Top-Down Network Applications Design - Coursework Example

Technical Term Paper Table of Contents Project Goal 4 Project Scope 5 Design Requirements 5 Business Goals 8 Technical Goals 9 User Communities and Data Stores 11 Network Applications 12 Logical Design 17 Physical Network Design 18  Results of Network Design Testing  19 Implementation Plan with a Project Schedule 19 Project Budget with a Return on Investment (ROI) Calculation 22 Design Document Appendix 24 Executive Summary Establishment of an appropriate network is a vital aspect for every organization in terms of carrying out their day-to-day functioning. Correspondingly, the prime objective of this paper will be to comprehend every specific aspect that is necessary for establishing an effective centralized network for Fiction Corporation. Throughout the paper, multiple figures have been provided as well as elaborated based on the design of which the new centralized network model for Fiction Corporation will be constructed. The discussion also comprises a number of key factors depicting the faults within the existing system of this organization. In this regard, from the discussion, facts can be attained regarding the effectiveness of the centralized system to be much high than the existing mesh system. Project Goal The key project is to elaborate a blueprint of the network model which will be designed for Fiction Corporation. Centralization of data of Fiction Corporation is acknowledged as a key goal of the project which needs to be associated with the migration to a new infrastructure which it aims to develop as a primary data center. Moreover, identification and mitigation of all the security issues that were found existent within the network model of Fiction Corporation is also an important factor for consideration within the project. In addition, the entire project will have to be accomplished within a maximum budget estimate of $500,000 as sanctioned by Fiction Corporation. Owing to the reason that Fiction Corporation intends to establish a T1 link along with ISDN as a primary backup within its new network design for upholding seamless exchange of data between the sub-branch servers and the primary data bank, thus this aspect will be another key project goal to achieve. Project Scope Through the appropriate designing of the network model in the new infrastructure of Fiction Corporation, Wide-IP Company as hired will make an attempt in terms of mitigating all the flaws within the existing network models of Fiction Corporation and ensure a seamless mode of data transmission between this retail chain business process and its customers. Moreover, this new network model can also be termed as an effort made by Wide-IP Company towards centralizing the entire operational data handling process of Fiction Corporation. Appropriate accomplishment of the determined goals in keeping with organizational requirements will necessitate the installation and functional integration of 2 large UPS, 4 RS/6000 AIX application servers, 10 virtualized servers and 20 PC servers which has already been planned by Fiction Corporation. The specific utility of this hardware can be related to the processing and the sharing of regular accessible data by and from the virtual servers established within the other sub-branches. Moreover, in terms of comprehensive project scope, it can be ascertained that the concerned project undertaken by Wide-IP Company will enable Fiction Corporation to establish a network platform that satisfies its customer goals within mentioned budget (IBM, 2014). Design Requirements Designing of this new network model will primarily require systematic planning and decision making regarding the type of topology, based on which the network components will be installed. Moreover, due to the fact that Fiction Corporation has planned to centralize their organizational primary data center, thus, the star topology will be an appropriate selection. The diagrammatic representation has been provided below: Figure 1: Planned Network Design for Fiction Corporation Topology Plan: The above diagram elaborates the pattern regarding how the RS/6000 application server will be installed within the new central data bank facility. The RS/6000 application server in this network design will be operated as a central storage server housing all the daily accessible organizational data. In addition, all the nodes within the other branches of Fiction Corporation will be allowed access to the centralized data through the PC servers and the virtual servers installed between the data transition lines as has been shown in the above figure (Microsoft, 2014). Demilitarized Zone: The network model of Fiction Corporation will also be equipped with a Demilitarized Zone for ensuring additional security during the centralized data sharing process. Only the network administrators will be provided with complete access to the bridge (Demilitarized Zone) between the internal network and the external links to the organization. Effective installation of ports such as ‘File Transfer Protocol (FTP)’, ‘Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)’, and ‘Post Office Protocol (POP3)’ will also be done through which the permissible level of external access to the organizational data can be altered and regulated