Monitoring employees on networks unethical or good business

“Monitoring Employees On Networks: Unethical Or Good Business?”

After completing this chapter, you will be able to answer the following questions:

1. What are the principal components of telecommunications networks and key networking technologies?

2. What are the main telecommunications transmission media and types of networks?

3. How do the Internet and Internet technology work, and how do they support communication and e-business?

4. What are the principal technologies and standards for wireless networking, communication, and Internet access?

5. Why are radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor networks valuable for business?

Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology

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CHAPTER OUTLINE Chapter-Opening Case: Los Angeles International

Airport Soars with New Networking Technology

6.1 Telecommunications and Networking in Today’s Business World

6.2 Communications Networks

6.3 The Global Internet

6.4 The Wireless Revolution

6.5 Hands-On MIS Projects

Business Problem-Solving Case: Google Versus Microsoft: Clash of the Technology Titans

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SOARS WITH NEW NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY

What does it take today to be a state-of-the art international airport? Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is trying to answer this question. LAWA is the department of the City of Los Angeles, California, that owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the Van Nuys Airport, the LA/Ontario International Airport, and the LA/Palmdale Regional Airport. These airports’ physical facilities and IT infrastructure were out of date. The new generation of giant aircraft with very large wingspans didn’t fit most of LAWA’s existing airport gates. What’s more, LAWA needed more powerful computing and networking capabilities to make its operations more efficient and convenient for travelers.

To recapture its place among first-rate international airports, LAWA began upgrading both physical facilities and IT infrastructure at Los Angeles International Airport’s Tom Bradley Terminal in late 2006. All projects will be completed by 2013. The terminal will

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almost double in size, and the entire airport will have a new Ethernet local-area network (LAN). LAX’s network is linked to LAWA’s other airports.

LAWA management wants to make its network available to the 70 airlines that use its airports to generate additional revenue and defray costs. The airlines will be billed for these technologies on a usage basis. Larger airlines will probably continue to use their own telecommunications lines and networks, but many smaller airlines will opt for using the LAWA network to avoid the expense of purchasing and maintaining their own technology.

LAWA is relying increasingly on technology for virtually everything, and a wireless network is critical. The airport’s wireless Wi-Fi network will expand throughout the entire airport. For a fee, passengers are able to access the Internet from any public areas, from curbside to the nose of the aircraft. When planes arrive at the gate, they can use wireless connections to order parts and relay instructions to maintenance staff. Wireless handheld devices are used for monitoring and checking bags. Wireless devices called COWs (common use on wheels) can be wheeled directly to passengers standing in long lines to help them obtain tickets and check in. The COWs tie into the airport’s common-use systems and have a flight information display screen on top. The flexibility provided by wireless technology made it possible reorganize work activities to increase efficiency and customer service.

In May 2009, LAWA launched a new intranet site for its approximately 4,000 employ- ees. The intranet provides staff members with the latest news about the airports and airport/- airline business, along with chat rooms, blogs, and wikis to share knowledge and expertise. The majority of LAWA employees have access to the intranet from their desktop computers. Employees who don’t have a desktop computer were recently supplied with a handheld version of the intranet. LAWA is considering opening some portions of the intranet to city officials, councilmen, and perhaps local community groups who could benefit from the information.

Sources: Eileen Feretic, “The Future of Flight,” Baseline, June 2009; “CIO Profiles: Dom Nessi: Deputy Executive Director and CIO, Los Angeles World Airports, Information Week, May 4. 2009; and www.airport-la.com, accessed July 12, 2009.

Los Angeles World Airports illustrates some of the powerful new capabilities and opportu- nities provided by contemporary networking technology. LAWA added a powerful local- area network to connect devices and aircraft within its airports and wireless Wi-Fi technol- ogy to support wireless devices and Internet access. These technologies improved customer service and increased efficiency for both airports and airlines.

The chapter-opening diagram calls attention to important points raised by this case and this chapter. LAWA has to compete with other airports as an international destination or stopping point for many airlines. If it didn’t upgrade to a state-of-the-art physical or tech- nology infrastructure, it would lose business from the growing number of international flights using giant airplanes. Its image as an airport for international flights would suffer.

