Create a Fault Tolerant Network – Lab

You are a network technician for a small corporate network. You recently installed and configured a security appliance in the Networking Closet. In addition to providing protection against network threats, the security appliance allows you to have two different connections to the Internet (in case one connection fails).

To create a fault tolerant connection to the Internet, you have signed up with another ISP (CableSpeed). The ISP has installed the cable line to the Networking Closet, and sold you a preconfigured cable modem/router which will connect the ISP servers.

Your task in this lab is to:

1. Install the cable modem/router in the Networking Closet as follows:

• Connect the device to the rack (below the existing UPS and security appliance).
• Provide power to the device through an outlet on the UPS’s BANK 1 (Critical Load) area.
• Turn the device on by toggling the device’s power switch.

2. Connect the cable modem/router to the network as follows:
   • Use coaxial cable to connect the device to the wall plate and ISP.
   • Use Cat5e cable to connect the device’s LAN port to the X2 (WAN) port on the security appliance.

Tip: After completing the tasks above, you should verify that the Internet connection is fault tolerant. To simulate the loss of service from one of the ISPs and to test the configuration:

• Remove the DSL phone cable from the wall plate.
• Open the Network and Sharing Center on the computer in the Networking Closet (named Server), and verify that it still has a successful connection to the Internet.

To complete this lab:

• Install the cable modem/router in the Networking Closet as follows:
  • Connect the device to the rack below the existing UPS and security appliance.
  • Provide power to the device through an outlet on the UPS’s BANK 1 (Critical Load) area.
  • Toggle the device’s power switch to turn the device on.
• Connect the cable modem/router to the network as follows:
  • Use coaxial cable to connect the device to the wall plate and ISP.
  • Use Cat5e cable to connect the device’s LAN port to the X2 (WAN) port on the security appliance.
• Confirm the fault tolerant configuration as follows:
  • Remove the DSL phone cable from the wall plate.
  • Open the Network and Sharing Center on the computer in the Networking Closet (named Server), and verify that it still has a successful connection to the Internet.

Complete the following steps:

3. To connect the cable modem/router to the rack, expand the Routers category on the Shelf.
4. Drag the device to a rack slot below the UPS.
5. To provide power to the device, change to the back view of the rack.
6. Expand the Cables category on the Shelf, and select the AC Power cable.
7. In the Selected Component window, drag the Female connector to the port on the device.
8. In the Selected Component window, drag the Male connector to an outlet on the UPS’s BANK 1 (Critical Load) area.
9. To turn on the cable modem/router, toggle the power switch to the on (I) position.
10. To connect the cable modem/router to the wall plate and ISP, select the RG-6 coaxial cable on the Shelf.
11. In the Selected Component window, drag a connector to the coaxial connection on the cable modem/router.
12. In the Selected Component window, drag the other connector to the coaxial connection on the wall plate.
13. To connect the cable modem/router to the security appliance, select the Cat5e cable on the Shelf.
14. In the Selected Component window, drag one connector to the cable modem/router’s LAN
15. In the Selected Component window, drag the other connector to the X2 (WAN) port on the security appliance.
16. To simulate the loss of service from one of the ISPs, remove the DSL phone cable from the wall plate.
17. To confirm that the computer in the Networking Closet (named Server) still has a connection to the Internet, click the Windows icon on the monitor.

Click on the network icon in the Task Bar and select Open Network and Sharing Center. The diagram should indicate an active connection to the Internet.