Reference no: EM132333580

Network Design for a Modern Software development company

Background:

Advanced Medicos Limited (AML) is a digital health company, which sells healthcare products. Their main product is system (hardware) which provides a variety of health services. AML now intends to provide the health services through the web in addition to the system they sell so customers do not necessarily have to buy the system. In view of this, AML needs to upgrade their network. The company needs your expertise to upgrade their existing network. Their current network is old and will need to be replaced. The managing director has asked for a "software development company of the future, using the latest technologies with a network which can accommodate the load now and for another five years and leaves room for further expansion".

Current
AML's headquarter (HQ) is located in two adjacent three-story buildings (Buildings A and B). The distance between the buildings is 20m. AML has currently 200 employees. The organization has four departments:

Software Development and Marketing are in Building A with the other two departments are in Building B. The network is a simple switched network with no wireless support. All the workstations, printers and other devices are connected through the wired network. There is no support for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). The server farm in located in Building B. Currently, there is no direct connection between the two buildings and the two buildings access each other's networks through a web portal. The edge router (router that is connected to the internet and provides internet access to the organization) is located in Building A.

Future
The future aspiration is to change the culture of the workplace. The employees and management particularly want to enable working from home for the software development team. In this regard, it is expected that all software developers (65) will be issued with Laptops/MacBook Pro which they can take home. AML will also need to increase their resources to support the new online services. The production process will also be updated. The production team will need 60 new computers to control the 3D printers. The administration department will be adding 8 more workstation and 2 printers to handle the extra workload. AML also wants to be more open and allow BYOD but it does not want to compromise on security.

AML also needs to connect with a WAN at a branch office which has just been opened in another city. The new branch has only two departments: software development (25 hosts) and marketing (6 hosts). This branch is located approximately 100 km from the HQ of the company. They need to be linked to the existing software development company's HQ network.

Important objectives of the Future Network:

The main objectives for the proposed solution are:
• A modern network for the company
• More accessibility without compromising on security
• Support for online services
• To ensure that these company has videoconferencing between the main office and their branch.

The network is proposed to achieve the above objectives considering the company's following business and technical goals.

Business goals:
• Improved communications, wireless, videoconferencing, etc.
• Spare no expense,
• Protect company information,
• The company of the future will have over 400 employees,
• Be excellent in technology.

Technical goals:
• The current network, computer rooms are to be upgraded to a modern network (campus design) to meet developers and employee's needs,
• Scalability - remember they want to expand for next five years,
• Availability - Wireless network access is available in all employees as well as some outdoor areas for software developers and employees,
• Employees have access to company resources from both company and home (different servers),
• Performance - network performance must be high,
• Reliability - no single point of failure,
• Security - protection of company information and other IT assets,

For PART 2 report, you are required to design a recommended network for AML's HQ (main branch) LAN based on the findings of PART 1 on the following:
• Analyse user network requirements
• Describe and analyse the current network

What you need to do
You are required to design the network you would recommend. Remember the goal of building a new network is that it will support the company needs for the next five years. Your recommendations are to be submitted as a formal report containing your analysis of the present situation (i.e., PART 1), and your recommended network solution. You are free to make any further assumptions you wish.

In PART 2 of your report, you are required to:
i. Suggest a type of network architecture that is suitable for the organisation. You will need to identify all the media (circuits), network hardware necessary to build the network(s) you are proposing and to justify your choice, i.e., you will need to explain the function of the hardware and network choice in your solution and to justify your choice by value for money, Quality of Service (QoS), security, etc.
ii. Explain IP address plan for the proposed network
iii. Explain logical network design with diagram(s) for the proposed network.
iv. Draw physical network(s) diagram that shows how you connect the hardware you have chosen in (i).

The company was assigned the following IP address range to use for their networks:
IP: 172.16.1XY.0/23
XY is the last 2 digits of your student ID.

You are expected to provide an optimum address allocation solution with the following details:
• IP address requirement for each sub-network
• IP address allocation plan for each network/sub-network including network address, subnet mask, broadcast address, default gateway address and valid host address range.
• IP address allocation plan for key network device and interfaces e.g., servers, printers, router interfaces, etc.

As part of your report, you are required to write an executive summary explaining why your design meets the business and technical goals. Presentation and referencing are important.

Remember that it is a company, and access to the internet will need to be controlled and some sites blocked. Your report must include explanations justifying the design decisions you have made. To help with these assumptions the following information is available:

As the HQ needs to connected to the branch office, you will need to show how the HQ is connected to the branch office. Your textbook has this information shown as Best Practice Design for LAN (campus).

Attachment:- Data Communications and Networks.rar