Management decided to expand the airports and implement new networking technology, including a powerful local-area network for the airport, Wi-Fi wireless networking, wireless devices for check-in and Internet access, and a new intranet. These improvements made the airport easier to use for both passengers and airlines, saving time and operating costs. LAWA had to redesign its ticketing, check-in, and other processes to take advantage of the new technology.

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6.1 Telecommunications and Networking in Today’s Business World

If you run or work in a business, you can’t do without networks. You need to communicate rapidly with your customers, suppliers, and employees. Until about 1990, you used the postal system or telephone system with voice or fax for business communication. Today, however, you and your employees use computers and e-mail, the Internet, cell phones, and mobile computers connected to wireless networks for this purpose. Networking and the Internet are now nearly synonymous with doing business.

NETWORKING AND COMMUNICATION TRENDS

Firms in the past used two fundamentally different types of networks: telephone networks and computer networks. Telephone networks historically handled voice communication, and computer networks handled data traffic. Telephone networks were built by telephone companies throughout the twentieth century using voice transmission technologies (hard- ware and software), and these companies almost always operated as regulated monopolies throughout the world. Computer networks were originally built by computer companies seeking to transmit data between computers in different locations.

Thanks to continuing telecommunications deregulation and information technology innovation, telephone and computer networks are slowly converging into a single digital network using shared Internet-based standards and equipment. Telecommunications providers, such as AT&T and Verizon, today offer data transmission, Internet access, cellular telephone service, and television programming as well as voice service. Cable companies, such as Cablevision and Comcast, now offer voice service and Internet access. Computer networks have expanded to include Internet telephone and limited video services. Increasingly, all of these voice, video, and data communications are based on Internet technology.

Both voice and data communication networks have also become more powerful (faster), more portable (smaller and mobile), and less expensive. For instance, the typical Internet connection speed in 2000 was 56 kilobits per second, but today more than 60 percent of U.S. Internet users have high-speed broadband connections provided by telephone and cable TV companies running at 1 to 15 million bits per second. The cost for this service has fallen exponentially, from 25 cents per kilobit in 2000 to a fraction of a cent today.

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Increasingly, voice and data communication, as well as Internet access, are taking place over broadband wireless platforms, such as cell phones, handheld digital devices like Kindles, and PCs in wireless networks. In a few years, more than half the Internet users in the United States will use smartphones and mobile netbooks to access the Internet. In 2009, 73 million Americans access the Internet through mobile devices, and this number is expected to double by 2013 (eMarketer, 2009).

WHAT IS A COMPUTER NETWORK?

If you had to connect the computers for two or more employees together in the same office, you would need a computer network. Exactly what is a network? In its simplest form, a network consists of two or more connected computers. Figure 6-1 illustrates the major hardware, software, and transmission components used in a simple network: a client computer and a dedicated server computer, network interfaces, a connection medium, network operating system software, and either a hub or a switch.

Each computer on the network contains a network interface device called a network interface card (NIC). Most personal computers today have this card built into the mother- board. The connection medium for linking network components can be a telephone wire, coaxial cable, or radio signal in the case of cell phone and wireless local-area networks (Wi-Fi networks).

The network operating system (NOS) routes and manages communications on the network and coordinates network resources. It can reside on every computer in the network, or it can reside primarily on a dedicated server computer for all the applications on the network. A server computer is a computer on a network that performs important network functions for client computers, such as serving up Web pages, storing data, and storing the network operating system (and hence controlling the network). Server software, such as Microsoft Windows Server, Linux, and Novell Open Enterprise Server, are the most widely used network operating systems.

Figure 6-1 Components of a Simple Computer Network Illustrated here is a very simple computer network, consisting of computers, a network operating system residing on a dedicated server computer, cable (wiring) connecting the devices, network interface cards (NIC), switches, and a router.

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Most networks also contain a switch or a hub acting as a connection point between the computers. Hubs are very simple devices that connect network components, sending a packet of data to all other connected devices. A switch has more intelligence than a hub and can filter and forward data to a specified destination on the network.

