Windows Server Proposal Paper

Worldwide Advertising, Inc. (WAI) a new advertising firm, recently secured the services of Pinnacle Network Solutions (PNS) to design and implement a Windows based network infrastructure for their main office in Los Angeles, and branch office in New York with the purpose of establishing a secure and well-organized network to accommodate its 90 employees at both locations. WAI currently does not have an IT staff in place at either location, however the hiring of 5 IT employees who will monitor and sustain the network is forthcoming. The scope of this design is to implement and configure a server environment that will allow for secure network communications between both locations to the various departments within the WAI network. The departments and personnel that will be part of the WAI network include: Executives (9 employees), Accounts and Sales (15 employees), Creative, Media and Production (49 employees), Human Resources and Finances (12 employees), and IT (5 employees); one employee from each department will located in the New York office.

In an effort to meet the scope of WAI network infrastructure project, PNS has carefully researched and developed a design and implementation scenario that will allow WAI to communicate information across its network whether within a local office or branch location. The proposal PNS presents will identify and address the following areas: New Features of Windows 2012, Deployment and Server Editions, Active Directory, DNS/DCHP, Application Services, and File/Print Sharing. Upon the conclusion of this proposal, WAI will be equipped with information that describes the implementation and configuration of their core IT services and a network that can easily managed and maintained by WAI IT staff upon hiring.

New Features of Windows Server 2012

Microsoft has developed and released several versions of its Windows Server since its inception of Windows NT in 1996, which continuously provides its users with improved performance, reliability, and scalability due to the advancements in hardware and technology (Morimoto el at., 2012). Windows Server 2012 is Microsoft’s latest operating systems for server environments that presents network and system administrators with the new features that significantly improves the performance of the operating system. The newest features that WAI can benefit from with its implementation are Server Manager, Server Core, and BitLocker. Server Manager, a dashboard-like interface has the capability to create server groups, add roles and features, which will allows the IT staff of WAI to manage tasks within each server in the network. Server Core is an installation option that provides administrators with the capability to running specific server roles from the command-line. Server core uses a minimal server interface which provides flexibility in balancing security, manageability, and functionality (Morimoto et al., 2012). BitLocker is a technology that will enable WAI with the ability to encrypt files and documents stored on an encrypted partition, providing WAI with an additional level of security for its files and documents.

Deployment and Server Edition

Windows Server 2012 offers several different versions to choose from and deployment can be either manual or automated. PNS considers the Datacenter edition of Server 2012 to be the right solution for WAI, which will be installed using an image file. WAI will implement the Datacenter Edition on its 10 servers, with six servers located in the main LA office and four in the NY office. Server Core will be implemented on all 10 servers to increase security while reducing overhead. The Datacenter edition will provide WAI with the ability to support more guest sessions for future growth. The name, roles and locations of each server is listed in the table below with two Domain Controllers in the main LA office, and two Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC) in the NY office to provide redundancy.

Active Directory

The implementation of two Domain Controllers in LA, one primary and one backup, and two RODC in the NY branch office will alleviate unnecessary traffic on the WAN link. The RODC will allow the branch office in NY to maintain a copy of the Active Directory (AD) database, while maintaining a sharp security posture. RODCs will offer WAI the right solution for its NY branch office where physical security maybe a dilemma, due to the lack of a facility space (Morimoto et al., 2012). Organizational Units (OU) will be established for each department that will support all employees in both LA and NY. Creating OUs for each group will allow the IT staff to apply Group Policy objects (GPOs) and policy settings within the OU (LabSim 2014). OUs that will be created are as follows: Executive, Accounts and Sales, Creative, Media and Production, Human Resources and Finances, and IT. The administration of the OUs can administered by the IT staff at both locations, thus filling the need to entrust administration for separate groups of administrators.

DNS and DHCP

The DHCP design will consist of a main and backup DHCP in the main LA office and DCHP relay agents in the branch office in NY. This type of design is proven to provide a reduction of traffic on the WAN link between the two locations, coupled with the implementation of automatic allocation of IP addresses. The address range for the main LA DCHP will be192.168.1.1 – 192.168.1.138, with the split scope exclusion being 192.168.1.65 -192.168.1.138. The branch office will use relay agents to obtain the exclusion IP addresses from the local DHCP server. WAI will use a public namespace of WAI.com, with the internal namespace created in accordance with location; LA.WAI.local and NY.WAI.local. The internal namespace will be used with Active Directory to provide an increased level of security on the network. Reservations will be set for all servers and printers within the entire WAI network, and lease times will configured for 7-day leases on all workstations within the network.

Application Services

All applications will be server based and available through Remote Desktop Services (RDS). By deploying applications using RDS, applications can be centrally managed (Technet, 2015). Using RDS will gives users the ability to connect to applications regardless of bandwidth-constrained connections. Users that run applications will utilize processing power of the server with a reduced load on the workstation. All applications and updates will be installed using Remote Desktop Services, and the potential applications that will be used by WAI are Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Applications for the HR, Accounting, and Creative, Media, and Production departments will be determined and installed by the IT staff. All applications used will require volume licenses that will be remotely installed to workstations in both locations.

File and Printer Sharing

File and Print services will shared on local server in the main office in LA and branch office in NY. Users will receive storage on a shared folder that will be split up between the servers at both sites. These folders will be synchronized with Distributed File Services (DFS) replication between the main office and branch office. The implementation of DFS will appear as a single directory for backups and users. All clients will be giving a 1000MB quota with all excess alerts going to administrators and users.

Conclusion

The design presented to WAI will provide its organization with a vital and efficient network that will be instrumental to the success of WAI and its growth. The network infrastructure configured and implemented will allow the IT staff to succeed with managing and maintaining its workstations and users by using the new features of Windows Server 2012, allowing for a more robust and secure network experience for all users.

Diagrams

Server Layout