Advances in Wireless Networks - Essay Example

?Advances in Wireless Networks By Table of Contents Seeing the growing importance of computer networks in today’s modern world, the management of University of Iland (UoI) has decided to implement a new and more sophisticated network technology structure to better manage university tasks and operations. The basic purpose of this report is to offer a detailed analysis of new wireless network technology implementation at University of Iland (UoI). This network will be a controller-based wireless LAN technology that will be used to modernize the daily tasks University of Iland (UoI). This report outlines the specification and design of the new network. Introduction In this report I am going to specify a new controller-based wireless LAN design for University of Iland. The management of University of Iland wants to revolutionize the new technology based processes and network of university. This new technology based infrastructure will offer an excellent support for the potential working and improve performance of university learning, data sharing and educational performance. This specification report will present a comprehensive analysis and specification of new wireless network technology, its requirements, design, systems, equipment and computations required for the establishment of LAN network at University of Iland. Aims and Objectives The key aim and objective of this new wireless technology based structure is to develop and implement a new technology based framework at University of Iland that will support the School’s Information Technology strategy for the next seven to ten years. This report is aimed at offering a detailed analysis of specification and procurement activities for the implementation of new wireless LAN based Information technology structure. Project Scope The project of wireless technology implementation at University of Iland is aimed at establishing a new and latest technology arrangement at university campus. The Dean has decided to deploy a state-of-the-art wireless network technology platform for the superior educational and operational management. The main intention behind the implementation of this technology structure is to offer the students and teachers of the university a better and comfortable technology based environment that help them in gaining knowledge, information and data sharing and internal communication. Structure of the School The school has seen rapid growth in the past five years, particularly after acquiring local consultancy contracts and attracting national research projects. There are many subject groups within the school such as Networks, Artificial Intelligence, Systems Analysis, Design and Informatics, Software engineering and E-Business. P.E. Ryno is the Dean of the School; there are many group leaders subordinate to him. In this scenario, the newly established school of computing has following structure of the subject groups within the school: No- Subject Groups Members of staff 1 Networks group 5 members 2 Artificial Intelligence group 4 members 3 Software engineering group 5 members 4 E-Business group 5 members 5 Admin group 5 members 6 Technicians group 5 members 7 Group Leader Informatics 6 members 8 Group Leader for the technicians 6 members In the context of future growth of present educational structure we are expecting more staff members connecting to network and communication arrangement. It is anticipated that approximately 10-12 members of staff will join this school in the next 5 years Technology Needs Specification There are many system related needs and requirements. This part of report will outline main technologies that will be implemented at University of Iland through the establishment of new information and networking technology structure. For sake of this new technology specification, I will outline some of the main needs of the school network technology. Personal Computers The personal computer will be available to all members of the school staff. These systems will include some of the modern laptops. Operating System All the new personal computers (Core-i3 or i7 Laptops) will be using new and excellent Microsoft Windows based operating system Windows 8. Office Package The new system will also support latest version of MS Office, Microsoft Office 2013. Additional Software There will also be need for the some of the special type of software products. These will be some specialist software applications that can be required by any department of the school. For instance the Software Engineering group can require using some of the programming languages compliers and software. These software products will be available for all departments. In addition, these products will be purchased from special system software vendors. Wireless Network technology There will be need for the new and most excellent network technology at the UoI’s school of computing. This network will be based on wireless technology. In case of wired network technology all the departments will communicate with each other. The wireless network will facilitate the all staff and student laptops to link to the computing department with central network structure. In this regard all students will be allowed to bring their laptops to the school and follow the rules to connect to the main network technology structure. Internet connection The internet connection will be available to all systems which are part of the computing school network structure. In addition, each device linked to the network will also able to avail the Internet facility. Network servers UoI School of computing will also adopt some of the best technologies for establishing network servers at the school structure. These technologies will route and manage the data to all machines linked to school network. Printers All staff members will have the facility of the network printer that will be available for use at all terminals of the school network. Connectivity The connectivity to the network should be very efficient especially for connected servers, data bases, internet and all system technologies. Wireless LAN Architecture This section outlines some of the architectural specifications for wireless LAN design. We will make use of Wi-Fi Wireless networks technology for University of Iland, which is a latest Wireless technology that is established under the standards of the 802.11 WLAN. Additionally, Wi-Fi Wireless network technology is authoritatively recognized category of the Wi-Fi Wireless networks technology that is operational at the present in most of the wireless networks those are linked through the 802.11 devices (Malladi & Agrawal, 2002; Rhodes-Ousley et al., 2003; Venter & Eloff, 2000). Generic Network Resource Allocation Model for Lecturers The main reason behind this network structure implementation is the development of a jointly linked network that can offer the facility to link, control and properly regulate the data, information and documents all through the network and manage the overall communication of information among the students and teachers. Furthermore, from the storage aspect of system, each lecturer will be able to avail