What if you want to communicate with another network, such as the Internet? You would need a router. A router is a communications processor used to route packets of data through different networks, ensuring that the data sent gets to the correct address.

Networks in Large Companies The network we’ve just described might be suitable for a small business. But what about large companies with many different locations and thousands of employees? As a firm grows, and collects hundreds of small local-area networks, these networks can be tied together into a corporate-wide networking infrastructure. The network infrastructure for a large corporation consists of a large number of these small local-area networks linked to other local-area networks and to firmwide corporate networks. A number of powerful servers support a corporate Web site, a corporate intranet, and perhaps an extranet. Some of these servers link to other large computers supporting back-end systems.

Figure 6-2 provides an illustration of these more complex, larger scale corporate-wide networks. Here you can see that the corporate network infrastructure supports a mobile sales force using cell phones, mobile employees linking to the company Web site, internal company networks using mobile wireless local-area networks (Wi-Fi networks), and a videoconferencing system to support managers across the world. In addition to these com- puter networks, the firm’s infrastructure usually includes a separate telephone network that handles most voice data. Many firms are dispensing with their traditional telephone networks and using Internet telephones that run on their existing data networks (described later).

As you can see from this figure, a large corporate network infrastructure uses a wide variety of technologies—everything from ordinary telephone service and corporate data networks to Internet service, wireless Internet, and wireless cell phones. One of the major

Figure 6-2 Corporate Network Infrastructure Today’s corporate network infrastructure is a collection of many different networks from the public switched telephone network, to the Internet, to corporate local-area networks linking workgroups, departments, or office floors.

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problems facing corporations today is how to integrate all the different communication networks and channels into a coherent system that enables information to flow from one part of the corporation to another, from one system to another. As more and more communica- tion networks become digital, and based on Internet technologies, it will become easier to integrate them.

KEY DIGITAL NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES

Contemporary digital networks and the Internet are based on three key technologies: client/server computing, the use of packet switching, and the development of widely used communications standards (the most important of which is Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP) for linking disparate networks and computers.

Client/Server Computing We introduced client/server computing in Chapter 5. Client/server computing is a distrib- uted computing model in which some of the processing power is located within small, inexpensive client computers, and resides literally on desktops, laptops, or in handheld devices. These powerful clients are linked to one another through a network that is controlled by a network server computer. The server sets the rules of communication for the network and provides every client with an address so others can find it on the network.

Client/server computing has largely replaced centralized mainframe computing in which nearly all of the processing takes place on a central large mainframe computer. Client/server computing has extended computing to departments, workgroups, factory floors, and other parts of the business that could not be served by a centralized architecture. The Internet is the largest implementation of client/server computing.

Packet Switching Packet switching is a method of slicing digital messages into parcels called packets, send- ing the packets along different communication paths as they become available, and then reassembling the packets once they arrive at their destinations (see Figure 6-3). Prior to the development of packet switching, computer networks used leased, dedicated telephone circuits to communicate with other computers in remote locations. In circuit-switched net- works, such as the telephone system, a complete point-to-point circuit is assembled, and then communication can proceed. These dedicated circuit-switching techniques were expen- sive and wasted available communications capacity—the circuit was maintained regardless of whether any data were being sent.

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Figure 6-3 Packed-Switched Networks and Packet Communications Data are grouped into small packets, which are transmitted indepen- dently over various communications chan- nels and reassembled at their final destination.

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Packet switching makes much more efficient use of the communications capacity of a network. In packet-switched networks, messages are first broken down into small fixed bun- dles of data called packets. The packets include information for directing the packet to the right address and for checking transmission errors along with the data. The packets are transmitted over various communications channels using routers, each packet traveling independently. Packets of data originating at one source will be routed through many different paths and networks before being reassembled into the original message when they reach their destinations.

TCP/IP and Connectivity In a typical telecommunications network, diverse hardware and software components need to work together to transmit information. Different components in a network communicate with each other only by adhering to a common set of rules called protocols. A protocol is a set of rules and procedures governing transmission of information between two points in a network.

