Create a Video Environment for the Organization - Case Study Example

? CASE STUDY – RAPID FREIGHT Case Study – Rapid Freight Requirement analysis Creation of a video environment for the organization is required. This should be convergent network which can be fixed without incurring a lot of cost on installations or changing the existing network architecture. The number of channels also needs to be increased. One circuit should be enhanced with IP based technology to have a maximum number of channels where communication can take place. Reducing the cost of running the company by ensuring that video conferencing can be set up in at least main branches of Rapid Freight will subjugate traveling allowances for meetings or wasting of time. The technologies for this should be efficient and cheaper. Provide for technologies which give room for scalability as Rapid Freight is growing increasingly. This should cover for future expansion utilizing bandwidth by converging different technologies. LAN can be used within a branch and an ISDN between organizations. This includes approaching an IP/VoIP provider. Technology solution The technology proposed which is fit for the situation with Rapid Freight includes installing an IP infrastructure. Convergent IP/ISDN environment is where the organization’s video traffic travels over the organization data network. This usually requires installation of a shared IP gateway, otherwise connection with ISDN ends. The convergent IP environment has the following advantages. In the ISDN only video environment would require activation of a dedicated line to deploy an additional video system, but, in the IP/Convergent, the requirements are straight connection to the enterprise network. This ensures scalability in when company expands. Secondly, IP networks fee payment is not “metered” as in ISDN, but the fee is paid monthly and sometimes it is fixed. This will relieve the cost incurred by the organization because the users will be using the service as much as they can, but the fee is fixed (Cisco Systems, Inc., 2006). It has direct saving in infrastructure cost since the line from the telecom provider can be shared among the users (PBX trunk). Other than the IP/ISDN convergent video-conferencing environment, the service for ISDN is increased to its maximum available which is the Primary Rate Interface (PBR) having 24 channels in the US and Japan, and 30 in other countries. The LAN will be used in intra-organization branch communication utilizing the bandwidth available which is 384kb/s for PRI. The IP the gateway will be used to link branches and the data centre. IP phones will be introduced by implementing Voice over Internet Protocol with the real time transfer protocols. This requires terminating the PBX on IP/VoIP provider. The number of calls will increase to 50-100 over the same PBX circuit (Cisco Systems, Inc., 2006). The VoIP is necessary because its cost is beneficial in the following ways: Rather than paying a per-minute or per-unit fee for calls, VoIP organization usually pays a fixed monthly fee (or nothing). Users can make unlimited calls; participate in multiparty teleconferencing and make facsimile transmissions anywhere in the world. Users also save money by consolidating data and voice networks into a single integrated IP network. Convergent Solution The convergent solution is the integration IP infrastructure and ISDN. IP/ISDN convergent has been used since the service provider is not IP based, but ISDN based. The ISDN-only technology is costly and would be rejected by Rapid Freight which is already experiencing costing problems. The implementation of the IP telephony has also made it possible for many channels to be established for voice, video and data. The channels cannot be reserved for video or data and they are available on-demand. This will accommodate the increasing number of Rapid Freight employees. The PBX is configured to terminate to an IP/VoIP provider. IP software has to be installed usually from vendors like CISCO. If Cisco is used to implement the IP over ISDN, in response of bandwidth demand ISDN allows for the B channels to be drooped or added. When also performing voice over ISDN, reordering of packets needs to be managed by Multi Class Multilink PPP (MCMP). It gives interleaving packets a header number with a sequence number. IP over ISDN based infrastructure creates a unified communication. For businesses, running voice and data over the same network architecture can reduce the diversity of network equipment and standards which, in turn, reduces the human expertise required and simplifies the administration, implementation, and maintenance of networks. Using a single unified network is much simpler than using two or more networks. The introduction of IP infrastructure also increases the number of available slots for calls per PBX or a T1. The bandwidth will be utilized as the LAN bandwidth will not be used outside a branch but within. Inter-branch communication will be done by using voice over the Internet Protocol. IP convergence IP convergence means carrying of different traffic types for example video, images, data and voice over a single network. The network is integrated and is based on IP (internet protocol). IP is actually a collection of protocols. What makes an IP convergence a suitable proposed solution for Rapid Freight is the timeliness needed and the facilitation of enterprise telecommunication. IP network will serve as a backbone for all Rapid Freight communication needs cost-effectively. VoIP is the latest main step in the process (convergence), and it is the specific convergence proposed for Rapid Freight because of its requirements. Rapid Freight needs gateways and converters to connect its landline to the VoIP world. It allows users to receive and make VoIP calls. VoIP uses IP packets maintaining quality and reliability. Devices in communicate by identifying each other with IP addresses (a unique number). Using IP all services are provided over the internet, the internet services are then provided over the network facilities of telecommunication operators (IP Telephony and Voice over internet Protocol: Iimplementation Guide Version 2, Relese 0). Security Risks associated with IP/VoIP When voice is brought together on the sane network with data, Rapid Freights voice systems becomes vulnerable to type of attacks associated with data side. Examples include (Higdon, 2008) DoS (Denial of Service) attach – this is a threat created by a black hacker where the phone lines of a company become overwhelmed by large messages with out of bound fields and the IP phones experience busy signals and call disconnections. Eavesdropping – In this context this is VoIP Eavesdropping where a hacker uses a packet sniffer and a VOMIT to tap at your VoIP calls. Other snooping or unwanted listeners like FBI and security agencies can snoop at the organization VoIP calls. VoIP Phishing - By using IP spoofing a criminal or hacker can acquire useful information from the packets sent over the network. Mitigating IP/VoIP risks In the case of Rapid Freight WAN to mitigate DoS attacks, a separate VPN (virtual private network) should be created for voice traffic, the VPN is then protected (e.g. via bandwidth reservation) from malicious external traffic. Use of secure signaling (used to create session between two end points) protocols can also mitigate attacks. Example of an effective protocol resistant to attack is SIP (session initiation protocol). Other signaling standards can also be used like H.323. VoIP convergent network security can also be enhanced by using firewalls which monitor the traffic between the data and voice calls. Firewall between VoIP and Data Network Voice network Data network Cost Benefit Analysis The comparison of costs incurred by two companies while achieving the same usage scenarios for video-conferencing has been analyzed below. It includes the cost of offering and implementing video-conferencing. This clearly shows that IP based infrastructure is much cheaper as converging the two will not be as costly as ISDN-only technology. IP ISDN Implementation cost $158,200 $201,350 Network access charges $96,168 $54,792 Staff costs $10,400 $10,400 Network Usage Charges $85,536 Total $264,758 $352,078 Table 1: Comparison of IP and ISDN cost of ownership for 10 locations for 1 year (Perey, 2001) Works Cited Cassidy, K. (2001, May 11). Understanding WAN bandwidth delivery. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from informationIT: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=21318&seqNum=11. Cisco Systems, Inc. (2006, February 2). Designing and Deploying VoiP over ISDN. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from CISCO: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk1077/technologies_tech_note09186a00801006c6.shtml Higdon, J. (2008). The Top Five IP security Threats of 2008. Retrieved April 30, 2012, from http://www.voip-news.com/feature/top-security-threats-2008-012408/ IP Telephony and Voice over internet Protocol: Iimplementation Guide Version 2, Relese 0. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2012, from (http://www.google.co.ke/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CGUQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftjscott.ne Perey, C. (2001). IP-ISDN Videoconferencing: Total Cost of Ownership Comparison. RADVISION. Read More