by the system administrators (TechTarget, 2014). Network Synthesis: The appropriate cost and the count of network components such as hubs, switches and leased transmission bandwidth cost among others has also been elaborated within this documentation in a detailed manner. Network Realization: An appropriate estimation regarding the capability of the established network in terms of data transfer rate, assessment of risk of unauthorized access and reliability has also been elaborated in the later sections. Business Goals The related business goal for designing this new organizational network model is to facilitate a seamless communication between the customers and the employees of Fiction Corporation. Besides, through this new network design model, Fiction Corporation seeks to centralize its primary data storage center within its newly established facility. Since this organization is majorly involved into retail business, thus it will be requiring customer and product related data to be processed on a regular basis with the prime intention of maintaining appropriate functionality. Fiction Corporation also projects its goals of attaining all these network system improvements within a sanctioned budget of $500,000. Moreover, the requirement list of this retail organization also includes the integration of ‘Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)’ within the security system of the newly established network for identifying and mitigating the possible risks of data damage and unauthorized system access. Integration of the ‘T1 link’ and ‘Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)’ as a primary backup and within the remote data transmission gateways also forms a crucial part of Fiction Corporation’s business goal. Since this retail business process wants its data storage area to be centralized, thus it will be requiring the structuring of a data transmission bridge between its central data warehouse and the server platform setup within its other organizational branches. The long distance data transmission procedure will be carried out through organizational ‘Wide Area Network (WAN)’ setup, whereas within the branch offices, the data transmission procedure between the local servers and the employee accessible platforms will be carried out by ‘Local Area Networks (LAN)’. Apart from all these, the other expected business goal of Fiction Corporation from this new network model includes increasing the efficiency and reliability of its data accessibility systems. Technical Goals For attaining the above mentioned business goals of Fiction Corporation, the primary technical goal will include attainment of appropriate network bandwidth which will be sufficient enough for carrying out everyday data transmission cycle without any possible chances of network congestion. In addition, the second technical goal to be achieved is appropriate integration of tunneling protocols through which the organizational employees will be granted access to the centrally stored data in a secured manner. Moreover, the intention behind equipping the new network model with SNMP is to achieve the technical goal of system reliability and robustness. The elaboration regarding this context can be done based on the fact that SNMP will provide the network operators with the option of regulating all the functional platforms that will remain attached with this new network model. The diagrammatic representation provided below will elaborate the concept in an effective manner. Figure 2: System Administrator at the Central Hub Controlling All the Devices in the Network The above diagram describes how the central management or information administrative part of Fiction Corporation will be regulating the functions of all other network devices that will be connected to the central system. In addition, the technical goal list also includes the effective installation of the ‘Agent’ software in all the attached devices through which, the daily platform functionality information will be conveyed to the ‘Manager’ system terminal that in turn will be equipped with ‘Network Management Station (NMS)’. The entire technique will be like a safety system through which the system administrators can easily block or allow data transfer to attached network devices from the ‘Manager’ platform in case this new network model gets subjected to any form of anomalies. User Communities and Data Stores The notion of user community and data stores has also been kept in consideration during the designing of this new network model for Fiction Corporation. Wide-IP Company has strategized regarding the fact that since the client organization is majorly involved in retail chain business, so there is a high chance that multiple sub-departments might exist within Fiction Corporation. In addition, all these sub-departments might access department specific data on a regular basis for serving their clients (COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, 2010). Moreover, since the entire system has been designed in a centralized manner, therefore every department will access their required data from the central server. This will gradually increase the congestion rate with the data transmission bands of the new network model and as a result there might be a risk of system