In the past, many diverse proprietary and incompatible protocols often forced business firms to purchase computing and communications equipment from a single vendor. But today corporate networks are increasingly using a single, common, worldwide standard called Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). TCP/IP was devel- oped during the early 1970s to support U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) efforts to help scientists transmit data among different types of computers over long distances.

TCP/IP uses a suite of protocols, the main ones being TCP and IP. TCP refers to the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which handles the movement of data between computers. TCP establishes a connection between the computers, sequences the transfer of packets, and acknowledges the packets sent. IP refers to the Internet Protocol (IP), which is responsible for the delivery of packets and includes the disassembling and reassembling of packets during transmission. Figure 6-4 illustrates the four-layered Department of Defense reference model for TCP/IP.

1. Application layer. The Application layer enables client application programs to access the other layers and defines the protocols that applications use to exchange data. One of these application protocols is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is used to transfer Web page files.

2. Transport layer. The Transport layer is responsible for providing the Application layer with communication and packet services. This layer includes TCP and other protocols.

3. Internet layer. The Internet layer is responsible for addressing, routing, and packaging data packets called IP datagrams. The Internet Protocol is one of the protocols used in this layer.

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Figure 6-4 The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Reference Model This figure illustrates the four layers of the TCP/IP reference model for communications.

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4. Network Interface layer. At the bottom of the reference model, the Network Interface layer is responsible for placing packets on and receiving them from the network medium, which could be any networking technology.

Two computers using TCP/IP are able to communicate even if they are based on different hardware and software platforms. Data sent from one computer to the other passes down- ward through all four layers, starting with the sending computer’s Application layer and passing through the Network Interface layer. After the data reach the recipient host com- puter, they travel up the layers and are reassembled into a format the receiving computer can use. If the receiving computer finds a damaged packet, it asks the sending computer to retransmit it. This process is reversed when the receiving computer responds.

6.2 Communications Networks

Let’s look more closely at alternative networking technologies available to businesses.

SIGNALS: DIGITAL VS. ANALOG

There are two ways to communicate a message in a network: either using an analog signal or a digital signal. An analog signal is represented by a continuous waveform that passes through a communications medium and has been used for voice communication. The most common analog devices are the telephone handset, the speaker on your computer, or your iPod earphone, all of which create analog wave forms that your ear can hear.

A digital signal is a discrete, binary waveform, rather than a continuous waveform. Digital signals communicate information as strings of two discrete states: one bit and zero bits, which are represented as on–off electrical pulses. Computers use digital signals and require a modem to convert these digital signals into analog signals that can be sent over (or received from) telephone lines, cable lines, or wireless media that use analog signals (see Figure 6-5). Modem stands for modulator-demodulator. Cable modems connect your com- puter to the Internet using a cable network. DSL modems connect your computer to the Internet using a telephone company’s land line network. Wireless modems perform the same function as traditional modems, connecting your computer to a wireless network that could be a cell phone network, or a Wi-Fi network. Without modems, computers could not commu- nicate with one another using analog networks (which include the telephone system and cable networks).

TYPES OF NETWORKS

There are many different kinds of networks and ways of classifying them. One way of looking at networks is in terms of their geographic scope (see Table 6.1).

Local-Area Networks If you work in a business that uses networking, you are probably connecting to other employees and groups via a local-area network. A local-area network (LAN) is designed to

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Type Area

Local-area network (LAN) Up to 500 meters (half a mile); an office or floor of a building

Campus-area network (CAN) Up to 1,000 meters (a mile); a college campus or corporate facility

Metropolitan-area network (MAN) A city or metropolitan area

Wide-area network (WAN) A transcontinental or global area

TABLE 6.1

Types of Networks

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connect personal computers and other digital devices within a half-mile or 500-meter radius. LANs typically connect a few computers in a small office, all the computers in one building, or all the computers in several buildings in close proximity. LANs also are used to link to long-distance wide-area networks (WANs, described later in this section) and other networks around the world using the Internet.

