Short paper m4

Overview: In this assignment, you will develop a business network architecture utilizing the concepts and processes learned in Module Four by integrating core building blocks into the network environment.

This will continue to build on the high-level network plan that was created in Module Two. You will further develop the network architecture concepts that incorporate the business requirements, applications, users groups, and data flows. Implement the results into the OilMan Inc. network design and complete the architecture. Analyze the requirements that are needed to create a business architecture.

This assignment utilizes Microsoft Visio to complete the scenario.

In this scenario, you are a network consultant for OilMan Inc . , a medium-sized oil and gas company whose sole business focus is exploration and drilling of oil within the continental United States. You have been brought in to evaluate the existing infrastructure and determine the future network infrastructure for the entire company. They have not updated their network infrastructure in ten years and management is predicting a 15% growth internally (employee growth) as well as externally (site creation for drilling) in the industry. You have been tasked with evaluating the current network infrastructure and establishing an understanding of what services (applications) are being utilized, who the users or groups are within the business, and where this infrastructure is being utilized.

OilMan Inc., is a medium-sized company in the oil and gas industry with four major office locations:

· Ft. Worth (Headquarters: 100 people)

2,000 square feet per datacenter facility

· Denver (West Division: 75 people)

400 square feet per datacenter facility

· Pittsburgh (East Division: 75 people)

400 square feet per datacenter facility

· Houston (South Division: 50 people)

1,200 square feet per datacenter facility

The headquarters encompasses all the company executives, human resources, training, accounting, and engineering/construction departments. The Ft. Worth location is the primary facility for all communications for the rest of the company. It maintains the server farm for all critical business applications such as email, SharePoint, IP telephony system, and geographic information system (GIS).

The Denver office maintains all legal, finance, and IT department personnel, as well as personnel related to the drilling department in the West region.

The Pittsburgh office consists of the engineering/construction department, IT personnel, legal, and personnel related to the drilling department in the East region.

The Houston office consists of the engineering department, IT personnel, human resources, safety, and is the disaster recovery location for the entire company.

The network infrastructure and environment is using legacy equipment that is slow and outdated. Each office has a 10-base local area network (LAN) with three 24-port daisy chained hubs that are then connected to an external facing router. The company has wide area network (WAN) connectivity among all four offices in a ring topology using bonded 4 x T1 lines for a total bandwidth of 6 Mbps between each site.

The datacenter for the organization is located in the Ft. Worth office. The East and West offices must maintain their data replication and backups to the Ft. Worth office and provide a secondary copy for disaster recovery in the Houston location. The data totals have been growing by 10% each year and will continue this growth for the next three years.

Internet access has been provided in the Ft. Worth (10 Mbps Ethernet) location for primary surfing and the Houston office (5 Mbps Ethernet) is the primary for that office and backup for all three remaining locations. The internet connection consists of a single 128 Kbps ISDN line.

All locations have video conference units that are able to communicate internally and externally.

Prompt: Develop a business network design plan that incorporates the business requirements, applications, users groups, and data flows. Implement the results into the network design and complete the architecture.

Refer to the Module Four Assignment Lab Visio document to complete this assignment.

Your assignment will be to draft a network upgrade and maintenance plan that includes, at minimum, the following critical elements:

A. Network architecture within the corporate environment: Based on the OilMan Inc. corporate scenario laid out in this exercise, determine the best architectural component analysis and complete a detailed approach to the following components:

· Addressing for the company assets and user base: In the logical diagram, lay out an IP address plan for the company

· Routing logic for the organization: Explain the logic of the network routing within the organization and document within the analysis document

· Establish performance components and protocols for services related to the scenario: Define and document your protocols for the needed services within the analysis document

· Implement basic security mechanisms to this solution: Evaluate and define your security mechanism recommendations for the company.

· Document your findings and begin to organize your thoughts around the business functionality.

B. Relationships that exist with service providers: As you continue through this exercise, it is now time to take an external look at the relationship between OilMan Inc. and its third-party provider services. You must evaluate the requirements from the business on the following components:

· ISP services for internet browsing: Determine the needed ISP services and the bandwidth to meet the requirements

· WAN connectivity for inter-company services: Determine the WAN connectivity needs and the bandwidth required for the business

· Disaster recovery solution for business continuity: Define the disaster recovery solution, the location, and the needed services to support the business in a disaster scenario

· Document the gathered information and start to think through how you would select the correct solution for the organization.

C. Determine the appropriate architectural model: Next, continue to build the architecture based on the different models covered in Module Four. Evaluate the company scenario and determine the optimal architectural model for OilMan Inc.

· Determine topological model design: Define the needed design model for the business (ring, mesh, hybrid, etc.)

· Determine flow-based model opportunities: Define the needed flow model for the organization

· Evaluate functional model capabilities: Define the functional model for the organization

Remember that this exercise is a high-level understanding of the network architecture based on the scenario given. This will help you begin to understand the framework that needs to exist prior to the in-depth designs in the upcoming modules.

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