Network Technology and Management

ICT703 Assessment Task 2

Network Technology and Management

Assessment and Submission Details

Background:

You have obtained a contract position at a small marketing and advertising firm called the Colour Ability Corporation (CAC). Your contract responsibilities are to help them plan their emerging networking and communications requirements and update their IT resources. CAC currently hires 80 employees and operates from Level 10 and 11 on the X Tower in Brisbane CBD. CAC has recently purchased a four-story building in a Brisbane suburb where they can allocate a separate floor to each of their four departments, i.e., (1) marketing, (2) advertising, (3) design and photography, and (4) HR and accounting. They plan to move to their new office in three months. Also, CAC’s list of customers has greatly expanded to other cities, mainly Sydney where their customers in Sydney are demanding more interactive advertising media, including video presentations. The management recognizes the business potential in this new market in Sydney and have leased a small office in Sydney (aka CAC’s fifth department) to host 8 local employees.

They have hired you to review their existing IT resources and produce a proposal that allows the company to take advantage of their firm’s expansion. The management has stated that if the proposal meets their requirements, they may hire you full-time to implement and manage these new resources.

You now have an idea of the scope of the project that you have undertaken, but do not have all of the information required to proceed. Using the details provided in the following sections you are required to prepare a professional business report of 2500 words addressing the eight activities identified below.

Part 1: Gather System Requirements.

CAC has provided a written summary containing floor plans for their Brisbane and Sydney offices, and notes from a verbal interview with the management team. Gather as much information as possible from these two sources to help you plan a technical solution for CAC’s networking and communications requirements.

Step 1: Review available information.

CAC Information: Because CAC is a small size business, it has no IT department. Everyone has taken care of their own resources in the Brisbane office. If they could not fix the problem, they would call in an outside service technician. Currently, the machines are connected together through fourteen

(14)      10/100Mb switches (with 10 ports each). Employees work with older PC tower computers with 2 Gb of memory, a 250 Gb hard drive, and 7 USB ports. The processors are AMD Athlon 64 x2 dual core processor and a CD/DVD read/write drives. Additionally, graphics production editors (team of 10 employees in Brisbane) utilize PCs with 8 GB of memory and 500 Gb hard drive to run special editing software that uses very high-resolution graphics.

The systems are all still running the Windows 7 operating system, and there is a low-capacity, monochrome laser printer attached to each machine. These machines are not capable of running the software required for video development.

The Sydney office will be operational soon, and additional employees will be hired to handle the
new video production work. The company will have the following employees at the Sydney office:

Sydney Department Manager – Duties include scheduling work, hiring and managing part-time workers, weekly payroll, and project tracking. The administrative manager uses spreadsheet and database software and must be able to use email.

Film Production Editor – Requires special editing software that uses very high-resolution graphics and requires at least 16 GB of memory to run effectively. The software also interfaces with a video capture interface board that uses PCIex16 slot in the computer. This specialized software only works in a Windows 10 environment. It is important that the computer purchased for this position supports high-resolution video and has enough memory to enable the editor to work quickly. The production editor produces the final copies of the films and works within very tight deadlines. The editor must also be able to use email.

Film Crew – The other six employees are mobile workers, consisting of two production assistants, two camera people, a production manager, and a film director. They are in the Sydney office an average of two days per week. The rest of the time is spent either at customer sites or on film locations.

Because all of the mobile workers are required to have access to email and production schedules, both at the office and while on location, it is important for them to be able to connect to the main office from anywhere. They have no special software requirements, but they do need a large hard drive to store the film files while they are working on them. The mobile workers must work at various locations and may not always be able to plug into a data port. It is important that they are able to connect to the internal network wirelessly.

Because of the sensitive nature of some of the documents and records required by the managers of all five departments, private color laser printers must be installed in the managers’ offices in both Brisbane and Sydney. Combination copiers/printers and high-resolution scanners must also be purchased and shared among all employees.

For the purposes of training and compatibility, all of the computers should use the same operating system and applications, if possible.

Step 2: Interview with the Management.

Below are the notes collected during an interview session with the management team.

•  CAC employees need access to email, which they currently get from their ISP. The email
system that the ISP provide uses a web client that CAC employees can access over the
Internet. CAC employees are also able to access this email from their home computers.
•  CAC want to be able to set up email accounts for employees to use while they are working
with them.

•   It is necessary for managers and employees to share files between themselves. These files are usually spreadsheets and documents, but sometimes, they must send large film files back and forth between the mobile workers and the office. Files must be available for download during the day, and also at night, when employees are away from the office. These film files are usually between 5 GB and 20 GB in size.

