Foundation Course – Fundamentals of Networking
[Your University Name Here]
[Your Department]
Contents2
Introduction..3
Pricing4
Discussion of Design Considerations5
VLANs 6
Protocols Involved in Constructing a VLAN Based Switched Network7
Cisco VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP).8
Classless Sub-Netting.9
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)9
Router on a Stick.9
Network Diagram for the Gaming Competition10
Three Layer Hierarchical Model11
Bandwidth Requirements for a Gaming Network..11
Conclusion12
References13
Introduction
This paper includes the monetary quotation that will require to setup a network for playing Online and LAN games. All the state of the art technology used in the gaming industry is present in the quotes at the current market price. This includes Firewall, Servers, Computers specialized for gaming purposes, Cisco switches and a single arm Router (Router on a stick). All the specifications of these machines are also included. All the machines high performance to play even the most demanding games in terms of Hardware and Software.
All the design considerations also discussed. The configuration of the network is also included. There are four VLANs that will be created in three Cisco catalyst switches. VLAN1 in Switch0, VLAN10 and VLAN20 in Switch1 and VLAN1 in Switch2. The 48 port Switch0 will be connected with 40 Gaming machines. The 48 port Switch1 will be configured with two VLANs with number 10 and 20. The VLAN10 will have 10 gaming machines and VLAN20 on the Switch1 will have 30 gaming machines. This makes a total of 40 machines for Switch1.
The Third switch is Switch2 will be connected with VLAN1 will have 20 machines. There will be Trucking protocol configured on each switch to facilitate communication between the VLANs. This communication will also be sufficiently facilitated by a router on a stick with its single Network Interface Card. All the machines will have access to the internet via a proxy server. Four game servers will be deployed along with a firewall which will robustly protect the network from unauthorized access from outside.
Pricing
The Pricing for the Network devices are as follows.
Item Qty Price/Unit Total price
Operating Systems for Gamming Server
Microsoft Windows 2012 64bit 4 £525 £2100
Operating System for Proxy Server
Microsoft Windows 2012 64bit 1 £525 £525
CISCO881-K9 Cisco Router (Router on a stick) 1 £207 £207
TOTAL £68,697
Discussion of Design Considerations
The Gaming network is usually is extremely resource extensive. The gaming machines should be specifically designed for gaming requirements which is lacking in ordinary PCs. The games have high multimedia graphics and sound which requires high RAM and graphics card that a more resourceful even the CPUs are also very fast. This the reason Velocity Micro Vector Z25 Gaming computers are chosen.
The specifications of Velocity Micro Vector Z25 are as follows.
- Intel Core i5-2300 Quad Core Desktop Processor
- 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 Memory
- 1TB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
- 20x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 Graphics Card With 1GB
Intel HDA Audio
Gigabit Ethernet
- Two USB 3.0, Four USB 2.0, eSATA, FireWire, HDMI, VGA, 8-in-1 Card Reader
(MaKyrnin, 2014)
The Operating System selected for these machines is Windows 7 64bit. This is by far the best known Operating System on the Market. Window 8 and Windows 8.1 are also available, but they are not recommended because they are new and there are not enough feedback and testimonials from the gaming community as yet.
The Server Hardware platform that has been selected for this gaming competition network is 4 of “HP ProLiant BL460c G8 Servers” which have the following features. These features are
Extremely suitable for environment with high processing requirements.
- There are 4 Servers that will be hosting the back end of the gaming network. Two of these Servers will be
- The HP ProLiant BL460c Gen8 Server Blade is a dual-socket server blade engineered for unprecedented performance
- Enhanced flexibility and simplified management, which makes it the standard for data center computing.
- It packs in more performance with a 33% increase in memory DIMM count, Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 v2 Processors
- Faster I/O slots and enhanced Smart Array Controller that now ships with 512MB Flash Back Write Cache standard.
- It is more flexible with the HP FlexibleLOM which provides the ability to customize server networking today and the ability to meet future needs without overhauling server hardware.
(2014)
The Operating System for these 4 servers will be Microsoft Windows 2012 64 bit.
Two servers will be configured with IIS services and will provide gaming services for Internet game players. These two servers will also be connected with a proxy server Dell PowerEdge Tower T620 Server. The proxy server will provide internet to other terminal PCs if need be. These servers will be clustered to provide high availability and fault tolerance.
The Internet connection will also be configured with a Firewall for Security considerations. This firewall will be “Cisco ASA 5510 Adaptive Security Appliance CSC-SSM-10”. All the inbound or outbound traffic will pass through this firewall and it will protect the network traffic from unauthorized access.
The gaming network will also be configured with one 24 port “Cisco Catalyst WS-C2960S Switch” and two 48 port “Cisco WS-C2960S-48TS-L” switches.
VLANs
Five “Virtual Local Area Networks” (VLANs) will be configured on the switches.
