Analyzing existing equipment and outlining needs

Discuss about the Benefits of the Hierarchical Network.

When we want to understand how an IT infrastructure is arranged and laid it is good we know the needs of the organization. The first step is analyzing the existing equipment’s in the organization and this will help in knowing what we will use and what we will not. Understanding how data is transmitted then it will be easy for us to know what to require in helping us send and receive information. The second step is underlining all the AusEd requirements and fro there we can start planning of the project where we will do a feasibility study and do an analysis of what to expect. The statistics used and gathered will be used in coming up with a  logical diagram clearly showing all the significant and most used devices in the design of the network that is to be setup. Lastly is that when designing the plan and the model of a network it will be wise for one to consider some of the major factors like security, financial policy of the institution in terms of the budget allocation, how resilient, scalability and future flexibility of the network and how easy the network will be when it comes to managing such networks (Leon, 2015).. The management will be tested when troubleshooting in case an error occur.

The big idea here in AusEd is that they really require a system that can help them in maintaining the system in accounting that will help to improve the customer relationships where they have purposed to use the sugar customer relationship management and Microsoft exchange server 2007 which will be used in sending, receiving and storage of emails in the system of email. Having over 2000 students in the premise and others externally doing long distant and about 100 staffs working which is inclusive of the lecturers who does the course delivery, sales and the operations team and the management AusEd will need to perform comprehensive analysis that is based on the number of students who will need a computer, the staff who will need a work station, other basic equipment’s that are multi-accessed by all the people which may include photocopiers, printers, scanners and the Iphones.

For the above understanding then we will need to develop an IT infrastructure layout that will assist us to create a plan of what we intend to achieve. In the logic diagram we purpose to explain what are some of the networking gadgets used are and how they are interconnected with each other clearly showing how information is transmitted from networking device to the other and the way the networks security devices such as firewalls and VPNs are implanted in to the system.

Planning for the project and feasibility study

The main reason for giving a future plan with regard to the design of the network in AusEd is to help them to achieve their strategic plans which is to increase their diversifying sources of funds and to minimize the cost of all the non-core activities. Also when we understand their technology plan will assist them in future in developing an offline Moodle for students and the add-on Moodle for taking exams.

Understanding the objectives of each and every organization that is in need of setting the network layout will be greatly on the basis of security and future extensions (Coleman, 2012). Designing the network it will be good also to consider the management of the network especially in situations where we anticipate to have problems in future.  Security is one of the key requirements in any network design layout and when data is being transmitted then we will need to filter and provide the integrity and the confidentiality of the data being transmitted at all times across the entire network. The devices to help in providing the confidentiality and filtering of data are such as the Virtual Private networks and the firewalls.

In any setup of a network we must make any assumptions in the context in cases where we have used the diagram. We have assumed that AusEd will need to expand its network so we have used 3-Layered Hierarchical model with an anticipation that we will scale the size of the network. The cost for the networking devices is not the actual estimate but just an approximate of the anticipated price.

In networking there are some gadgets or equipment’s that are used for networking and interconnecting across the network. Some of the networking devices have been listed and explained below as shown below.

1. Router- this a device that is used in connecting the LAN to the internet. The ISP uses the router to communicate with their clients who has a network.
2. Switch- a switch helps to enhance how flexible and scalable the network is when configuring. They usually have ports where the devices connectors are connected so that they can access the network.
3. Cables- the cables used in this department are for connecting the devices, workstations, the printers and scanners.
4. Server- servers are used for the storage and resource sharing in the network of AusEd. There are so many uses of servers where they are categorized with regards to their purpose(Maggie, 2014). They are so many servers depending on the task they perform in the IT infrastructure.

• Application Server- this a program in a pc in a distributed network offering provision for the business logic in any application program.
• Proxy Server – server software acting as an intermediary between computers which acts as the end device and the other servers where requests are be requested.
• Mail Server- also an application that is used for receiving the email from the loca users

They are other major servers that are located in the data center that AusEd will need in making this implementations of such a plan a success.