•    The management wants some project files to be kept securely in a central location and can be accessed and shared only by the department managers.

•     Color printers that are also capable of making copies are required for each workspace – one on each floor of the new Brisbane office and one in the Sydney office. Because the printers are expensive, it is necessary for everyone to be able to print to it when they are in the office. Some of the storyboard documents are over 100 pages, with lots of graphics.

•         Wireless internet access should be made available in all five departments.

•         In response to the CAC’s enquiries regarding their IPv4 needs, their ISP has provided them with the following diagram (Figure 3) and has advised that CAC can continue using their current block of public IPv4 addresses, that is 194.32.9.0/28, as well as blocks of private IPv4 addresses, i.e., 192.168.0.0/24, for their private networks. Each department is assigned to an individual subnet, where all the departments and the Sydney office should be able to communicate with each other, and any necessary internal server(s), and access the Internet.

Step 3: Select the appropriate services and equipment.

After you have gathered all the appropriate information, it is time to do some research. You must now use your knowledge and research skills to propose an appropriate technical solution for their limited budget and time requirements. Proposing a solution that is beyond the financial capabilities of the company is of no benefit. However, it can be helpful to propose a solution within the current budget, and offer suggestions that would improve network performance or productivity if additional funding becomes available. If you can justify these extra expenditures, the company may consider them for later implementation or may even find the extra funding needed.

When developing a plan, it is often easier to start at the end user and then work back toward the network and any shared resources, and then finally, any external connections to the Internet or other networks. Many different forms have been developed to help with planning and equipment selection. It is a good idea to use one of these forms or to design your own to keep everything organized.

Activity 1

Use the following form to develop a proposed computer system for each of the specific uses, i.e., general use, graphics production and film production. Search the Internet or local sources for availability and pricing information. Use the same form to propose a server that can support their email and FTP requirements.

Computer System Planning Form
Department/Team:
Location:
Component	Recommendation
Processor: (Manufacturer, Model, Speed)
Memory: (Type, Amount)
Hard Drive: (Type, Capacity)
CD-ROM/DVD: (Read, Read/Write, Speed)
USB Ports: (Number, Location)
Video Card: (Manufacturer, Model, Video
RAM)
Sound Card: (Manufacturer, Model)
Modem: (Internal/External, Speed, Standard)
Network Card(s): (Ethernet: speed, Wireless,
Standard)
Operating System: (Manufacturer, Version,
Compatibility)
Monitor: (Size, Resolution, Refresh Rate)
Printer: (Manufacturer, Model, Type, Speed)
Speakers: (Manufacturer, Model, Type)
Internet Connection: (USB, Ethernet, Wireless)
After the end-user systems have been selected, it is time to look at the workflow and decide on any
shared components and network technology to support this workflow. This can include such
things as shared printers, scanners, and storage as well as any routers, switches, access points and
integrated service routers. When planning a network infrastructure, always plan into the future. For
larger companies, because it is usually a substantial investment, the infrastructure should have a
lifetime of about 10 years. For smaller companies and home users, the investment is significantly

Activity 2

Using the Internet and locally available resources, select a high-speed, color copier/printer for the CAC offices. Provide supporting details to justify your selection.

Activity 3

Demonstrate a network layout for CAC requirements – you can use Figure 3 as the starting point. Because the company has limited funds available for this project, it is important that where possible only equipment designed for the small business and home markets be used. Provide supporting details to justify your selection of each equipment type, e.g., access points, switches and routers.

Activity 4

It is necessary to plan the Internet connectivity, and which services are provided by the ISP and which services must be provided in-house. Larger companies usually provide services in-house, while small businesses and individuals normally rely on an ISP to provide these services. Most ISPs offer a variety of services and service levels. Selecting an ISP is complicated, and not all technologies and services are available in all regions of the world.

Using the Internet, research alternative local ISPs to provide connectivity for CAC. If selected, CAC will rely upon this ISP for DNS and web mail. The ISP must also provide 99.999% uptime for access to the internal FTP/email server. Because you are the only IT person at CAC, it is also important that the ISP provides a high-level of technical support. Create a comparison worksheet for at least two local ISPs, including costing.

Activity 5

Which internal services must be offered by CAC, and which devices provide these services? Provide supporting details to justify your answer.

Activity 6

Complete the following network planning form and justify your answers as it relates to the proposed CAC network.

Are wired connections required?	Number:
Are wireless connections required?	Number:
Wireless standard	Choice of a/b/g/n/ac
Firewall required?	Yes/No
ISP connectivity required?	Yes/No
Type of ISP connectivity	Choice of DSL, cable, serial, dialup
Internal or external modem required?	Yes/No (if Yes, then type of modem)
Cables required?	Yes/No (if Yes, then type of cable)
Battery backup required?	Yes/No

Part 2: Plan the installation.