crash or data overflow. Taking into consideration this pertinent aspect, it has been planned to install separate data stores for every single department within the organization. These data stores will contain copies of departmental data which will have to be accessed on daily basis. Through this way, the overall pressure on the central data warehouse and the organizational network bandwidth will gradually come down along with the system failure risks as well (EE Times, 2010). The diagrammatic representation provided below will project a clear description regarding the utilization of these two concepts. Figure 3: Diagram of How Data Stores are Used for Daily Departmental Access of Data Network Applications Taking into consideration the star design of this new network design model, the following network applications have been selected and will be installed within the system for facilitating the appropriate exchange of data between the main data warehouses and the client platforms. Browser: A utility browser will be required within each client platform along with the system administration platforms for accessing the data stored within the centralized data warehouse. In addition, the browser will be equipped with multiple plug-in packages such as ‘Windows Media Video (.wmv)’ package, ‘MPEG4’ package and ‘Java (software platform)’. Mail Transport Agent (MTA): The MTA utility will also be provided as a necessary network application for facilitating transfer of mail between the client platforms. Within this application, the below listed packages will be provided: Exim4-daemon-light Exim4-base Exim4-doc-html Exim4-doc-info Postfix Postfix-doc Server Applications: The packages within the server application would include: Telnetd Telnetd-ssl Nfs-kernel-server Bind9 Isc-dhcp-server Samba Proftpd-basic Apache2-mpm-prefork Client Applications: The packages within the server application would include: Smbclient Telnet Openssl Ftp Cifs-utils Wget Remote Access Server Application and Secure Shell (SSH) Utility: This application would be beneficial for establishing communication within the network. The provided package for this application will include: Openssh-client Openssh-server Ssh-askpass-fullscreen Ssh-askpass Source: (Debian, 2014) Current State of the Network In the current phase, the entire network of Fiction Corporation is in a scattered manner. It has been ascertained that the organization employs 10,000 employees and also runs 500 retail outlets. As a matter of fact, the data processing capabilities of these outlets might vary depending on the store size, customer access and type of network hardware used. In addition, the existing network model of this retail organization is designed in a mesh type pattern where the product sales and inventory details used to get stored in the 500 individual servers each belonging to an individual retail outlet. The communications within these interconnected servers are carried out using the Domain Naming Server (DNS) concept which appears to be highly complex as well as time consuming. Moreover, due to the mesh type network design, each server has the permissibility of accessing the data stored in the server platforms of other retail outlets. Regardless of the fact that the existing network model is quite reliable than this new centralized model, but still it lacked drastically in terms of security and simplicity. Likewise, due to the web pattern of the mesh network, the chances of detection anomalies and unauthorized access to the confidential data turned out to be highly complex in comparison with this new centralized network model. The diagrammatic representation presented below will explain this concept in a much detailed manner. Figure 4: Existing Network Model of Fiction Corporation Logical Design Figure 5: Logical Design of the Centralized Network Physical Network Design Figure 6: Physical Design of the Centralized Network  Results of Network Design Testing  The results obtained through simulating the dummy centralized network model for Fiction Corporation projects high signs of positivity in terms of data accessibility between the centralized storage and the client platforms. The network data administration setups projected high effectiveness in terms of maintaining an appropriate control over the entire network system. In addition, the strategy regarding installation of regional data storage servers within all the 500 retail outlets of Fiction Corporation appeared to be costly but on the brighter side, it appeared effective in reducing the congestion pressure within the organizational bandwidth. The regional servers have also proven effective in terms of keeping copies of departmental data that will be accessed on a regular basis resulting in reducing the overall pressure generated on the centralized servers. Test results regarding the appropriate installation of the SNMP network management system also came positive in the context of identifying and preventing possible chances of attacks on the system through the attached devices within the network. Implementation Plan with a Project Schedule For accomplishing the network design requirements of Fiction Corporation, Wide-IP will be undertaking a six-step planning process and the estimated time schedule for completing this entire