Data Communications Management - Case Study Example

SECURE NETWORKING WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION Abstract Technology eminent in this day and age is fast moving and easy to use with of course some complexities of its own kind. One of the most intricate technologies that are utilized by companies in order to expedite their operations is the different types of networking that a company can adopt. Networking has many uses within any organization and it has many complications as well but most essentially, networking helps organizations work effectively within and outside with customers. This is especially important when the organization in question is looking for a solution to expedite work and increase efficiency both inside and outside of that particular organization. Introduction We are in a period of boom at the moment – boom in all types of technologies especially in the computer world. And humans make sure that they take advantage of this boom as efficiently as possible. Networking amongst nations is one of the most important inventions of the modern world. This networking on the human level is not possible without computers being involved, and hence the need for technology. While this is widely spoken on the global level, even small organizations need to be able to communicate amongst themselves and with people they are doing business with. Here we will talk about successful networking within a small organization and its various needs to secure itself with workable solutions (Carne, 2004, p. 20). Successful data communication depends upon three main requirements and these include successful delivery of messages during the communication between the customer and the organization. Another requirement is that the data that has been delivered was in actuality what was sent initially. Lastly but definitely not the least, data must be delivered within the appropriate time line. In this particular scenario, Video Very Easy is a video store that provides online services for renting and selling out DVDs. All staff members have desktop computers which are interconnected within their specific office buildings. The company needs a fool proof networking system to communicate within their organization and also with the customers with whom they are dealing online. In order to achieve this, VVE will need to place a system which is secure, apt, time efficient and requires minimal trouble shooting. Let us take the company’s required internal scenario first. There are two offices housing 8 and 4 staff members respectively. Every employee has a desktop computer which is connected to another one through a local area network (LAN). On a border spectrum, these two offices will typically be connected through a metropolitan area network (MAN). Apart from this, one office which is handling administrative issues will be housing a web server which is hosting their website. This website is their major connection to the customers of VVE (Dong, 2007, p. 22). As far as the internal network is concerned, a LAN should be implemented which will give all systems access to each other. This kind of networking will allow users to share resources within their office premises. For this type of environment, we will need access to basic hardware some of which is listed below: 1. 12 desktop machines 2. Network adapters or all machines 3. Operating systems installed 4. Firewalls and antivirus programs 5. Appropriate network cables As mentioned above, two office in different buildings will need to connect to each other through a Metropolitan are network. This may be described as networking on a broader horizon. A MAN will be responsible for managing access between the two offices and allowing all staff members to share resources amongst themselves. A typical example can be illustrated below: If you look at the figure above you will see that different LANs have different ways of interconnection between them. This scheme if joining different computers in a LAN is called a topology and some popular ones are the star, ring and bus topologies. Typically speaking, a MAN is a combination of different LANS working together through different topologies. VVE should adopt the most popular topology which is the Star Topology because it is easier to handle in an organization of this size. This will ensure continued operations even in the face of failure of any system on the network. This means that if one system goes down, others will not be affected unless it is the server itself. Talking of two interconnected offices of VVE, both offices will have servers which will be placed in these offices separately that will result in a metropolitan area network working for VVE (ITECH6502, Data Communications Management, Topic 7 – LAN Technologies, slide number 4 of 23). In addition to the network solutions above, we need a workable solution in order to ensure secure communication with customers over computer networks. This particular solution is popularly known as the Internet. Communication with customers of VVE will necessarily take place through a website as VVE is an online video store. This website will be responsible for taking customer orders for purchase and rental of DVDs and will obviously need a secure solution for both customers and the company itself (Zigangirov, 2004, p. 44). Initially, VVE will need a server which will act as a web server. There are many popular web servers available in the market, Apache being one of the popular ones. Hypothetically speaking, if we are to use Apache as a web server, it will host the website which will be an interactive medium between customers and the company. The customers will be able to take advantage of renting and buying DVDs, sending feedback and most importantly making payments through different modes including credit cards, PayPal, debit cards and Western Union. This type of transaction needs the highest form of security and privacy especially for the customer (Vassiliadis, 2007, p. 33). To elaborate on this, we will need to make sure that the following aspects of security are taken into account with the highest of priority in mind: Privacy Message can only be read by intended recipient Authentication Identity of sender is guaranteed Integrity Message has not been tampered with Non-repudiation That the message actually came from the sender (ITECH6502, Data Communications Management Topic 9 – Security, slide number 5-9 of 19). One of the most important parts