the network server data disk for storing and sharing the data according to their needs. In this scenario most of student’s data will be made available to the network server through the teacher data drivers on the server. Teacher will also have some powerful data drivers in the network. Generic Network Resource Allocation Model for Administrative Staff The administration of the school needs to have access to some of the systems. The IT administration will manage and handle the IT labs and other related issues, while the school administration needs to have access to some sets of systems. In scenario of the administration there is vital need for the effective management of the administrators for offering them essential facilities and system working properties in the overall network structure. For instance, the wireless network’s administrator will manage, handle and control the information about each system user and will offer them the appropriate system working rights. The school administration needs to have an open access to the system through which they can open, change and maintain there files and data. Generic Network Resource Allocation Model for Student Labs In the School of Computing at the University of Iland there will be total six labs of the computers. In these labs each student and teacher will be able to access the network. There will also various types of software packages that will be available in these labs and some of the specialized software will be available for the specific needs of the lab, department, group or students. The facility of the Internet will also be available to all departments and labs. Each lab will also facilitate the school facility member to wirelessly connect to the main system network and have an enhanced network access to all of the lab resources. In this regard the staff member can take the laptop to the lab and able to the link to the main network system through wireless link. In each lab there will be a shared laser printer that will be available for the printing of the documents and report for the all students and facility members. Generic Network Resource Allocation Model for Technicians Furthermore, all servers will be available to the network technicians. In this scenario, network technicians will handle, look after and control the data and information traffic towards these network servers. They will look after the network server in order to check their working, temperature, management and other aspects. VLAN For the sake of enhanced security at UoI we will implement VLAN arrangement. That will not allow ant guest to connect to institution confidential data. Students will not be able be able to access the VLAN resource. However VLAN access will be for teachers, Admin Staff and Technicians. Here below I have outlined the numbers of VLAN: Teachers VLLAN (VLAN10) Admin VLAN (VLAN20) Technician VLAN (VLAN30) Students VLAN(VLAN40) The teachers, Admin Staff and Technicians are placed into VLAN and receive an IP address from the corporate DHCP server. To append security VLAN traffic is simply directed to the default gateway as of the AP to the Core switch and in the course of this is sent to the router intended for internet access plus totally bypassed from the internal network. Also, “Guests” (students) account is simply probable in the office hour; and timeout expiry has as well been added for network use a similar IP. Once the link is lost the “Guest” user have to re-link to the network. Requirements of the Tender The tender development and approval will be one of major milestones for the overall project. In this scenario, we need to develop a tender that is more and more aligned to staff and university student’s requirements. This section outlines some of the important aspects of the network implementation such as requirements, system needs, network structure, quantity of systems, quality specifications and other aspects. The analysis of the requirements for the contract will offer us a better overview of the project development. Identification and Satisfaction of Requirements First of all identification and satisfaction of project requirements are most important aspects of any project. For this sake we need to take care of all the basic needs of stakeholders. I have outlined below system requirements and needs regarding new technology structure implementation at UoI Computing School. Computers These systems should be new Intel Core-i3 or i5 processor based systems which are able to offer effective support for all labs. Laptops These systems will include modern laptops equipped with new Intel Core-i3 or i5 processors, they will encompass excellent processing and storage power. These systems are recommended for lecturers. Operating system Microsoft’s Windows 8 will be the main operating system installed on laptops. Microsoft’s Windows Server 2012 will be used for the management and monitoring of all network and data servers in the computing school. Office package For both students and teachers we will need to install Office package on systems and it will be Microsoft office 2013. In this scenario, it will incorporate all the necessary office system aspects and working functions. Additional Software In our network, some additional software applications can involve programming languages IDEs or some other AI based analysis tools. In this scenario, we will require some of the special software applications for the students programming and practical. In this regard software development students will need the system programming tools, the network students will need some simulator software for perfuming network practical. Network technology This will involve some of the basic tools and equipments regarding network structure establishment. For instance, here we will need of wires, networking tools and some special devices. Network router The network router will be the most important element of our network. Basically, a router is a small physical device that connects several networks together. Additionally, a router is used at a layer 3 where it joins two or more networks as well as that the router works at the network layer of the OSI model (Cisco, 2012; Mitchell, 2012). In our network, we will need a network router for networking of each floor and a number of wireless routers for offering wireless network connection. Network servers For our network we will need a network server that will offer the facility to remotely connect and manage the overall school data and information and save them effectively. Laser Printers Here we will need laser printers for each of the labs at the school and some of the printers for the administrator and teacher rooms. Internet Link Here we will use DSL internet link for the internet facility of the school. Discussion of Network Topology We will make use of the WiMAX for establishing University of Iland wireless network arrangement. Basically, Wimax is a global interoperability for microwave access, and it is a rising wireless contact arrangement that is able to offer broadband entrance with large scale exposure. As a gainful explanation, multi-hop communication is appropriate additional and further significant to WiMAX systems. In this scenario, to effectively position multi-hop WiMAX networks, security is one of the main confronts that have to be tackled (Dargie & Poellabauer, 2010; Mousionis et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2009; Lu et al., 2007). We will make use of Wi-Fi Wireless networks technology for the establishment of UoI network. Additionally, this new network will be established under the standards of the 802.11 WLAN. For the overall LAN technology implementation we will make use of IEEE 802.11a standards. In this scenario, 802.11 Physical Layer standards will offer us an excellent support for effective management of the data transfer and management and operational issues and aspects (Dargie & Poellabauer, 2010; Press, 2000). 