project will be 6 months. The details regarding the six-step planning process has been elaborated hereunder: Step 1: Evaluation of the Existing System The primary requirement of undertaking the new network model design process will be attained through the appropriate evaluation of the existing mesh type network model of Fiction Corporation. From the evaluation process, an idea can be attained regarding the type of error that occurred within the existing system along with the level of inconvenience faced by the employees in handling that system. Step 2: Understanding the New System The second stage of this new network designing procedure will also be accompanied by multiple evaluation procedures where decisions will be made based on the current requirement of the client. The stage will also comprise analysis procedures with the prime intention of inspecting that whether the desired requirements can be attained within the new setup or not. Step 3: Preparation of a Demo Model In this stage, a demo model of the expected network design will be created and simulated based on multiple evaluation criteria such as accessibility, security, ease of access, mode of data access, required features of the network components, overall cost estimation, location determination for network component installation, system robustness and reliability testing. Through this step, all the loopholes within the existing system and the strategized design of the new system will get identified. Step 4: Estimation of the Hardware Component Requirement After the demo model gets simulated, estimates will be made regarding the type and the quantity of network structuring hardware and software components that will be required for establishing the new centralized network. For instance, estimates will have to be made regarding the amount of network cable that will be required for connecting all the servers within the individual retail outlets with the central server. Apart from this, estimates will also have to be made regarding the number of servers, data transmitters, receivers and signal boosters that will have to be installed at ever crucial point. Regardless of these requirements, one crucial prerequisite regarding which estimation will have to be made is about the bandwidth of the leased communication channel. The reason can be explained based on the fact that the new centralized network will operate effectively in case a broader bandwidth is leased whereas in case a limited network bandwidth gets leased, the chances of congestion and network halt will be more. Step 5: Testing of the Live Network Functionality Once the network gets established, the next step will be the conduction of live tests on that network. Apparently, multiple intentional unauthorized network attacks will also be conducted on the new network structure for testing its integrity and tackling capability towards unauthorized access. This stage will be the most crucial phase of the entire six stage planning process Step 6: Data Testing and Storage This is the final stage of the centralized network designing process and will be accompanied by loading of organizational data into the central data warehouse. Throughout this stage, multiple copies of departmental data will also be stored in the local servers for rapid access and lowering of the bandwidth pressure as well. Project Schedule (Month wise) September (2014) October (2014) November (2014) December (2014) January (2015) February (2015) Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Project Budget with a Return on Investment (ROI) Calculation Hardware and Software Components Components Quantity Investment RS/6000 Application Servers 4 $100,000 UPS 3 $50,000 Main Administrative Servers Platforms 10 $70,000 Fixed IP address (Lease) 1 Connection (3 months) $3,000 High Powered Network Routers 40 $10,000 Leased Data Bandwidth Broadband over Power lines type (BPL) $30,000 Repeaters 50 $20,000 Proxy Servers 10 $70,000 Hardware Firewalls 10 $50,000 Network Address Translator 4 $15,000 Modems 40 $7,000 Multiplexer 6 $10,000 ISDN Terminal Adapter 10 $10,000 Switches 20 $5,000 Return on Investment Cost of Investment = $450,000 Previous ROI in Percentage= 17 % (Estimated) Expected Gain from Investment = $569,000 (Estimated) Expected ROI from New Network Model= ($569,000- $450,000) / $ 450,000 = 26.44%. Design Document Appendix Organizational Uninterrupted Power Supply Banks RS/6000 AIX Application Servers PC Servers References COMSATS Institute of Information Technology. (2010). Characterizing Network Traffic. Department of Computer Science, 1-13. Debian. (2014). Chapter 6. Network Applications. Retrieved from https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch06.en.html#_the_remote_access_server_and_utility_ssh EE Times. (2010). Excerpt: Top-Down Network Design--Part I. Retrieved from http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1278267 IBM. (2014). IBM RS/6000 Server Model F50. Retrieved from http://www 03.ibm.com/systems/power/hardware/rs6000/enterprise/f50.html TechTarget. (2014). DMZ (demilitarized zone). Retrieved from http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/DMZ Microsoft. (2014). Creating a site topology plan. Retrieved from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc960556.aspx Read More