of securing network is to make sure that firewalls are set in place. These are available as hardware and software devices and help in securing communication lines that are already in place. In VVE’s case, it will be prudent to place these firewalls as a software in order to keep it safe from hackers. This is especially important in this scenario as we will need to make sure that personal data and financial information that will be divulged at the site, does not become public information. Hardware firewalls are more difficult to manage than software ones and are also very expensive. It will be prudent to use an economical yet effective method for a company of VVE’s size. Additionally, VVE should be equipped with a data encryption technique. Data encryption is responsible for converting plain text into cipher text so as to ensure security of the information in question. Since customers will be providing their personal and financial information online, it is especially important to make sure that an effective data encryption method is used. Please refer below for a straightforward yet effective method of data encryption that may be used to secure customers’ important information (Ichikawa, 2007, p.22). Another important security measure that needs to be taken in account is putting in place an antivirus program. With the increase in numbers of viruses on the Internet and the corresponding hacking techniques used by malicious individuals, it is essential for every system to acquire an antivirus solution. VVE will require a state of the art antivirus program - any off the shelf antivirus will work well if updated on a regular basis. McAfee and Norton will be the obvious choice although a free one like AVG is popular too (Mody, 2003, p. 22). VVE will need to make sure that all desktops and servers as security on every level will be important especially because of the type of work involved here. VVE will need to make sure that no staff member uses pen drives or floppies in order prevent the risk of Trojans and loss of important data and identity theft. Now we come to one of the most important part of ensuring all the above is workable - web servers. Web servers are responsible for accepting HTTP requests from clients and providing them with HTTP responses along with optional data contents, which usually are web pages such as HTML documents and linked objects (images, etc.) (Instructional Software Research and Development Group, 2007, p. 33). In order to communicate with the customer, VVE will need to have its own website. This kind of website can be hosted by the hosting service providers or it can be hosted in-house. Hosting it on some hosting service provider will cost VVE a lot so it is recommended that they host it locally on the server. The computer program which will host the website is called the web server. Apache and IIS being the most commonly used web servers are available options for a website that VVE will have. This web server will accept HTTP requests from the client and provide responses (Muller, 2007, p. 33). In case of an error, the web server will send an error response which will include some messages to explain the problem to the customer. In order to have an efficient website, the web server will need to have defined load limits because it can only handle a limited number of concurrent HTTP requests so VVE website will need to have a web server that can essentially handle as much requests as it possible. There can be lot of reasons of overloaded traffic on the website. In order overcome and prevent overload, most web sites use techniques like using a firewall (which we have already discussed), bandwidth management, tuning the operating system and hardware resources etc. Online payment methods are getting more and more popular considering the need to save time and the insecurity of dealing in cash payments (Ost, 2001, p. 44). Online payments do have their cons as well as they are difficult to keep secure but in a company of VVE’s nature, this is the best method of receiving payment from the customers. This mode of payment will ensure that the company’s cash flow is increased significantly. Since CNP (card-not-present) transactions are risky, most organizations opt for payments through credit cards and services like PayPal. If VVE has all other security measures set in place, online payment methods will be ideal for the company itself and the customers’ security will not be compromised (Smith, 2007, p. 44). Conclusions Networking as we have already seen is an imperative part of any company’s work environment. While it is easy to decide that a work environment needs a network of computers to communicate within and outside its premises, it is not that easy to determine the type of network required in particular situation. Video Very Easy is a small organization with a limited staff in both its offices but is dealing with any number of customers online. While their internal network solution is very straightforward and easy to implement, establishing a link with customers and ensuring that all security features are placed in a proper manner, is a major matter of concern. All the solutions provided above have been suggested keeping in mind the size of the company, its requirements, customers’ safety and economy. References Carne, Bryan. (2004). A professional's guide to data communication in a TCP/IP world. Artech House. Dong, Guozhu., Lin, Xuemin., Wang, Wei., Yang, Yun and Yu, Jeffrey. (2007). Advances in Data and Web Management: Joint 9th Asia-Pacific Web Conference, APWeb 2007, and 8th International Conference on Web-Age Information Management, WAIM 2007, Huang Shan, China, June 16-18, 2007 ; Proceedings. Springer. Ichikawa, Haruhisa., Cho, We-Duke., and Youn, Hee Yong. (2007). Ubiquitous Computing Systems: 4th International Symposium, UCS 2007, Tokyo, Japan, November 25-28, 2007 : Proceedings. Springer. Instructional Software Research and Development Group, Isrd. (2007). Data Communication and Computer Networks. Tata McGraw-Hill. ITECH6502, Data Communications Management. Leondes, Cornelius. (2002). Database and data communication network systems: techniques and applications. Elsevier. Ma, Zhe., Marchal, Pol., Scarpazza, Daniele Paolo., Yang, Peng. (2007). Systematic Methodology for Real-Time Cost-Effective Mapping of Dynamic Concurrent Task-Based Systems on Heterogenous Platforms. Springer. Mody, Bella. (2003). 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