Designing A Scalable And Flexible Network For AusEd

Understanding the Requirements

Discuss about the Fundamental Requirements for High-Performing Network.

When we want to understand the way an IT firm work when you do not have any knowledge with information technology or ICT then it might be very hard for the management of an organisation. There are concepts that can only be explained by the IT experts in the company. AusEd is in need of a plan on how to implement its current network design to a network that will be scalable and that will be used in future to support over 2500 hosts in the school premises (Adato, 2015). The first task of the IT manager is understanding the number of hosts that are to be expected to use the network after the implementation of such design. After identifying the number of hosts we have to know the number of equipment’s that are already available and we will try to analyse and know which one we can use and which ones we cannot making it easy for us to have a clear mind. Thirdly, is that we need to know the set budget by AusEd for the proposed project so that we can give them our quotation and see if the school will afford. When explaining some of the things to be widely considered when doing the formulation of such project we will advise on some of the best considerations when networking such as the security, the flexibility and scalability of the entire network. The main idea is developing a network design that will be easy to manage, can be extended easily and much more that will be affordable to the company and in case of errors or issues we can be able to troubleshoot.

The idea being brought about in this context is the need for maintaining its accounting system in running the exclusive MYOB software’s, to greatly improve the relationship with the customers or clients where their intention is using the SUGAR CRM SOFTWARE and Microsoft exchange server in the system of receiving and sending emails.  The idea behind this project is giving a clear and detailed analysis on the design of the network.  AusEd have over 2500 host from the students to marketing, course delivery divisions, sales and admin and this will need us to do a detailed evaluation on the appropriate model to use and how the following chosen model will be used for designing the required system. The networking devices that are to be interconnected includes things like the personal computers, laptops for administrations, printers, scanners among others.

Identifying Available Equipment and Budget

In developing the IT infrastructure which is a wide area network we are needed to come up with a logical diagram clearly stating all the resources that have been used and if they meet the requirements of the school. The other description is that we need to extend our local area network in the institution so that we can have wireless connections where students with their own laptops and smartphones can be able to access the WI-FI signals in all corners of the institution.

The reason to as why AusEd need to achieve its strategic plan was to do an analysis of their IT Infrastructure. The strategic plan of AusEd is intended to increase the diversified funds sources and minimize the costs of the core non-activities. After they achieve the strategic plan AusEd have an idea that they think they might implement in future after the network has been set and that is the technology plan whose main idea is to achieve two major tasks. The first task in the technology plan is creating an offline Moodle in cases where students want to access their personal computers and lastly is developing kind of Moodle which is like an add-on that will help the students to do photo exams on the school machines. The purpose and scope of the problem is to understand how the network will be scalable and flexible so that it will help the AusEd to accommodate any more devices when needed in the future (Coleman, 2012).

In any project we must give some assumptions with regards to what we are expected to achieve at the end of the day. In this case we might have some several assumptions made with respect to the plan and implementation of the system. The first assumption is that we think the management will support us fully and that they will not interrupts or involve themselves during implementations. Secondly we assume that the logical diagram is just a diagram to give the way forward and that it will be used to explain the details of the expected network design. Third assumptions is that AusEd will manage to buy all the required network devices without a problem. Fourth is that the cost given is just an almost estimate in the real world as the explained expected network devices. Last but not least is that in this context we intend to use the Hierarchical design model which has the three layers?

Choosing a Hierarchical Network Design

	Device Name	What it Does
1.	Router	This is the devices that connects the Local area network LAN to the internets. It is used by both the client and the ISP
2.	Cables	This are the devices that are used for transmitting info and carrying information from one place to the other through the networking devices, it is also joined with RJ 45 Connector to interconnect between devices.
3.	Switch	A device that helps to enhance how flexible and scalable a network is when we are doing configuration. Switch do usually have ports where the RJ 45 connectors are inserted.
4.	WAP transceiver	This are devices used for broadcasting the wireless signals which are known as the WIFI signals.
5	Server	This is a device that is used in the storage and resources shared in the network. There are so many servers that exists in the when setting the network and in this case we can mention some of them such as the. 1.      DHCP- this is a server that assigns the IP address automatically to the devices connected over the network. 2.      Mail server is used for managing the emails transfers in the network. 3.      A file server is used for storing and managing all the resources transferred 4.      Doman Name Server is a server used to match the domain names with their corresponding Ip addresses in the specified network the network.
6	Access devices	Devices that access the network in AusEd institution such as the workstations, IP-phones, laptops, scanner among others.
7	Security Devices	These are devices used to offer provision of securities in the area where they are supposed filter the data coming and going out which is done by a device called firewall. Another security device is the use of virtual private network that is used in providing encryption that will help both the intended recipient and the sender to be the only people interpreting the message.
8	Among the mentioned devices we might have other devices such as the use of a hub, gateway, bridge, repeater, RJ 45 connectors, printers, scanners, photocopiers etc. –

From the diagram simulated above we can clearly say that we have computers, Iphones and servers among others which are interconnected to work as a team. The work of the DHCP server in this context is to assign IP addresses to all other networking devices by configuring them automatically the moment they are detected to be using the network so that in case of anything we can be able to troubleshoot where the problem initiated. (Macken, 2016). The work of the DNS server in this context is matching the web files of the hosted resources on the server while all the webservers are used for hosting the exact website of AusEd which will help the distant learning student to have information close to them because they only need to login in to the school website and access all the materials (Meena, 2017).Name of Device used

	Manufacturer	Quantity needed	Price total  Cost ($)
Computers	Dell	1500	1500000
Servers	Cisco	10	250000
IP-Iphones	cisco	80	16000
Switches	Cisco	20	20000
Routers	Cisco	1	2500
Cables		4000 feet	100000
Firewall device	Cisco	3	4000
VPNs	Cisco	2	4500
WAP Transceiver	Cisco	10	18000
Other Costs			30000
TOTAL	1,945,000

The reason behind using the two major companies that is the Dell and Cisco for their hardware’s is because they integrate very well in that they allow interoperability and they are compatible in so many ways.

The application of the E-waste technique will be needed to be applied where we will have to consider the technique of the electronic waste where all the obsolete devices will be dismantled immediately after the analysis. The analysis of the existing equipment’s which will be achieved will help us in breaking down the problem in to small pieces. AusEd have decided to sustain its economy by making sure that what will be set in the institution is a network design that will allow future scalability and extensibility. The decision to use the three hierarchical network design is the major idea that will help the network as it will be broken down in to three layers namely the core, distribution and the access layer.

In sustaining the economy we see that the waste will be put in to good waste and the setting of the hierarchical network design will allow the institution to add more devices in future as well as making it easy to troubleshoot when a problem arises. When we have a good network in AusEd we will have many people commenting on how easy it is when accessing the leaning materials in AusEd which will lead to promotion of the institution and this will lead to many students enrolled to the online materials through the distant learning which will lead to more income making the economy to be very sustainable.

Conclusion

The research above was based on the showing the network diagram, the list of equipment’s to be used and an estimate of the entire expected cost. From the students to the course delivery division to the marketing division to the sales and lastly to the administration will need a network design that will be easy to manage and in case of problem we can be able to troubleshoot. The idea behind choosing the three hierarchical was to allow future flexibility and scalability of AusEd network.

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