1st Floor 2nd Floor 3rd Floor Additional Issues This section outlines some of the major issues and aspects regarding new wireless technology infrastructure implementation at University of Iland. In this scenario, I will present some additional issues about the new network technology arrangement application: Network Reliability and Availability Network reliability and availability are the main aspects for new wireless technology infrastructure implementation at the University of Iland. In this scenario, an effectively designed network can offer and demonstrate higher reliability and availability. For the sake of LAN reliability and constant availability, we need to take care of a number of aspects. Wireless Network Security For the sake of efficient management of WLAN and ensuring maximum data and information security UOI needs to take appropriate initiatives. For the effective security establishment at WLAN they need to implement the mechanisms for packet inspection, firewall, web filtering and e-mail falter, antivirus solutions both on server and desktop. Password Security Password based security is one of the basic security techniques used for network security. We can implement a password based security structure for University of Iland’ WLAN. Additionally, this security mechanism is less expensive as well as most significant feature of network security. In addition, the Password based network protection comes with many aspects of the network: Providing privileges and rights to administrative and management staff Allowing access to the server and workstations for using certain data and information and files and services Providing access to network switches, hubs, routers, and firewalls Getting access to managerial data files, like that secret reports or files Network Equipment Security For the effective implementation of University of Iland’ WLAN, the network equipment security is also a main security concern that needs to be kept in mind. For the overall University of Iland’s network security, we need to secure the network equipment that involves various devices and equipments used to send and receive data and network signals and packet from one computer to another. Additionally, in the context of UoL’ WLAN the main network some of the major hardware components include switches, hubs, firewalls and routers. WLAN/Domain Server Security University of Iland needs to keep in mind to implement the security mechanism for their Domain Server. It will also be a most important aspect in the effective security management. Moreover, in some cases this network can necessitate use of one more operating system support and security management patches. Workstation Security For the overall network’s security there is need for ensuring workstation security. University of Iland needs to implement a better security environment. In addition, securing workstations using proper mechanisms is an extremely significant fraction of the whole LAN network security. Conclusion A computer network is a set of computers in which two or more computers work in cooperation to complete specific tasks. Additionally, the implementations of computer networks have become essential in today’s technology based era. At the present, there are numerous technologies which can be used to form modern networks. This report has presented an analysis of Wireless network for the University of Iland. The basic objective of this network implementation is to provide the students and teachers with an excellent support for accessing university resources. This network will allow them to access university resources such as data, information, files and other study material more easily. This network will be built by keeping in mind a wide variety of design and implementation related aspects. This report has presented requirement, design and tools specification that would need to be kept in mind while implementing wireless LAN network. This report has also presented some of the network diagrams that demonstrate the effective wireless LAN technology structure. References Cisco, 2012. What is a Network Switch vs. a Router? [Online] Available at: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/resource_center/articles/connect_employees_and_offices/what_is_a_network_switch/index.html [Accessed 28 November 2012]. Dargie, W. & Poellabauer, C., 2010. Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice (Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing), 1st edition. New York: Wiley. Lu, K., Qian, Y. & Chen, H.-H., 2007. A Secure and Service-Oriented Network Control Framework for WiMAX Networks. IEEE Communications Magazine, 45(5), pp.124-30. Malladi, R. & Agrawal, D.P., 2002. Current and future applications of mobile and wireless networks. Communications of the ACM , 45(10), pp.144 - 146. Microsoft Corporation, 2001. Planning for Reliability and High Availability. [Online] Available at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee797245(v=cs.10).aspx [Accessed 30 November 2012]. Mitchell, B., 2012. Router. [Online] Available at: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/routers/g/bldef_router.htm [Accessed 29 November 2012]. Mousionis, S., Vakaloudis, A. & Hilas, C., 2011. A study on the security, the performance and the penetration of Wi-Fi networks in a Greek urban area. In WISTP'11 Proceedings of the 5th IFIP WG 11.2 international conference on Information security theory and practice: security and privacy of mobile devices in wireless communication., 2011. Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg. Press, B., 2000. Estimating LAN Performance Requirements. [Online] Available at: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=20008 [Accessed 28 November 2012]. Rhodes-Ousley, M., Bragg, R. & Strassberg, K., 2003. Network Security: The Complete Reference, 1st edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media. Spragins, J., 2007. Local-area network reliability models. Quality and Reliability Engineering International, 10(3), pp.201-16. Venter, H. & Eloff, J.H.P., 2000. Feature: Network Security: Important Issues. Network Security, 2000(6), pp.12-16. Zhang, T., Yang, K. & Chen, H.-H., 2009. Topology control for service-oriented wireless mesh networks. IEEE Wireless Communications, 16(4), pp.64-71. Appendix A: Wireless physical diagram 1st Floor Appendix A: Wireless physical diagram 2nd Floor Appendix A: Wireless physical diagram 3rd Floor Read More