• Dynamic Host Configuration Server (DHCP)- this is a server that is used for assigning IP addresses of all the devices connected to the network automatically.
• Domain Name Server (DNS) – a server that is used to match the domain names with their associated IP addresses across the entire network.
• File Server- a server hardware that stores and manages the resources that are transferred across the network of AusEd.
• Mail Server- this a server hardware that manages the movement of resources to be in specific the emails by ensuring that the emails are stored immediately and that they work efficiently.
• Web server- server used for hosting the website files and serving it through a website where all the individuals doing distant learning from AusEd can access the information. AusEd can use the webserver technology in giving an updating of a very serious information(AdminMuba, 2015).

1. Access Devices- these are the devices used for communicating over the network of AusEd. Some of these devices include Iphones, computers, printers, photocopiers and scanners.
2. Security Devices- these are devices that are used for providing security to the data that is being transmitted across the network. In the case of AusEd we have considered two networking devices for security namely the VPNs and the Firewall.

• Virtual Private Network Device which is kind of a security tech that is used we want to create a network connection which will be safe and with that is known for its encryption capabilities making the entire network to be very secure especially when there are more than 1000 hosts.
• Firewall which is a hardware that is planted on the router that will help in enforcing and making the rules of data packets when they are entering and leaving the network. Firewall in the router to filter the traffic as it lowers the risks that may be brought about by the travelling packets over the public internet and impacting it to the security of AusEd network.

1. Transceiver- a wireless access point device that is used when we need to broadcast the WI-FI signals across the entire network of AusEd making all users to be able to access the wireless connections for those who have the computers and the smartphones.
2. There are other devices that will be used to work with the specific connections and some of these though not major are such as the

• Hub
• Gateways
• Repeaters
• Modems
• RJ connectors
• Scanners
• Photocopiers
• Specific laptops for the admin
• Projectors
• Video conferencing gadgets
• IP Iphones

The explanation of a diagram that is to be used by AusEd which will use the hierarchical design model.

As seen from the diagram above there are so many computers and laptops that are used for accessing the access layer which acts as the end user connected via the switch using the cables such as the Ethernet.  Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a server that is used for assigning the IP addresses to all the workstations connected to the network automatically (Macken, 2016).  The DNS server is used for matching the web files for hosting the website of AusEd (Meena, 2017).

Factors to consider in designing the network plan

In demonstration of the AusEd network the network design have to be broken in to different layers where each and every layer is specified to perform functions that will help in simplifying the design of the design making it easy in scaling and managing the network (CISCO, 2014).

In the hierarchical design model the three layer fuctions in the following ways from the access layer to the core layer.

1. Access layer- this is a layer that offers the provision that directly connects the end user to the network.
2. Distribution layer is a layer that connects all the devices used in the access layer where they are enabled to the access layer and their associated services (Cisco, 2013).
3. Core Layer- a layer that help to connects all the devices in the distribution layer to very large Local Area Network in AusEd.

As seen in the diagram above we shown the presence of the said servers and how they communicate with the other devices. This is just a draft of the small organization network design plan.

The reason for choosing Cisco is because is able to offer enough compatibility with the other existing devices. The cost of cisco items are friendly and that they are easy to afford. Another concept is that the portability and interoperability is very good when compared to other manufacturers.

The use of HP and Dell is very significant in that they are also affordable and that they are scalable in case where we need to add additional documents. Dell devices are so durable and that they have longer warranty when compared with other manufacturers.

Conclusion

The research in this study is about implementing the plan of the proposed network design where we have to first identify the network design model. The networks design model applied is the three-hierarchical layer model where we will have to access, distribute and core all the major layers clearly indicating how they communicate and interconnect across all the devices. If the above design and plans will be followed then we will be able to implement the anticipated network design of AusEd.

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