4c Networks at Home and Work

Question 0

The ground floor of the building is occupied by a doctors’ surgery. The dental surgery and doctors’ surgery share the majority of patients in the area. Both surgeries are to be merged and renamed ‘Awburn House Surgery’.

Explain two advantages of having all the computers at Awburn House Surgery networked.

Answer 0

FOUR marks available for TWO matched answers: e.g.

 reduces the need for data duplication (1) so the integrity of the data increases (1)
 different users can have access to the same information (1) and so data can be exchanged (1)
 peripherals can be shared (1) and output can be directed to a specific location/individual (1)
 centralised back-up/storage (1) means data can be accessed from any node (1)
 centralised security/virus checking (1) with software updates being rolled out easily (1)

Question 1

Explain why the computers in each branch should be connected together to create a LAN.

Answer 1

Max 4 eg:
 allows hardware resources (eg. printers) to be shared between
computers (1) meaning one high quality one can be purchased (1)
which would save money (1) easier to maintain (1)
 control over the resources (1) security permissions/access logs can
be established to see who is looking/using what data (1)
 backup/software updates can be centralised (1) removing
responsibility from end user (1)
 allows hot desking (1) each employee can have access to their data
regardless of which machine they sit at (1).