Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Project Background

Nowadays most business rely on computer and network infrastructure, therefore the

computer network’s speed and reliability are very important for the business to be successful

with efficient use of the resources available. For the network administrator, it means that he must

make sure that the network speed and the usage of the other networks are always on the same

level. To do this, monitoring the network is certainly important.

Computer networks are crucial part of an organization in this era of technology

advancement. Knowledge of designing a software tool is needed nowadays to troubleshoot an

organization’s computer or an office computer. Lan Monitoring System (LMS) is the system

which is scoped to organizations for network administrators to monitor the activities of the other

network and CPU in the organization. When an organization expands its business, the number of

network increases as well. Therefore, the speed of the network will be affected and the respond

time needed to display the Web Pages or streaming videos and etc; will be delayed. These

network problems can cause business to lose money due to time consuming by calling network

engineers to solve those problems and such problems must be resolved to eliminate loses.

Besides that, the most important thing is when lots of users are using the pc on the same

network and the number of pc in the LAN gets bigger and larger, it is difficult to know who

actually misusing the network .Problems will arise for an organization if a hacker gets into the

network. Every user’s information and data will be stolen and the computers might get attacked

by viruses that are sent by suspicious or unknown IP addresses which will damage the computers

health and performance. Moreover, the current ways of transferring files from a department to

another department is by sending it through a dispatch to the staffs.

This could consume a lots time where dispatch needs to wall all the way the next floor to

deliver a file. Besides that the usage of emails to transfer files are not reliable due to

unguaranteed security. Apart from that, the other problems faced by organizations are

communication problem within admin and staffs. Sending email of latest information updates

and pasting it on announcement boards could further consume time and energy.

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1.2 Problem Context

According to Edmund Wong (2010), the internet is getting hard to control and monitor as

the users are increasing. It does not have a standardized metric or monitoring tool to control it

nor even a researched being done or developed. Edmund Wong (2011) added that the only

solution to monitor the internet is by using the current public software’s and extending their

functionalities. However, there are few problems with this method. First of all, the public

software’s are not fully meant to monitor.

The only perform minimum monitoring activities because they eat up the network

capacity. Besides that, not many people are monitoring the internet since it is a difficult job.

Thus, it results in degrading of the internet performances as not many problems are being

reported and solved frequently. This phenomenon that is created due to the lack of monitoring is

called “gridlock”. Apart from that, Darragh Delaney (2011) stated that alerting about critical

infrastructure should be made to IT staffs during their working hours. Alerting is also useful to

alert specific server and application teams.

The researcher proposed this Lan Monitoring System after many researches done by

reading the journals and articles related to various network management systems. Those systems

have tested their performance on bandwidth monitoring and how to manage information of

network elements and monitor error on real-time. Therefore, the researcher will develop the

proposed system by taking related features of the proposed system, by combining several

functionality systems.

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1.3 Objective of the Project

The Objective of this system is that it provides details of information and analysis of a

network that help office users to handle to maintain the networks performance stable and

efficient. By this way, the department or the company can save a lot of money and time for not

calling the technician to fix up the network problem.

Moreover, in the proposed system it consists of monitoring network bandwidth .When

this system starts running, it will monitor each and every packet that goes in and out from the

network. By monitoring the network traffic this system enables to check status for the every part

of the office network so that the administrator can know the whole situation and condition on

their company’s network.

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1.4 Scope of the Project

LMS allows network administrators to monitor the current activities of the network and

the PC. It helps the administrators to troubleshoot problems relating to slow processors in

computer and networks. This system also includes File transfer Protocol where staffs would not

need to travel from one floor to another just for the sake of sending documents and files.

Furthermore, this system has the features of chatting which can send out information, office

news, and updates to the whole organization which is connected to this LMS system.

.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Review of Current Situation

Network Monitoring in an organization is a very important IT function which is able to save

money in network performances and employee productivity. Internal network problems are

normally monitored by Network Monitoring Systems. It able to search and solve slow web page

downloads, lost emails and crashed servers. There are many software or mixture of hardware can

be used to monitor all kind of networks virtually including wireless and wired. Moreover,

devices such as cell phones, routers, and switches with different operating system can also be

monitored.

2.2 Review of Related Literature

Normally the areas that network monitoring system covers are the usage of bandwidth,

application performance and pc performance. Monitoring the traffic is an important duty. It

usually targets on resources which support the internal end users. Therefore, the network

monitoring system has developed to manage wide range of devices such as cell phones, servers,

routers and switches. Several network monitoring systems come with an automatic detection that

able those to record devices continuously when they are added, deleted or undergo configuration

changes.

