MAC Address Conflict, Shared Networks, And Network Troubleshooting
MAC Address Conflict
If two stations are accidentally assigned the same hardware address then any one of them or at times both of them will not get an IP address. There is an IP address conflict between the two devices. It all depends on the type of hardware which is used by the two stations. Most of the times a failure are detected on both of the devices because the network considers them as a single device. This problem can be solved with the usage of intelligent hubs and software’s of network management as it helps in identifying the two devices and then locks them. This happens very rarely but this is a very difficult situation as both the devices will not able to run without the IP address. MAC address or the hardware address is basically of three types i.e. static, dynamic and configurable and they are configured by the hardware companies within the network cards. It is also seen that the two network cards have the same MAC address. Apart from this, a dynamic address can also be allocated to any one of the device with the help of Dynamic Host Communication Protocol (Comer, 2004).
It is observed that sharing reduces cost, but still shared networks are used only for local communications because of the security reasons. As it is very easy for a person who is sharing the router to access the shared folders and they can easily hack your system. Apart from this, the devices which are connected to a particular shared network coordinate the usage of the network (Ibe, 2017). As the communication of coordination depends on the distance between the two devices, it leads to long delays. Therefore, the shared networks are not used for any other type of communication because the devices spend a large amount of time in coordinating with the shared networks and hence take more time in sending the data. It is very easy to share the resources of the network within a small range rather than over a long range. The wavelength required for long distances is more and hence the cost increases for any communication which is not local. While discussing the cost, bandwidth is also considered and a high bandwidth communication channel over long distance is expensive when compared to same bandwidth communication which is over a short distance (Peterson, 2012).
If the workstation shows the following error message, “No domain server was available to validate your password” then there might be a problem in the network layer because the IP address configuration would be wrong. But if the workstation is still working and the server is up then there is a problem in the Transport and Application Layer of the OSI model. The NIC would also be affected and hence remove it and install a new NIC.
This problem can be solved by configuring the IP address of the network or by dynamically allocating the address.
The problem is with DNS i.e. Domain Name Service protocol which is used in the TCP/IP stack. DNS solves queries and tells which TCP connection is associated with the IP address. If the IP address is not allocated already then the problem might be with the DHCP i.e. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. DHCP is basically a network management software or protocol which dynamically assigns an IP address to any device (Sugano, 2007).
Hence, there might be a possibility that the dynamically assigned IP by DHCP is not linked with the DNS server. The DHCP includes the default gateway IP address along with the domain name system address and the subnet mask information.
The Application layer is responsible for the communication protocols and is used in TCP/IP model as well as in the OSI model.
It is concluded that the problem is in the application layer of the OSI model or at the application layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack.
- The company is a call centre company which is a business process outsourcing company. I am the Network Solution Architect Network of my IT Department and my work is to design and implement new Network solutions, upgrade and maintain the existing environment, identify the problems in standards which are offered. Along with this, I develop and assist in delivering the proof of the concepts demonstrations. I also take care of the cloud assessments and the infrastructure integration roadmaps. I have to make sure that the call quality is good and there is no sort of interference between the networks. Along with this, no other network should interrupt the call network as it is unauthenticated for the users.
- The network setup in my company consists of cloud i.e. the internet, workstations, servers, mainframes, connection devices, and peripheral devices. Currently, the tower by which the tower is connected is very far away from the location of the company. The employee’s voice streams and goes to the server then to the tower and then to the user on mobile phone. If the user is accessing through laptop then first the data goes on the internet i.e. on the cloud and then to the servers and at last to the call support person. The distance between the company and the tower is large and hence it takes time to get connected to the network because the voice gets uploaded on the server and then the server sends it to the tower and waits for the response. The server can forward the data back to the call centre employee when he receives a reply from the tower(SmartDraw, 2016).
- The problem with the current network architecture is that the tower is situated at a very far place and hence there is an issue with the connectivity of the phone calls. There is always disruption during the call and the call quality is also bad. The response time of the server is also long because of the location of the company. The load on the server is also high because for each response it has to wait and keep the other calls on hold. This increases the response time of the customers also and they get frustration. The company is not able to provide good customer service. Therefore, the company is planning to move to a new building which is nearby to the tower so that the clarity in the voice of the customers can be achieved. Being a call centre company, it is important to have a good network connection and a fast communication speed(Ferguson, 2012).
- For getting this problem solved, the company can move to a new place which is near to the tower. If the distance between the tower and the company’s server will be small the response time would be fast and the quality of the call will be good because the connectivity of the network will be high. Apart from this, the company can also connect its servers with more than one tower so that the network does not get disrupted. The network quality will be better if the traffic of the network will be on more than one tower. If at a particular time, many calls look for the server the server gets overloaded and hence it gets slow. The response time will be less and hence the company will be able to achieve a good reputation in the market.
References
Comer. (2004). Computer Networks and Internets: With Internet Applications, Volume 1. Pearson Education:USA.
Peterson, L., & Davie, B. (2012). Computer networks. Elsevier:USA.
Ibe, O. (2017). Fundamentals of data communication networks. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Ferguson, B. (2012). CompTIA Network+ review guide, second edition (Exam N10-005). [Hoboken, NJ]: Sybex.
Sugano, A. (2007). The real-world network troubleshooting manual. Bangalore: Firewall Media.
Smart Draw. (2016).Network Diagram – Learn What is a Network Diagram and More. Retrieved 29 January 2018, from https://www.smartdraw.com/network-diagram/