1. You have been hired by a small company to install a backbone to connect four 100base-T Ethernet LANs and to provide a connection to the Internet.

Develop a simple backbone and determine the total cost (i.e.,select the backbone technology and price it, select the cabling and price it, select the devices and price them, and so on). Prices are available at www.datacommwarehouse.com, but use any source that is convenient. For simplicity, assume that category 5, category 5e, category 6, and fiber-optic cable have a fixed cost per circuit to buy and install, regardless of distance, of $50, $60, $120, and $300, respectively.

2. Explore the Web to find networks offered by common carriers and compare the types of network circuits they have.