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2.3 Comparisons of Previous System 1, 2, 3

System 1

Figure 1.0 Internet Monitoring System

The Figure 1.0 above shows an Internet Monitoring System for a small organization. This

system includes few main functions such as Pinging Address Range, Trace Route, Network

Status and other minor functions such as IP Configuration, Routing table and Network

Calculator. The advantage of this system is that it consists of Alarms function that notifies the

network administrator if there is a suspicious packet or IP Address is detected.

This will save the administrator time for having to look at the system activities frequently for

the traces of any threats. Besides that, this system also has a help function which enables users to

understand about the function if they are confuse with the procedures and functions regarding the

system. However, this system does not have an attractive Graphical User Interface which will

make users bored using the system. In addition, this system lacks in security. It allows anyone to

access without any secure authorization into the system. This will lead to big problems such as

data lost or even data corruption due to cyber theft.

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System 2

Figure 2.0 Monitoring System

The Figure 2.0 above shows a Monitoring System for a large organization. This system includes

functions such as Pinging Address Range, SNMP, Network Status and other minor functions

such as IP Configuration, Routing table and history logs. The advantage of this system is that it

consists of history logs which enable admin users to record or see the previous data. They can

also store old configuration and recover them if they accidently deleted. The disadvantages of

this system are network administrator will not be able to identify the function because it only

consists of icons without labels. This will be difficult for the administrator if they are in a hurry.

Besides that, the Graphical User Interface is too congested and complicated to look at.

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System 3

Figure 3.0 Network Monitoring Analyzer

Figure 3.0 above shows a Network Monitoring Analyzer. This system monitors the upload and

downloads speed of the organization. It shows in detail about the speed of each activities being

run in the system. Moreover, there is an icon which can save the current statistics of bandwidth.

The disadvantage of this system is that it does not have many functions. Besides that, this system

is very light and doesn’t have enough functions on it.

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2.4 Previous Systems vs Lan Monitoring System

The researcher’s system consist of few core functions such as file transfer, upload and download

speed tracking, monitoring RAM and CPU usage and pinging each of the computers in a same

Lan network. Unlike other systems, the researcher’s system is not only able to monitor but it also

kills unwanted processes of other pc. Besides that, the system is also secured with login a

password that allows only the network administrator to access it. This is one of the advantages of

the researcher’s system. Moreover, researches system is able to switch on and off a particular

user’s computer if the user is not using it or the user is misusing it. This way the organization’s

productivity and also the security of the system are being maintained. In addition, the

researcher’s system has a function similar to system 2 which is the log history where the

administrator user can record and recover monitored data.

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Chapter 3: Methodology

3.1 System Development Methodology (SDM)

System development is also known as suggested compilation of techniques, procedures,

documentation, rules and tools for developing information system. The definition of stages or

processes in developing a system is obtained from system development methodologies.

Adding on, structuring, planning and controlling the processors in developing the software with

different strength, weakness and approach can be produced by this system development

methodology. Furthermore system development methodologies are formed to correct any form of

concerns in the project, which also lessens the possibility of project breakdown, where for an

example it makes sure that all project team members are operating in the same direction to avoid

any misunderstanding. The frequently considered methodology approaches such as iterative, plan

driven or agile approach are needed when the software engineer develops a system.

3.2 Benefits of SDM

Provide performances, key deliverables and to evade confusion or misplaced duty.

Simplifying tasks and reducing training are involved in the consistency of project

development.

Making sure all members are striving for the same target.

The efficiency in analysis and reporting will be helpful under the methodology.

Reducing cost, increasing efficiency and a more solid management of project schedule can

decrease the chances of project failure.

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3.3 System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

The common methodology in developing a system is called Information System Development

Life Cycle and as well identified as the system Development Life Cycle. The common approach

to develop software projects and also an influence to other methodology is the SDLC which is

the essential of various system development projects. Moreover, standard or typical system

analysis model are widely also known as the SDLC stages. Adding on, the majority of the

deviation will have the fundamental arrangement of creating a system, but recently the SDLC

has various alternatives increasingly. The SDLC has many variants over the years, but most of

the variants will have the basic structure of developing a system.

The table below shows the segments of the vital composition of the development processors in

the SDLC:

Feasibility Study

System Investigation

System Analysis

System Design

Implementation

Review and Maintained

The linear approach or structure in establishing a system is also categorized under the SDLC.

Basically, creating a system into series of phases and offering an approach as a principle in

software development is also a divided methodology process. In enhancing the aim of the project

that it should be well handled and the quality product is generated, the scheduling and usage of

documentation principles are underlined on the SDLC model.