After the equipment has been selected and the required services planned, the physical and logical installation is planned out. Physical installation includes the location of equipment and devices, along with how and when these devices are to be installed. In the business environment, it is important to minimize disruption of the normal work processes. Therefore, most installations, changes, and upgrades are done during hours when there is minimal business activity. Physical installation should also consider such things as adequate power outlets and ventilation, as well as the location of any necessary data drops.

Activity 7

Equally as important as planning the physical layout of the network and equipment is planning the logical layout. This includes such things as subnetting, addressing, naming, data flow, and security measures. Servers and network devices are assigned static IP addresses to allow them to be easily identified on the network and to also provide a mechanism for controlling access to these devices. Most other devices can be assigned addresses using DHCP. Note that both a server and its backup server must be accessed via the same public IP address.

Devise subnetting and addressing schemes for CAC. The schemes must provide all network devices and servers with a static address and allow all other hosts to be configured via DHCP. Identify the ranges of useable IP addresses (and default gateways) for DHCP, and assign all network devices an appropriate IP address (and default gateways). Use the following tables to report all the required setups, and then reflect this information on the network layout developed in Activity 3.

Table 1: Subnetting Template (to be used for all CAC internal and external subnets)

Subnet	Network	Slash	First Usable	Last Usable	Broadcast Address
	Address	Notation	IP Address	IP Address

Table 2: Addressing Template (to be used for all devices/interfaces with static IP addresses)

	Device		Interface*		IP Address		Subnet Mask		Default Gateway^

*Can be NIC, Serial, Fast Ethernet, etc.

^ Use N/A for routers.

Note: Show all your workings for subnetting in an appendix.

Activity 8

CAC is concerned that their files and resources may be vulnerable through the wired or wireless networks. Explain how the use of public and private IP addresses together may address this concern, and provide a security plan that allows only CAC employees to connect to the network and gain access to company information and resources.

Part 3: Prepare and present the proposal.

All of the gathered information and the proposed technical solution must be assembled into a format that makes sense to the company who has asked you to provide a solution. The formal report usually contains many different sections, including:

•	Title page
•	Executive Summary
•  Tables of Contents, Figures and Tables
•	Introduction
•  Project proposal, comprising needs statement; goals and objectives; methodology and
	timetable; technical solutions and evaluation; budget summary; future plans
•	Recommendations and Conclusions
•  Bibliography and List of Refences
•	Appended information
The report is often presented to various groups for approval. When presenting the report, present
it in a confident, professional, and enthusiastic manner. The report must be technically accurate
and free from spelling and grammatical errors.
Assignment Requirements and deliverables
You are to prepare a formal proposal report for CAC that includes all the components listed above
by detailing the equipment, management and security requirements for the above case study and
justifying suitable technologies to enhance the business’s communications and networking within
and outside the organisation. Be sure to include all cost information and network diagrams.
The report must be written in Microsoft Word. Multiple files will not be accepted.
Report Structure: The report must be formatted using the following guidelines:
•  Paragraph text: Use 11-point Calibri single line spacing
•  Headings: Use Arial in an appropriate type size
•  Margins: 2.0cm on all margins
•  Header: Report title
•  Footer: Page numbering – up to and including the Table of Contents use roman numerals
(i, ii, iii, iv), restart numbering using conventional numerals (1, 2, 3, 4) from the first page
after the Table of Contents.
•  Title Page must not contain headers or footers
•  The report is to be structured as a formal business report.
•  Refer to the following references for details on report structures: Summers, J., Smith, B.

Referencing: The report is to include appropriate references and these references should follow the Harvard method of referencing. Note that ALL references should be from journal articles, conference papers, technical papers, recognized experts in the field or vendors’ and service providers’ websites.

Marking: The assignment will be marked according to the marking guideline at Appendix A.

Appendix A – Marking Guideline

	Marking Criteria			Maximum	Marks
				Marks	Obtained
	Title Page and Tables of Contents / Figures / Tables			0.5
	Headers and Footers and Page Numbering			0.5
	Executive Summary			1
	Content
	Introduction			1
	Activity 1			4
	Activity 2			1
	Activity 3			4
	Activity 4			2
	Activity 5			2
	Activity 6			2
	Activity 7			10
	Activity 8			5
	Recommendations & Conclusions			2
	Citations, Bibliography & In-text Referencing			-
	Total Marks			35	/35
	Comments:

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