ACME manufacturing company is a prime manufacturer of a variety of metal products. There are several departments under this company. The company requires a network to facilitate communication in the company. The company also expects a network design document that includes different recommendations for different network services in the company. ACME manufacturing company is growing steadily and recently acquired a manufacturing plant in China. The company believes that such acquisitions will help it continue to grow. This company has several other offices in the United States of America. The company wants to be able to connect all their operational facilities and offices together. This can be achieved by designing a WAN network which can allow them to conduct daily business operations. The network to be established must be able to link all their departments to the headquarters and their distribution offices in different states in the United States. The following are the requirements for the network:
The network needs to be designed using all new equipments
The network design document must recommend the types of lines that should be used for each location.
Different types of communications can be used for the network implementation.
The departments in ACME manufacturing are located at different locations in different countries. There are some departments that need to have a direct line of communication while in some cases there is no need for a direct line.
The departments include:
Headquarters – The headquarters for ACME is located in Georgia. This section houses the corporate operations of the company, the administrative staff, marketing staff and the accounting staff.
Engineering Department – Is also located in Georgia. This department is located across the street from headquarters building office. It houses the sales executives and the engineering sections of the company.
Distribution offices – They are located at three different locations in different states in the United States of America. They are situated in Chicago, Phoenix and the New York. Each of the distribution offices has a sales team and an administrative staff.
The plant facility is located in China.
Procedure
Before the implementation of the network, a site survey needs to be conducted so as to determine the amount of bandwidth that ACME requires so as to successfully implement the network. After establishing the amount of bandwidth requirements for ACME, it will be possible to determine the types of equipment that need to be used for the network plan.
LOGICAL NETWORK DIAGRAM FOR ACME
The company will require T1 lines that join the Engineering department to the headquarters. In the T1 lines, there will be a line for data out, voice and data in. T1 lines are fiber optic cables that carry more data. A T1 cable can carry up to 60 times the amount that a residential modem can carry. Using T1 lines to connect the engineering department will ensure that the huge amount of data that needs to be transferred between these tow departments is transferred effectively. The distribution offices in New York, Phoenix and Chicago will use an Ethernet cable to connect with each other and with the headquarters and the engineering department. The new plant in china is geographically far from these other facilities. The best method of connection is through the use of a satellite link. The satellite link will connect the headquarters with the plant in china.
Some of the company’s facilities are located far apart and holding regular meetings can be hard. In order to conduct meetings, teleconferencing communications can be used to connect different facilities of the company. This can be achieved through the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). The VoIP is the best telecommunications device that ACME can use for the teleconferencing since it is cheap and the users and make long distance calls without incurring costs for the communication.
VLANS
VLANs can help to logically connect the departments that are not grouped together. In order to implement this scenario one can use a switch that is VLAN enabled to implement the scenario. Most modern switches are VLAN enabled.
IP addressing
IP addressing Scheme defines the addresses that are assigned to different components in the network. Each of the equipments in the network must have an IP address. The IP addresses follow some systematic order and they have to be unique. If there are two equipments in the network with the same IP address, then there would be a clash in the IP addresses.
When assigning IP addresses, the following need to be taken into consideration:
192.168.1.100
------- -----
| |___ (host part)
|
|____ (network part)
The network part specifies the unique number which is assigned to a given network. This part also identifies the class of the network
The host part identifies the individual machines in the network
Subnet: The subnet number is used for dividing large networks into different parts.
The representation below shows how the IP Address space can be divided:
Division of IP Address Space
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| Class Range Network Address Host Address |
|--------------------------------------------------------|
| A 0-127 xxx xxx.xxx.xxx |
| B 128-191 xxx.xxx xxx.xxx |
| C 192-223 xxx.xxx.xxx xxx |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
i. Router with T1 link
In order to use the T1 lines for connecting the headquarters and the Engineering departments, there is need to use a router which has a built in T1 link and a Network interface card. You will also require CSU/DSU equipment for the successful implementation of the T1 line.
ii. Switch
A switch which is VLAN enabled is required for the implementation of the VLAN so that the departments that are not physically connected can be logically grouped. The switches were found at the server room of every department. All computers which were used for communication were connected to switches.
iii. Wireless router Modem
The wireless modem router is to be stationed at the headquarters. This is used for routing signals from different locations in the company. Signals from the satellite are routed to the router and then channeled to the right computers for processing. All departments which are to be connected remotely need to have a wireless router which is used for routing the signals.
iv. Satellite dish
The satellite dish is found at the plant in china and at the headquarters. They are used for emitting and receiving signals over long distances. Once the signals have been received, they are the routed to the wireless routers which then transmits them to different computers in the company.
v. Ethernet cables
They are found in all the distribution departments which use Ethernet for communication. The Ethernet cables are used for making a wired network for communication.
vi. Ethernet cards
These are cards that are used to give the computer wireless access capabilities. In the case of ACME, the plant in china had its servers installed with Ethernet cards so as to give those computers wireless capabilities.
The computers at the headquarters were also installed with Ethernet cards so that they could receive signals remotely from the plant in China and other departments that were not physically connected to the headquarters.
vii. Teleconferencing equipments
The teleconferencing equipments are to be placed in every department of the company. The equipment can consist of VoIP phones, speakerphones and microphones. This equipment is used for transmitting voice data to several recipients simultaneously.
Securing the network
Since the network being used in the company is majorly a wireless network, it is therefore exposed to several forms of attacks by intruders and hackers. It is therefore necessary to secure this network from any kind of external attacks.
In order to secure this network from attacks, the following measures have to be taken into consideration.
i. Use fire walls
Firewall prevents hackers on the internet from gaining access into your computer. The firewall however does not prevent people who are within your Wi-Fi range to gain access into your computer. Firewalls should be used alongside encryption so as to ensure maximum security of the data in your computer.
ii. Use encryption
You can use WPA (wireless protected access) and WEP (wireless encryption protocol) to protect your network. The encryption decodes all the data that is transmitted between your PC and the wireless router. Ensure that the routers encryption is always turned on before using it. You should also ensure that the default network name and passwords on the router are changed. This will keep the hackers away as it will be very hard for them to break into the router.
iii. Use VPNs
VPN (Virtual Private Networks) helps in protecting information transmitted between PCs by creating secure tunnels through which the encrypted data will travel. This will help keep information safe from hackers.
References
1. Cisco. (2011). What is network security?
2. Groth, David; Toby Skandier (2005). 'Network+ Study Guide, Fourth Edition'. 2009: Sybex,
3. McQuerry, Steve (November 19, 2003). 'CCNA Self-Study: Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices (ICND), Second Edition'.
4. Andrew S. Tanenbaum, 2003, "Computer Networks", Pearson Education International, New Jersey
