The M2M network requires that we subnet our network into six subnets that are not equal. the information Technology department for example will require a large subnet which can accommodate all the 520 workstations and leave a room for more while the sales office only requires a smaller subnet that will hold the forty workstations.
For efficiency in the use of address space, we will need to use Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSMs) so that it can be possible to use a different mask for each subnet (Moran, 2010).
The VLSMs will help us create subnets that are large and with more than 255 addresses for the host and others that are very small as per our need. Using the VLSM, we will be able to assign IP addresses in such a way that the least number of IP addresses are wasted and leave a surplus.
Figure 1 Head office network diagram
The departments will all have a similar structure as presented by the Network diagram below. The router will interconnect each department with the head office. Each department will have an Access point that will make it easy to connect devices that can connect to the access point (Tanebaum, 2003). The switches will be interconnected and configured as per the subnets as calculated below.
Figure 2: Departments routing structure
Our private IP address 10.0.0.0 is a Class A network. Using VLSM to allocate IP addresses as per departmental needs, we will the following possible Subnets
|
Subnet mask |
Subnet mask bits |
Hosts |
|
255.0.0.0 |
16777214 |
/8 |
|
255.128.0.0 |
8388606 |
/9 |
|
255.192.0.0 |
4194302 |
/10 |
|
255.224.0.0 |
2097150 |
/11 |
|
255.240.0.0 |
1048574 |
/12 |
|
255.248.0.0 |
524286 |
/13 |
|
255.252.0.0 |
262142 |
/14 |
|
255.254.0.0 |
131070 |
/15 |
|
255.255.0.0 |
65534 |
/16 |
|
255.255.128.0 |
32766 |
/17 |
|
255.255.192.0 |
16384 |
/18 |
|
255.255.224.0 |
8190 |
/19 |
|
255.255.240.0 |
4094 |
/20 |
|
255.255.248.0 |
2046 |
/21 |
|
255.255.252.0 |
1022 |
/22 |
|
255.255.254.0 |
510 |
/23 |
|
255.255.255.0 |
254 |
/24 |
|
255.255.255.128 |
126 |
/25 |
|
255.255.255.192 |
62 |
/26 |
|
255.255.255.224 |
30 |
/27 |
|
255.255.255.240 |
14 |
/28 |
|
255.255.255.248 |
6 |
/29 |
|
255.255.255.252 |
2 |
/30 |
Information Technology department requires the highest range of IP addresses (Press). We will allocate the highest possible IP addresses to the highest requirement. So it will fall under subnet mask 255.255.252.0 which will be 10.0.0.0/22. Its start IP address will be 10.0.0.1 and end IP address will be 10.0.3.254 (Mogul & J., August 1985).
Finance office will be the second in the order of highest IP address requirement with a subnet mask of 255.255.254.0 which will be the IP addresses with 10.0.0.0/23. The finance office’s Start Host IP address will be 10.0.0.1 and end IP address will be 10.0.1.254
Transport office will be the third in requirements for IP address and will have a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and will have IP addresses with 10.0.0.0/24. The start IP address will be 10.0.0.1 and the end IP address will be 10.0.0.254
Research office has an approximate of 120 workstations and will therefore fall in subnet mask 255.255.255.128 which will have and IP address with 25 subnet mask bits, 10.0.0.0/25. The start IP will be 10.0.0.1 and the end IP will be 10.0.0.126
Head office is the second last with an approximate of sixty work stations. It will have the subnet mask of 255.255.255.192 with an IP address having twenty-six subnet mask bits, 10.0.0.0/26. The start IP address will be 10.0.0.1 and the end IP address will be 10.0.0.62
The sales office will require the least number of hosts with an approximate workstation count of 40. It will use the subnet mask of 255.255.255.192. The sales office will have an IP address with 26 subnet mask bits too, 10.0.0.0/26. The start IP will be 10.0.0.1 and the end IP will be 10.0.0.62.
All the addressing solution leaves room for growth in each department and makes sure the wasted IP addresses are minimal (Institute). The research office with an approximate of 120 workstations is at a critical point with a subnet allowing 126 hosts. If the growth of the office exceeds six workstations, the addressing scheme will need to be reviewed.
The Head Office too is at a critical point with an approximate of sixty workstations and fitting in a subnet allowing only sixty-two hosts. It minimizes loss of IP addresses by only having two addresses free in the subnet but if the growth of the office demands more than two workstations be added to the network; the addressing scheme of the subnet will need to be reviewed.
The offices will be interconnected by the internet as shown below:
Figure 3: Offices Interconnection
The simple Variable Length Subnet Mask addressing solution works best for these subnets since there are some that are very large with more than the normal 255 host addresses like the Information Technology subnet and need to be addressed in a way that will allow future growth if the department continues to grow or have more staff and workstations. There is also a great need for very small subnets that would otherwise mean a very huge loss of addresses. With the method, only a few addresses are lost which give the room for growth.
