Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology

B.Sc. Honours Degree

.
ln
Information Technology

Final Examination
Year 3, Semester I (20 19)

IT3010- Network Design and Management

Duration: 2 Hours

May 2019

Instructions to candidates:
+ This paper is preceded by a 10-minutes reading period. The
supervisor will indicate when answering may commence.
+ This paper has 4 questions with a total of 100 marks.
+ Answer all the questions in the booklet given.
+ This paper contains 11 pages including the cover page.
Question 1 (25 marks)

You are the newly appointed Network Engineer for ABC Company. The company is in the
process of large scale network expansion.

a) Name four issues you may face. as the Network Engineer. Discuss how you are going
to solve them. (4 marks)

b) Describe one practical example where you can apply the ISO Network Management
principles for the issues mentioned in part a) above. (4 marks)

c) The goal of Configuration Management is to monitor network and system

configuration information so that the effects on network operation of various versions
of hardware and software elements can be tracked and managed. Construct how this
can assist in managing a network. (8 Marks)

d) When deciding on the various aspects of Security Management, differentiate does the
network manager need to balance between? (4 Marks)

e) Justify the benefits of implementing a Performance Management System on a

network. (5 Marks)

Page 2 out of I I
Question 2 (25 marks)

a) Explain the benefits of using an encoding rule such as TL V approach in relation to

Abstract Syntax Notation 1 (ASN.1 )? (3 Marks)
b) One of the operations available in SNMP v1 is Get-Next-Request. Construct a full
description of this operation. In your answer you should draw a diagram of the
operation and explain what it is used for. (7 Marks)
c) Part of the P&D company network is given in the Figure 2.1, illustrating its SNMP
architecture. Use the given diagram to answer the following questions.

Router
(SNMP ~Agent~ I l Server
(SNMP-~'tanager}

Switch l Switch 2 Switch 3

(SNMP_Agent_3) (Si\MP_Agent_4) (SNMP...:Agent_5>
Figure 2.1

1. The SNMP message (in hexadecimal) given in Figure 2.2 is exchanged

between the Server and Switch_2. Based on the message answer the
following questions.

Page 3 out of I I
 30 28 02 01 02 04 08 49 6C 6F 76 65 4E 53 44 A1 1C 02 04

38 08 16 37 02 01 00 02 01 00 30 1C 30 OC 06 08 28 06 01

02 01 01 01 00 05 00 30 oc 06 08 28 06 01 02 01 01 03 00

05 00

Figure 2.2

a. Name the SNMP version used? (1 mark)

b. Outline the security/community string in (Symbolic)? (1 mark)
c. Identify the Request ID (decimal)? (1 mark)
d. Identify ifthere are any errors? (1 mark)
e. Are there any multiple number of Object identifiers defined? If so
discover the Object ID (OlD) number. (2 marks)
f. Is the message generated and sent by the SNMP_Manager or the
SNMP_Agent? Justify your answer in one sentence. (1 mark)

11. A partial view of the MIB of a SNMP_Agent is given in Figure 2.3.

Interpret the SNMP reply message to be sent for the SNMP request
message mentioned in part i). Clearly mention the attributes and the
values. (5 marks)

+-- -iso(l)

+-- -org(3)
I
+-- -dod(6)
I
+-- -Internet(l)

+-- -MGMT(2)
I
+-- -MIB-2(1)
I
+--system(l)
I
+-- -R-- String sysDescr(l)
Textual Convention: DisplayString
Size: 0 .. 255
value: SLIIT
+-- -R-- ObjiD sysObjectiD(2)

Page 4 out of I 1
 value: NET-SNMP-MIB: :netSnmpAgentOIDs.lO
+-- -R-- TimeTicks sysUpTime(3)
value: 0:04:13.61
+-- -RW- String sysContact(4)
Textual Convention: DisplayString
Size: 0 .. 255
value: Root <root@localhost>
(configure /etc/snmp/snmp.local.conf)
+-- -RW- String sysName(5)
Textual Convention: DisplayString
Size: 0 .. 255
value: server
+-- -RW- String sysLocation(6)
Textual Convention: DisplayString
Size: 0 .. 255
value: Unknown (edit /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf)

