COMPONENTS

- any storage or output device can be shared over a network

a) Printers
b) Disk drives
c) CD-ROM and optical drives
d) Modems
e) Fax
f) Tape backup units
Network Topology
- signifies the way in which intelligent devices in the network see their logical relations to one
another
- refers to the layout of a network and how different nodes in a network are connected to each
other and how they communicate.
Topology
- are either physical (the physical layout of devices on a network) or logical (the way that the
signals act on the network media, or the way that the data passes through the network from
one device to the next).
TYPES OF NETWORK TOPOLOGY

A. Bus Topology
- often used when network installation is small, simple or temporary
- the cable is just 1 or more wires with no active electronics to amplify the signal or pass it along
from computer to computer.
- a topology for a Local Area Network (LAN) in which all the nodes are connected to a single cable.
The cable to which the nodes connect is called a "backbone". If the backbone is broken, the
entire segment fails.
ADVANTAGES:
1. Easy to use and to understand.
2. Less expensive: requires only least amount of cables to connect computers together
3. It is easy to extend a bus; two cables can be joined into 1 longer cable with a BNC, Barrel
connector making a longer cable and allowing more computers to join the network.
Disadvantages:
1. Heavy network traffic can slow a bus considerably as only 1 computer can
send a message at a time.
2. It is difficult to troubleshoot the bus. A cable break or loose connector
causes reflection and stops all the activity.
B. Star topology
- a topology for a Local Area Network (LAN) in which all nodes are individually connected to a
central connection point, like a hub or a switch. A star takes more cable than e.g. a bus, but the
benefit is that if a cable fails, only one node will be brought down.
- the cables run from the computers to the central location where they are all connected by a
device called hub or switch
Advantages:
1) It is easy to modify and add new computers without disturbing the rest of the network.
2) The center of the star network is a good place to diagnose the faults.
 3) Single computer failure does not necessarily bring down the whole star network.

Disadvantages:
1) If the central device fails, the whole network fails to operate.
2) Star networking is expensive because all network cables must be pulled to one central point,
requires more cable than other network topologies.

C. Ring Topology
- a network configuration in which device connections create a circular data path
- Each retransmits what it receives from the previous computer. The message flows around the
ring in one direction.
Advantages:
1) Each node has equal access.
2) Capable of high speed data transfer.
Disadvantages:
1) Failure of one computer on the ring can affect the whole network.
2) Difficult to troubleshoot the network.

A.
Personal Area Network (PAN)
-a computer network used for communication among computer devices close to one person.
-Can be reached within about 20-30 feet (approximately 6-9 meters).
-May be wired in computer buses
-A wireless personal area network (WPAN) can also be made possible with network technologies
such as Bluetooth.
Examples of devices that may be used in PAN
- printers, fax machines, telephones, PDA’s or scanners
B. Local Area Network (LAN)
- network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or building
- based on Ethernet technology
Client/Server Vs Peer-to-Peer Networks
- Although every computer on a LAN is connected to every other, they do not necessarily mean all
communicate with each other. There are two basic types of LAN, based on communication
patterns between the machines, called client/server networks and peer-to-peer networks.

Client/Server Networks- A server is designed to share its resources among client computers on the
network.
- composed of:
I. Servers
- located in secured areas, because they hold the organization's most valuable data and do not
have the accessed by operators on a continuous basis
- The server runs a special network operating system such as: Windows NT Server, Windows 2000
or Novell Netware.
II. Clients

- The rest of the computers on the network functions as client. A client standard PC that is
running an operating system such as DOS or Windows.
 C. Peer-to-Peer Network
- the "peers" are computer systems which are connected to each other via the Internet. Files can
be shared directly between systems on the network without the need of a central server. In
other words, each computer on a P2P network becomes a file server as well as a client.
D. CAMPUS AREA NETWORK (CAN)
- a network of multiple interconnected local area networks (LAN) in a limited geographical area
- considered a type of MAN (metropolitan area network), but is generally
limited to an area that is smaller than a typical MAN. This term is most
often used to discuss the implementation of networks for a contiguous
area. This should not be confused with a Controller Area Network.
E. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
- a network that connects two or more Local Area Networks or Campus Area Networks together
but does not extend beyond the boundaries of the immediate town, city, or metropolitan area.
Multiple routers, switches & hubs are connected to create a MAN.

F. Wide Area Network (WAN)

- a data communications network that covers a relatively broad geographic area (i.e. one city to
another and one country to another country) and that often uses transmission facilities provided
by common carriers, such as telephone companies. WAN technologies generally function at the
lower three layers of the OSI reference model: the physical layer, the data link layer, and the
network layer.

G. Global Area Network (GAN)

- a model for supporting mobile communications across an arbitrary number of wireless LANs,
satellite coverage areas, etc. The key challenge in mobile communications is "handing off" the
user communications from one local coverage area to the next. In IEEE Project 802, this involves
a succession of terrestrial Wireless local area networks (WLAN).
Internetwork- it is any interconnection among or between public, private, commercial, industrial, or
governmental networks.

In modern practice, the interconnected networks use the Internet Protocol. There are at least three
variants of internetwork, depending on who administers and who participates in them:
A. Intranet
- a set of interconnected networks, using the Internet Protocol and uses IP-based tools and ftp
tools, that is under the control of a single administrative entity.
- It is the internal network of a company or other enterprise.
B. Extranet
- a controlled private network allowing customers, and other businesses to gain information,
typically about a specific company or educational institution, and do so without granting access
to the organization's entire network
- It is often a private part of a website. It is restricted to select users through user IDs, passwords
and other authentication mechanisms on a login page.
C. Internet
- It is a global wide area network that connects computer systems across the world
- consisting of a worldwide interconnection of governmental, academic, public, and private
networks based upon the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) developed
by ARPA of the U.S. Department of Defense – also home to the World Wide Web (WWW)
- It uses IP Addresses obtained from address registries that control assignments.
Materials, Tools and Testing Devices used in Configuration Task
- Materials needed in the Configuration task:
1. Connectors
- It is used to connect external devices to the computer system.
2. Adapter
- A piece of hardware that plugs into an expansion slot in your computer.
3. Wires and Cables
- It is used to connect computers for network.
4. Appropriate software
- This software packages are used to install new drivers needed in setting up your
computer.
5. Computer storage media
- These help you in saving data and providing backup for your files such as diskette,
compact disc, flash drives and memory cards.
6. Reference book
- These are books that will provide topics about networking or related books on
computer.
7. Manuals
- These provide instructions for certain operation or task.
8. Cable tie
- It is used to organized wires and cables used in connecting computers to avoid tangling.

The tools/ testing devices needed in the configuration task:

1. Screw drivers
- Flat screw driver is used to fasten negative slotted screws.
- Philips Screw driver is used to fasten positive slotted screws.
2. Pliers
- Side Cutter pliers is used for cutting and trimming of connecting wires or terminal leads
in the circuit board.
- Long nose pliers is used for holding, bending and stretching the lead of electronics
component and connecting wire.
3. Soldering iron/gun
- It is used to join two or more metal conductors with the support of soldering lead melted
around it.
4. Multi-tester
- It is used by technician for measuring current, voltage and resistance.
5. Magnifying Glass
- It is a device made of glass with handle. It exaggerates or increase the apparent size of an
object.
6. Safety apparel suit (coverall)
o It is used by the person for body protection.
7. Anti-static wrist strap
- It absorbs the static electricity of the material when being hold by the hands.
8. Tweezers
- It is used to hold the small sensitive part of the computer.
9. Mini-vacuum cleaner
- It is used for cleaning sensitive parts of the computer.