Networks need a close checkup often to ensure they are working correctly and that every device or workstation connected never loses connection (Press., 2004). It is also important to keep an eye on the security of the network to ensure no intruder gets access to any information and no workstation gets information they are not supposed to get. A network administrator is responsible of giving a timely report on the efficiency of the network. However, if a network is continually growing and getting bigger, it gets hard for the administrators to diagnose the network and detect any configurational or operational issues early enough before their effects (Dye, McDonald, & Rufi, 2007).
Network analysers can play a very crucial role in assisting the administrator for diagnostic and troubleshooting purposes (Cerf, A protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication., 1974). The administrator will have an easy time trouble shooting the network when a diagnosis is ready what happened to the network than doing the diagnosis himself especially for our M2M company that is continually growing bigger and the networking getting larger and harder to do a manual diagnosis.
The network analysers will provide a data source for all monitoring and management of our network. This is because of their ease in monitoring Wide Area Networks and the security of endpoints and continuous update of the network status and statistics. By having a continuous status update of the network, the analyser will be able to automatically deduce any arising problem when any workstation fails to broadcast their statistics (Abbate, 2000). It will also be possible detect an intruder as early as they attempt and detect any inappropriate use of the network by all the staff.
The network analyser will aid in monitoring all the data packet being sent and received by the nodes and therefore make it possible to filter and block any suspected contents from our network (Cerf, The introduction of packet satellite communication, 1979). They will also be used for verification of any changes that occur in the network, and deduce whether they happened with awareness of the administrators and for the right purposes. It will also be possible to check on usefulness and working of filters and other fitted internal control systems such as proxies and firewalls.
Our network will therefore be better placed if a network analyser is considered. Our network has grown to having six subnets and all are using a private network addressing protocol. It is important to therefore have a central way of diagnosing our network problem and troubleshoot with ease (C., 2016). The network administrator working without a network analyser will have a hard time detecting an intrusion in the Information Technology department when working in the head office or tell the possible problem that occurred to a server in the head office when he was at the sales office without having a network analyser that kept monitoring the server.
There are many network analyser tools by different software developers and vendors. Their main differences are on how each intercepts and logs traffic on the network (James F. Kurose, 2008). Wireshark is one of the network analysers. Wireshark uses a disk to save a captured file and stores the data in a network which a user can freely browse and see the logs. It works in both Unix and Windows based machines.
Wireshark will be our best network analyser to choose since unlike other network analysers, it can view Transmission Control Protocol session streams across many media types and many protocols. Many other network analysers are based on consoles while in Wireshark, the console is an inclusion.
Wireshark is kept updated to make sure there are no vulnerabilities open for insecurity and the system remains stable and bugs free.
Figure 3: Wireshark logs
Wireshark will have clear logs of data being sent or received in all the configured workplaces and thus will be very efficient in the defined uses of network analysers. The connected node captures and sends its timely packets to the Wireshark configured machine which then dissect the packets and analyses the packets to deduce the machine they are from and the respective time they were captured by the sender machine.
The information portrayed on the screenshot is easy to understand and interpolate and can be understood even by a person with no experience in network administration. Some other network analysers such as Kismet may not have a GUI and may appear hard to understand for persons with no networking knowledge. Wireshark is also open source and therefore is free of charge and updates may be easier to acquire.
References
Abbate, J. (2000). Inventing the Internet. Cambridge: MIT Press.
C., S. (2016). Network Security Architectures.
Cerf, V. G. (1974). A protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication.
Cerf, V. G. (1979). The introduction of packet satellite communication.
Comer, D. (2000). Internetworking with TCP/IP Principles, protocols and architectures.
Dye, M., McDonald, R., & Rufi, A. (2007). Network Fundamentals, CCNA Exploration Companion guide. Cisco Press.
Institute, I. S. (n.d.). Internet Protocol. Internet Program Protocol Specification. Retrieved from www.tools.ietf.org/html/frc791#page-7
James F. Kurose, K. W. (2008). Computer Networking.
Mogul, J., & J., P. (August 1985). Internet Standard Subnetting Procedure.
Moran, J. (2010, September 1). Understanding and resolving IP Address conflict. Retrieved from www.webopedia.com
Postel, J. (January 1980). Model of Operation. In I. S. Institute, DOD Standard Internet (p. 5). Marina del Rey, California: University of California.
Press, C. (n.d.). IP addressing guide. . Retrieved from www.cisco.com/web/about/ciscoitatwork/downloads/ciscoitatwork/pdf/Cisco_IT_IP_Addressing_Best_Practices.pdf
Press., C. (2004). Network Security Architectures. General Design Considerations for Secure Networks.
Tanebaum, A. S. (2003). Computer Networks.
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