Figure 2.3
111. Distinguish objects that fall into the Fault Management category from the
given in Figure 2.3 (3 marks)

Page 5 out of I I
Question 3 (25 marks)

a) A network map is a useful tool to a Network Manager, and each layer of the OSI
reference model should be documented. Describe at least seven elements that should
be documented at the network layer. (4 marks)
b) You are the newly appointed Network Engineer for ABC Company. The company is in
the process oflarge scale network expansion. Construct why, when and how you would
perform ·Baselining· in your network management process. (4 marks)
c) "Network baseline information is a key to detect anomalies."
1. Do you agree to this statement or not? (2 marks)
n. Justify your answer. (3 marks)
d) Differentiate eight (8) pieces of non-network data that should be collected when
mapping a network. (4 marks)
e) Interpret the use of at least five (5) Linux performance monitoring tools, including
common command line arguments where required. (5 marks)
f) As a network engineer plan how long must you monitor to set a network performance
baseline? (3 marks)

Page 6 out of 1 I
Question 4 (25 marks)

a) Explain the use of SWAP partition? (2 marks)

b) '·A Network Engineer must monitor every aspect of a network using a Network
Monitoring Tool".
1. Do you agree or disagree with the given statement? (1 mark)
11. Give reasons for your answer in part i). (3 marks)
c) Operating system virtualization refers to the use of software to allow system hardware
to run multiple instances of different operating systems concurrently. allowing you to
run different applications requiring ditierent operating systems on one computer
system.
1. Name the main virtualization technique used in server virtualization.
(2 marks)
11. With the aid of a diagram describe the main virtualization technique
mentioned in part i). (5 marks)

d) A partial network diagram of ABC Server Farm is given in Figure 4.1.

ABC Server Farm (abc.com)

server.abc .com
192.168.10.1
255.255.255.0 255.255.255.0

Figure 4.1

The network administrator of ABC Server Farm needs to configure the Local DNS
Server with a forward lookup and a reverse lookup zone for server.abc.com. Copy the
two partially created lookup zone files (Figure 4.2 and Figure 4.3) to your answer
booklet and build the DNS entries as needed. (12 marks)

Page 7 out of 11
Forward. abc. sub
$TTL 86400
@ IN SOA dnsServer.abc.com. root.abc.com.
(
2011071001 ;Serial
3600 ;Refresh
1800 ;Retry
604800 ;Expire
86400 ) ; Minimum TTL

//DNS connection mapping entry

//server IP address mapping entry
//server hostname mapping entry

Figure 4.2

reverse.abc.sub
$TTL 86400
@ IN SOA dnsServer.abc.com. root.abc.com.
(
2011071001 ;Serial
3600 ;Refresh
1800 ;Retry
604800 ;Expire
86400 ) ; Minimum TTL

//DNS connection mapping entry

//domain pointer mapping entry
//server hostname mapping entry
//server IP address mapping entry

Figure 4.3

- End of the Question Paper -

Page 8 out of 11
Appendix
BERSNMP
Primitive ASN.l Types Identifier in hex
INTEGER 02
BIT STRING 03
OCTET STRING 04
NULL 05
OBJECT IDENTIFIER 06
Constructed ASN.l type Identifier in hex
SEQUENCE 30
Primitive SNMP application types Identifier in hex
IpAddress 40
Counter (Counter32 in SNMPv2) 41
Gauge (Gauge32 in SNMPv 2) 42
TimeTicks 43
Opaque 44
N sapAddress 45
Counter64 (available only in SNMPv2) 46
Uinteger32 (available only in SNMPv2) 47
Context-specific types within an SNMP Message Identifier in hex
GetRequest-PDU AO
GetN extRequestPUD A1
GetResponse-PDU (Response-PDU in SNMPv 2) A2
SetRequest-PDU A3
Trap-PDU (obsolete in SNMPv 2) A4
GetBulkRequest-PDU (added in SNMPv 2) AS
InformRequest-PDU (added in SNMPv 2) A6
SNMPv2-Trap-PDU (added in SNMPv 2) A7