Review Figure 6-1, which could serve as a model for a small LAN that might be used in an office. One computer is a dedicated network file server, providing users with access to shared computing resources in the network, including software programs and data files. The server determines who gets access to what and in which sequence. The router connects the LAN to other networks, which could be the Internet or another corporate network, so that the LAN can exchange information with networks external to it. The most common LAN operating systems are Windows, Linux, and Novell. Each of these network operating systems supports TCP/IP as their default networking protocol.

Ethernet is the dominant LAN standard at the physical network level, specifying the physical medium to carry signals between computers, access control rules, and a standard- ized set of bits used to carry data over the system. Originally, Ethernet supported a data transfer rate of 10 megabits per second (Mbps). Newer versions, such as Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet, support data transfer rates of 100 Mbps and 1 gigabits per second (Gbps), respectively, and are used in network backbones.

The LAN illustrated in Figure 6-1 uses a client/server architecture where the network operating system resides primarily on a single file server, and the server provides much of the control and resources for the network. Alternatively, LANs may use a peer-to-peer architecture. A peer-to-peer network treats all processors equally and is used primarily in small networks with 10 or fewer users. The various computers on the network can exchange data by direct access and can share peripheral devices without going through a separate server.

In LANs using the Windows Server family of operating systems, the peer-to-peer archi- tecture is called the workgroup network model in which a small group of computers can share resources, such as files, folders, and printers, over the network without a dedicated server. The Windows domain network model, in contrast, uses a dedicated server to manage the computers in the network.

Larger LANs have many clients and multiple servers, with separate servers for specific services, such as storing and managing files and databases (file servers or database servers), managing printers (print servers), storing and managing e-mail (mail servers), or storing and managing Web pages (Web servers).

Sometimes LANs are described in terms of the way their components are connected together, or their topology. There are three major LAN topologies: star, bus, and ring (see Figure 6-6).

In a star topology, all devices on the network connect to a single hub. Figure 6-6 illustrates a simple star topology in which all network traffic flows through the hub. In an extended star network, multiple layers of hubs are organized into a hierarchy.

In a bus topology, one station transmits signals, which travel in both directions along a single transmission segment. All of the signals are broadcast in both directions to the entire network. All machines on the network receive the same signals, and software installed on the client computers enables each client to listen for messages addressed specifically to it. The bus topology is the most common Ethernet topology.

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Figure 6-5 Functions of the Modem A modem is a device that translates digital signals into analog form (and vice versa) so that com- puters can transmit data over analog networks such as telephone and cable networks.

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A ring topology connects network components in a closed loop. Messages pass from computer to computer in only one direction around the loop, and only one station at a time may transmit. The ring topology is primarily found in older LANs using Token Ring networking software.

Metropolitan- and Wide-Area Networks Wide-area networks (WANs) span broad geographical distances—entire regions, states, continents, or the entire globe. The most universal and powerful WAN is the Internet. Computers connect to a WAN through public networks, such as the telephone system or private cable systems, or through leased lines or satellites. A metropolitan-area network (MAN) is a network that spans a metropolitan area, usually a city and its major suburbs. Its geographic scope falls between a WAN and a LAN.

PHYSICAL TRANSMISSION MEDIA

Networks use different kinds of physical transmission media, including twisted wire, coax- ial cable, fiber optics, and media for wireless transmission. Each has advantages and limita- tions. A wide range of speeds is possible for any given medium depending on the software and hardware configuration.

Twisted Wire Twisted wire consists of strands of copper wire twisted in pairs and is an older type of trans- mission medium. Many of the telephone systems in buildings had twisted wires installed for analog communication, but they can be used for digital communication as well. Although an older physical transmission medium, the twisted wires used in today’s LANs, such as CAT5, can obtain speeds up to 1 Gbps. Twisted-pair cabling is limited to a maximum recommended run of 100 meters (328 feet).

Coaxial Cable Coaxial cable, similar to that used for cable television, consists of thickly insulated copper wire, which can transmit a larger volume of data than twisted wire. Cable was used in early LANs and is still used today for longer (more than 100 meters) runs in large buildings. Coaxial has speeds up to 1 Gbps.

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Figure 6-6 Network Topologies The three basic network topologies are the star, bus, and ring.

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