VLAN 1 will have 20 Gaming machines configured on Switch 1 (Cisco Catalyst WS-C2960S)
VLAN 2 will have 10 Gaming machines configured on Switch 2 (Cisco WS-C2960S-48TS-L)
VLAN 3 will have 30 Gaming machines configures on Switch 2 (Cisco WS-C2960S-48TS-L)
VLAN 4 will have 40 Gaming machines configures on Switch 3 (Cisco WS-C2960S-48TS-L)
Protocols Involved in Constructing a VLAN Based Switched Network
Some switches support protocol-based VLANs. Traffic is filtered on the basis of its protocol. The traffic is separated according to the port it is bound to be destined.
As an example the switch is connected according to the following
A host generating ARP traffic to port 10
A network with IPX traffic to port 20
A router forwarding IP traffic to port 30
('Virtual LAN', n.d.)
Cisco VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP)
VTP is a Cisco propriety protocol that keeps the consistency of information related to VLANs within the VTP domain. When any changes are made to VLAN configuration the VTP protocol propagates this information to all the related switches so that the VLAN information remains current. VLANs provide Scalability, Security and improved Network management.
Classless Sub-Netting
Given class C IP address =192.168.16.0
Default Subnet Mask in Binary=11111111.11111111.11111111.1000000
CIDR (All the ON bits Default Subnet mask) = 25
Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.128
Total Hosts = 128
Network bits = 2
256 - Last octet = Block size
Block size = 256 - 128 = 128
Fist Network ID = 1
Last Network ID = 128
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
Sometimes in a network more than one path exist for a host, this situation can create loops of traffic putting unnecessary load on the network. In order to alleviate this problem STP is configured on network devices which detects potential loop creation paths and either blocks these paths or brings these paths to a standby for the traffic that is unique. STP is used to enhance the efficiency of the network.
Router on a Stick
Router on a Stick is used to join two or more than two different VLANs together so that they can communicate with each other. Router on a stick only has a single Network interface Card (NIC) unlike other routers.
Network Diagram for the Gaming Competition
Three Layer Hierarchical Model
The three layer model divides the network devices and network links into three layers lying on top of another. This is an approach to the design of a network that enhances the Scalability, manageability, modularity, maintainability, simplicity and Security of the network.
The three layer model has the following three layers.
- Core
- Distribution
- Access
Core. The core layer of the network is responsible to deliver traffic as fast as possible in the internal part of the network.
Distribution. The distribution layer sits between the core layer and the access layer. This layer restricts the traffic that goes into the core layer of the network.
Access. The main purpose of the Access layer is to secure the internal network from unauthorized access from outside.
This model is not a divine rule. In some networks any of the two layers can be merged into a single layer. (Cisco Global Learning Network, 2014)
Bandwidth Requirements for a Gaming Network
Internet bandwidth requirements depend upon the category of the game. If you are playing first person shooting or a racing game saturated with impressive graphics and fast motion than the requirements for bandwidth requirements will be far more than the simulation or arcade games. There is a term latency in networking that is described as the time at which network packets from one computer reaches the other computer, such as the information that reaches to gamer PC from the game server. This time difference is known as Latency and it is measured in milliseconds. A gamer who is playing an action packed game would require high bandwidth and low latency internet connection to really enjoy the game. (Mitchell, n.d.)
Conclusion
This network will cost £68,697 to completely install this network system. It will include the all the state of the art technology that the market is able to provide at this time. This network will have three network switches. One hundred gaming machines for LAN gamers. It will have a single router on a stick. The number of servers will be four. Two of the servers will provide the service for the LAN and two servers will handle the users over the Internet. There will be a single firewall to protect the Gaming Intranet. There will be a single Proxy Server for the internet (Internet Gateway) for the users in the internal network.
References
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CWorld. (2014). As the world's most popular blade, the HP ProLiant | PCWorld. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.pcworld.com/product/pg/807398781/detail [Accessed: 15 Apr 2014].
Cisco. (2014). Cisco ASA 5500 Series Content Security and Control Security Services Module. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/security/asa-5500-series-next-generation-firewalls/product_data_sheet0900aecd80402e4f.html [Accessed: 15 Apr 2014].
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Foley, M. (2013). Microsoft ups price on Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter by 28 percent | ZDNet. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-ups-price-on-windows-server-2012-r2-datacenter-by-28-percent-7000019168/ [Accessed: 16 Apr 2014].
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MaKyrnin, M., 2014. Velocity Micro Vector Z25 Mainstream Desktop Personal Computer Review. [online] About.com PC Hardware / Reviews. Available at: <http://compreviews.about.com/od/maindesk/gr/Velocity-Micro-Vector-Z25.htm> [Accessed 16 Apr. 2014].
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Mitchell, B. Optimize Your Online Experience: Find Out How Fast Your Network Should Be. About.com Wireless / Networking. Retrieved 17 April 2014, from http://compnetworking.about.com/od/speedtests/tp/how-fast-does-your-network-need-to-be.htm
Virtual LAN. Wikipedia. Retrieved 18 April 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_LAN