Page 9 out of 11
ASCII Code Table

ASCII Hex Symbol ASCII Hex Symbol ASCII Hex Symbol ASCII Hex Symbol
~-----·-

64 40 @ 80 50 p 96 60 112 70 p
65 41 A 81 51 Q 97 61 a 113 71 q
66 42 8 82 52 R 98 62 b 114
67 43 c 83 53 s 99 63 c 115 73 s
68 44 0 84 54 T 100 64 d 116 74 t
69 45 E 85 55 u 101 6):;
~) e 117 75 u
70 46 F 86 56 v 102 66 f 118 76 v
71 47 G 87 57 w 103 67 g 119 'N
72 48 H 88 58 X 104 68 h 120 78 X
73 49 I 89 59 y 105 69 121 79
74 4A J 90 5A z 106 6A j 122 7A z
75 48 K 91 58 [ 107 68 k 123 78
76 4C L 92 5C 108 6C ! 124
77 40 M 93 50 109 60 m 125 }
78 4E N 94 5E 1\
110 6E n 126
4F 0 95 5F 111 6F 0 127 7F 1}!:1
1F

~~JJ'H~.!l~..-.L!..~
SEQUBllfCE { nQ.~~.§.(2 ) ,
version IllfTEGBR {version- P~I!.4YI!l:.Jttta <3 ) ,
1(0)}, ~~A49n.J,y (4) I

community OCTET STRillfG, g~~~r;: (5)

data PDUs },
} error-index IllfTBGBR,
variable-bindings V.@.!':lll.q4L~st
!RYJU..t• CHOICE { }
get-request {0 IMPLICIT
PDU, V;trt.!nc!.Lis.t.. J.t:"'- SBQUBllfCB OF
get-next-request [1] YJ!!:Ii.1m
IMPLICIT PDU, yarl!ind~J..t~ SBQUBHCB {
get-response [2] IMPLICIT name Q~J..e_c;:!;.,~e,
PDU, value Olrle.c;:t.&Yn.'~t@.'
set-request [3 IMPLICIT }
PDU,
trap {4) IMPLICIT Trap-PDU
}
2.~1I.JLt.AA. ..Lt:"'-. CHOICE {
f~~!~ SBQUBHCB { simple §i,_u;td.YJ!..tJt~.,
request-id IHTBGER, application-wide
error-status IllfTBGBR { ~P.P!!S.!!::A.~.~~Y!~.!.~
J,19,,_.r_~~ ( 0) 1 }
t.~u <1>,

Page 10 out of 11
Zone File Resource Records
A
This refers to the Address record. 11'hich .spec({zes an IP address to assign to a name. as in
this example:
<host> IN A <IP-address>
Ifthe <host> value is omitted. then an A record points to a default IP address for the top
of the name:-,pace. This system is the targetfor all non-FQD}Y requests.

NS
This refers to the NameServer record. which announces the authoritative nameserversfor
a particular zone.
The following illustrates the layout of an NS record:
IN NS <nameserver-name>
Here. <nameserver-name> should be an FQDJ'v'.

PTR
This refers to the PoinTeR record, vvhich is designed to point to another part ofthe
namespace.
PTR records are primarily usedfor reverse name resolution. as they point IP addre.\'ses
back to a particular name.
A reverse name resolution zone file is used to translate an IP address in a particular
name.\pace into an FQDN. It looks very similar to a standard zone.file. except that PTR
resource records are used to link the IP addresses to afully qual(fied domain name.
The foil owing illustrates the layout of a PTR record:
<last-IP-digit> IN PTR <FQDN-of-system>
The <last-IP-digit> is the last number in an IP address v.·hich points to a particular system's
FQDN.

Page II out of I I