Introduction
The design of a network is a complete overview of the computer network devices, selected topography, network component interfacing and other specifications required to meet the network requirements for a particular group of users. The selected topic on designing a network design for a law firm involves description of a network to support 100 employees’ communication spread out on two floors of a story building. Currently, the organization is using a Windows 7 platform for its devices with an implementation of MS Office 2010 products. Though this network is supportive of the communication requirements, there is need to have a scalable network due to the anticipation of future expansion of the company. The network will have to support operations like sending emails, bookkeeping, running payroll applications, Internet services, creating and sharing legal documents, and calendaring (Ivanov, 2010). This research paper will document all the network requirements, scope and objectives to develop an effective network plan for the law firm’s network.
Project Scope
The project will implement various aspects of a network starting from the analysis of the network, to design, proposal and implement a new computer network. The following are items in the project scope:
Analysis of the current computer network: this scope item will include a detailed study of the current system with an aim of discovering various limitations of the current network. The scope also involves considering the business requirements and studying the business workflow to help determine the interactions between various network components (Agyapong, Iwamura, Staehle, Kiess, & Benjebbour, 2014). Lastly, the network design will analyze the current network to determine the difficulties and issues that deter the administration and other staff members from accessing the network resources efficiently.
Proposal of a new network design: the project team members will analyze the identified issues and difficulties to propose a new network design that will also be in accordance with the identified workflows. Under this scope item, the following items will be handled:
· Introducing a Virtual Private Network to the organization to help secure the communication through a public network or the internet.
· Securing the network by implementing a layered security, security network devices, and protocols.
· Provision of a wireless network to allow access of remote workers to the network resources.
· Provision of a dynamic addressing through the implementation of a DHCP and other subnetting techniques.
· Design of a network maintenance and backup plan
System documentation: this is the last scope item where the project team will document the project in terms of a detailed project charter, network configuration, network design and architecture, budget and cost analysis (Ivanov, 2010).
The project will consider the following out-scope elements: training the employees on the network design, practical network design implementation, video conferencing and voice calling design, real-time data collection, database design and implementation of database management system.
Project Goals
To establish a reliable communication link between the two floors of the building through a computer network: the project aims at providing a reliable computer network that will cover the two stories of the building by implementing both the wired and wireless technology.
To establish a collaborative communication through file sharing, emails, payrolls, and calendars. The project will ensure the project design implements network collaboration techniques like scheduling techniques, internet browsing, bookkeeping, sharing and creating various legal documents, and emailing. These are the core business operations hence the network should strive to meet these needs (Aydın, Zaim, & Ceylan, 2009).
To provide a wireless access to network resources: employees will bring their own devices and access to the network even from their homes. The network should have network access points for wireless devices thus allowing the users to share information, create legal documents and perform other tasks while working from offices for remote clients. However, the network will implement 802.11 authentication standards to regulate the access in an aim to ensure secure wireless access.
To achieve network security through various techniques like a Virtual Private Network, firewalls, and network intrusion detectors. The network should be secure to avoid loss of data, intrusions, and authorized access and manipulation of network data. Additionally, the project aims at protecting business data in the internal network to avoid confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information issues.
To establish a disaster and business recovery plan. Various events can lead to the destruction of the network infrastructure. Events like earthquakes, fire, floods, power blackouts, tornadoes, and storms can destroy the entire infrastructure of the law firm leading to downtime. The project aims at reducing this downtime and preventing loss of business due to an unusable computer network. Therefore, the network will have a backup server and other backup plans.
Network Requirements
The current network is assumed to have a bus topology, no backup server, and minimum implementation of security controls. Therefore, the network requirements for this case will be as follows:
Need for employees and the administration to access the network resources: the major need of this network is to have the entire 100 employees connected and communicating through the network. Additionally, the network needs to allow access to internet services, emails, and other collaborative platforms. Therefore, this calls for a complete and comprehensive network to address the connectivity issues since the current network is not effective for communication (Seddigh et al., 2015).
Need for network scalability: the law firm is a small firm that is currently experiencing a growth phase and will even expand more in the new future to accommodate more users and network resources. The law firm requires a network that is flexible and easily scalable. The network should be easy to expand without redesigning it or have a complete redevelopment. This will save on costs of network hence increasing the Return on Investment (Agyapong et al., 2014).
Security requirement: this requirement involves the implementation of various techniques like a Virtual Private Network, firewalls, and network intrusion detectors. The network should be secure to avoid loss of data, intrusions, and authorized access and manipulation of network data. The network should allow the administration to access business data, historical data, and employee data through the network without loss of confidentiality and privacy.
Compliance with policy, environmental, social, and ethical regulations: this is a non-functional requirement. The network needs to ensure consideration of environmental issues like pollution. The network devices should be eco-friendly. Additionally, there is need to implement rules and integrate with the network to ensure appropriate use of network resources. The network also needs to meet various regulations including the federal and state information regulations (Ivanov, 2010).