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3.4 Software and Hardware

3.7 Software Requirements Specifications

Table 3.2 Software to develop project

Software DescriptionEclipse Java and xml language program.Microsoft project To create Gantt chart.Visual paradigm To create flow chart and UML diagrams.Photoshop To create the gray-scale noise image.Windows 7 Professional Operating system used to develop tool.

3.8 Hardware Requirements Specifications

Table 3.3 Hardware to develop project.

Hardware SpecificationsHP CQ40 - 320 GB hard disk

- 4 GB RAM (DDR3)- Intel Pentium Processor- Intel graphics card integrated.- Network Interface Card (NIC)

802.11a/b/g

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Chapter 4: Summary and Conclusion

Summary

The proposed system is finally been developed and during the development of the proposed

system and the developer had gain a lot of knowledge throughout the project. It has been great

experience to the developer of the proposed system, as the developer has gain lot knowledge in

developing a network solution. It is during the development project, to effectively capture the

user requirements, how perform research analysis and design. Finally the most important to

critical evaluate findings and solve the problems.

Overall much experience had been gain in developing a network solution, during the entire

project. To develop a network solution the developer had to gain knowledge in a lot of area, as a

system development will include a lot of discipline. In the project implementation not only the

developer had to learn the programming techniques but it also covers areas such as the technical

workings of internetworking and network protocols.

Although the project had finally been completed and has met the project requirements, the

proposed system still needs improvement. Further testing or other aspects of the system have not

been able to take into full considerations and area such as system performance can be improved.

Finally it has been a great experience in developing the system.

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Conclusion

Based on the all the research above, researcher will like to conclude that this system is a

very good system because lots of research has be done by the researcher on this system.

Researcher has also chosen three existing Network Monitoring System in the market and has

compared it with this Lan Monitoring System. Many weaknesses have been found out from the

previous system and lots of modifications of the previous system have been implemented in

researcher’s Lan Monitoring System. Besides that there are some development techniques to

follow to implement a good and reliable system for the users. Researcher will be using System

Development Life Cycle as a methodology. This methodology chosen is a good technique to be

followed because the stages and process in this method is very useful and easy for the developer

to develop the system.

Researcher has even collected lots of info on programming language to see which

programming language is really suitable to program this Lan Monitoring System. Researcher has

also compared with few other programming languages and decided to come up with a good

conclusion. Researcher chose C# as Programming Language to be implemented in this Lan

Monitoring System.

Last but not least, researcher has chosen Extensible Markup Language has a database of

LMS. More over for the Analysis section, researcher will program out a system based on the

questionnaire that users answered and based on user requirements. Furthermore, researcher used

UML modeling language to describe the system in different kind of diagram forms such as Use

Case Diagram, Activity Diagram and Sequential Diagram. Researcher also has sketched few

diagrams of Graphical User Interface of the Lan Monitoring System and on how probably the

system will look like.

As a conclusion, based on the documentation and all the research that researcher has

done, Researcher will create a very good system called LAN Monitoring System (LMS).

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References

1) Edmund Wong (2007). Network Monitoring Fundamentals and Standards. Available:

http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cis788-97/ftp/net_monitoring/index.htm#Monitoring-

Internet. [Last accessed 25 October 2012].

2) ScottHackman(2008). OpMnagers. Available:http://www.manageengine.com/network-

monitoring/index.html?gclid=CNqFiZaihq8CFYgc6wod6ReZ_g. .

[Last accessed 25 October 2012].

3) Darragh Delaney (August, 2011). 10 things you need to do to manage your network

effectively. Available

:http://blogs.computerworld.com/18741/10_things_you_need_to_dotomanageyournetwor

k. [ Last accessed 25 October 2012].

4) JinsongLiu (2011). Network Information Monitoring System in IPV6 Campus, Bao ding,

China, pp.200-202 [ Last accessed 25 October 2012].

5) Danm(2002). DevelopmentMethodologiesCompared. Available:http://

www.ncycles.com/ewhimethodologies.html[ Last accessed 25 October 2012].

6) What is UML (2008).UML[online], Available http://atlas.kennesaw.edu/~dbraun/csis4650/A&D/UML_tutorial/index.htm[ Last accessed 25 October 2012].

7) CSharp Compiler (2010).[online],Available:

http://www.monoproject.com/CSharp_Compiler [ Last accessed 25 October 2012].

8) How to C# Socket programming (2012).[online], Available: http://csharp.net-

informations.com/communications/csharp-socket-programming.htm[ Last accessed 25

October 2012].

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