In principle, the Network Design Plan has a number of significance, below are just but a few examples of the Network Design importance. Execution
A dependably unpredictable condition of execution is found in association with the true blue structure execution parameters. These parameters may join application response time and the gathering appropriately time.
The framework should give a solid stage to the applications that it reinforces. A by and large picked framework may need to meet an availability point of convergence of 99% for all applications with a 'zero-downtime' fundamental for mission real applications. Ideally, the stumble of any one connection or structures affiliation contraption along the client-to-server way should not achieve the death of a client-server session. Altered failover to a substitute route should occur inside a period between times that is palatable short to keep the impact on existing sessions. This time-break is known as the joining time, which can be portrayed as the term from a framework topology change, (for instance, the end of an association) occurring until the point that each contraption on the structure considers the change. All around arranged structures are portrayed by dependably low joining conditions (Seddigh et al., 2015).
An adaptable framework is set up to do adequately supporting movement without being on a very basic level re-made. The movement to the degree the measure of customers, the measure of framework center concentrations or goals must be obliged close to the possible change of new applications and the extended information transmission use that they join. To get a slant for how versatile your customer's framework is, set forward the running with the request: What if there was twofold the measure of customers, twofold the measure of center concentrations, new applications that asked for twofold the information transmission? An adaptable structure can oblige this progress and change without requiring a gigantic refresh of its establishment. The fundamental framework topology and the progress used should not be empowered with a particular outrageous objective to oblige change. New concentrations and customers can be added to an adaptable structure in an unmistakable building piece approach. The new concentrations, for example, should simply consolidate the change of another range or square to a present structure, which is inside or spine of the framework. Widened exchange speed demands should be obliged by legitimately growing the LAN and WAN transmission compels as key. Certain operational updates may also be required in the midst of the framework lifetime, for instance, extended memory and masterminding power on the structure switches and switches. In any case, what should not be required is a radical stimulate of the framework structure remembering an authoritative focus to help expected the change in the midst of the structure's lifetime. This is, everything seen as, one of the central reasons why a structured course of action is set up in any case (Ivanov, 2010).
There are no making tracks in a turnaround course from how caused huge damage is the most focal driver behind the structure setup process. Structures must not simply meet a particular species, they ought to in like way be monetarily astute in their blueprint and utilize. The essential cost area to owning a structure is regularly the WAN costs from the expert gathering. That is the cost of the edge hand-off, ATM, leased lines or ISDN progression. Framework plots are routinely depicted by a tradeoff of cost versus execution and availability. For example, more information exchange most extreme may be required to ensure come full circle application execution; regardless, there is everything viewed as a cut-off point where getting more transmission keep is never again down to earth. So likewise, support circuits or ISDN may be required to ensure quality along the client-to-server data path if there should be an occasion of a failure on the basic data way. This assistance progression must be close speed to the significant association with a particular extraordinary focus to keep up a key separation from the undermined relationship in the midst of a condemn condition. It is a financial decision for the customer paying little identity to whether degraded affiliation can proceed in the midst of a charge circumstance (Agyapong, Iwamura, Staehle, Kiess, & Benjebbour, 2014)
A particularly indicated framework should not only be insightful to work; it should in like way be depicted by for the most part clear running costs. Shocking among different diagrams of the centrality of enduring and clear running expenses relates to the subject of assistance costs. The second most unmistakable part of the cost of owning a structure (after WAN costs) is the cost of assistance. It is in like manner the most dismissed cost segment generally since it is extensively difficult to gauge. For example, it may be taken after a private-guided execution of ATM remembering the true objective to diminish the WAN costs that would be procured from an ATM master gathering. While this would in actuality lessen WAN costs, it would in like way recognize extended help costs. A fundamental level of bent is required to enable a private ATM to make. Enrolling and holding such slant is expensive. In any case, without having such inclination in-house the cost of structure reinforce is evidently going to be generally more clear with the requirement for outside supervisors and unmistakable untouchables being used to 'fill the openings' and attestation a smooth each day operation.
References
Agyapong, P. K., Iwamura, M., Staehle, D., Kiess, W., & Benjebbour, A. (2014). Design considerations for a 5G network architecture. IEEE Communications Magazine, 52(11), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCOM.2014.6957145
Aydın, M. A., Zaim, A. H., & Ceylan, K. G. (2009). A hybrid intrusion detection system design for computer network security. Computers & Electrical Engineering, 35(3), 517–526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2008.12.005
Ivanov, D. (2010). A computer network for a company with remote branch offices. Linnaeus University, 1–70.
Seddigh, A., Stenfors, C., Berntsson, E., B????the, R., Sister??m, S., & Westerlund, H. (2015). The association between office design and performance on demanding cognitive tasks. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 172–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.05.001
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