Network Solution Development For Usoft.com: Goals, Requirements, And IP Address Plan

Goals of the Network Solution Development

The main goals for the development of the network for usoft.com are listed below:

• Improvement of VoIP, wireless and communication between each of the department for improving the performance of the employees
• Protecting the sensitive information of the organization and configuring access control list for managing the access of the user to the servers installed in different departments
• Improvement of scalability of the network and allow more number of users to connect and support the growth of the company
• The performance of the network should not decrease with the increase in the number of users and different risk such as congestion, packet loss, jitter should be eliminated.  
• Access control list should be configured for the management of communication of the user to access the servers of different departments
• Connecting the wireless access point in different subnet such that it can not be used by the intruder to gain access of the local network. 

The purpose of the development of the network solution is to have a centralized management on the data traffic flowing from different sources and destination addresses in the network. The successfully send and receive data packet from the headquarter to the branches and reduce the response time of the network. The network is needed to be configured such the employees of the organization can connect with the organizational network from remote location for improvement of their productivity. The network is needed to be develop such that its performance is high and there should not be any error in the configuration of the network device such that failure occur in the system. A DMZ, firewall and network security policy is needed to be configured such that the access of the user is monitored and the resources are secured.

The network solution is developed for usoft.com which is a private biomedical software development company having 6 departments in the companies headquarter. The network solution is developed for supporting the expansion of the company and meeting its business and technical goals. Currently the company have 102 number of employees in the software development department, 92 employees in solution design, 62 in customer support, 52 in sales, 32 in finance and 22 in human resource department. Sales finance and human resource department have 1 server, software development have 3 servers and solution design have 2 servers installed in its subnet. Some extra number of Ip address are kept in reserve for supporting the expansion of the organization and connect more employees in each of the subnet created for the department.

The company named usoft.com currently have two branches located in different areas of Gold Coast region. For expansion of the companies network the current network topology of the headquarter is needed to be redesigned following the business and technical goals of the organization. The headquarter of the company has 6 departments and each of the department are allocated with separate floors of a six stories building. The organization have a option to allocate two of the floors to solution design and thus the network is needed to be designed to meet the option. 

The requirement of the user is analysed for developing the solution for usoft.com after analysing the technical and business goals of the organization. The mobility, security, bandwidth, application and remote access requirement is

Requirements of the Network Solution Development

The wireless access point should be installed in the workplace area such that the people working in the organization can connect their wireless device. The servers deployed in the network is needed to be configured as RADIUS server such that the users can access the organisational network from remote location for increasing the efficiency and access the resources residing in the server.

The wireless access point is needed to be secured from the external agents with the application of encryption and creating different subnet for each of the department. The router used for transmission of data packet to different sources in the network is needed to be configured with access control list for management of access of the inter departmental server and secure the information residing in the server.  

The application that are used by the employees of different department are analysed for calculating the bandwidth needed for running the application. For ensuring that each of the subnet have sufficient bandwidth for its operation the interface is needed to be divided and a proper cabling plan should be followed to interconnect the network devices.

The solution design would require to run different web development tools and software for designing the interface. A standard antivirus software should be installed in each of the host connected in the network for eliminating the risk of spyware, malware and other viruses that can affect the performance of the network.  

Configuration of the server with RADUIS protocol helps in enabling the user to gain access of the network from remote geographical location. The users are needed to access the internal network of the organization such that they can improve their productivity and help the organisation to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace.

The switches installed in the network is needed to be configured with MPLS for directing the data from one node to another based on the shortest path label and the long network address are avoided since it have complex lookups in the routing table. It helps in maintaining quality of service and speeds up the traffic flow in the network.

A reliable internet connection is needed for the configuration of the network with VoIP service and the network should be free from latency, jitter, packet loss and burstiness. This delay in the network can cause echo and delay in the conversation. QoS should be maintained for the network because 1% packet loss can significantly degrade the VOIP.

Wireless Access Point and RADIUS Server Configuration

The network is needed to be secured from the external agents and a DMZ zone should be configured for installing the core network device in this zone and restricting the access of the device to the users to increase the security. A firewall should be deployed in the network for the management of incoming and outgoing data packets and enabling access control of the user. A VPN server can be used for establishing a secure connection with the remote branch and eliminating the risk of man in the middle attack.

Separate wireless access point should be configured for each of the department and it should be installed in an open space such that the coverage area of the wireless signal is not affected by different obstruction. The access point is also needed to be secured with proper encryption algorithm for the improvement of the security of the network.

 A virtual LAN should be created for each of the department such that less number of packet is broadcasted and there is no congestion in the network. Configuration of then network with VLAN helps in reducing the complexity of management and enforcing the security policy for the different department following the business rules of the organization. 

The IP address 172.16.165.0/22 is used by the headquarter of the company and designing the IP address plan for the configuration of the network solution.

Software Development Department

Subnet Name	Needed Size	Allocated Size	Address	Mask	Dec Mask	Assignable Range	Broadcast
Software Development Data	102	126	172.16.120.128	/25	255.255.255.128	172.16.120.129 – 172.16.120.254	172.16.120.255
Software Development Voice	102	126	172.16.120.0	/25	255.255.255.128	172.16.120.1 – 172.16.120.126	172.16.120.127
Software Development Server	3	6	172.16.123.192	/29	255.255.255.248	172.16.123.193 – 172.16.123.198	172.16.123.199

Solution Design Department

Subnet Name	Needed Size	Allocated Size	Address	Mask	Dec Mask	Assignable Range	Broadcast
Solution Design Data	92	126	172.16.121.128	/25	255.255.255.128	172.16.121.129 – 172.16.121.254	172.16.121.255
Solution Design Voice	92	126	172.16.121.0	/25	255.255.255.128	172.16.121.1 – 172.16.121.126	172.16.121.127
Solution Design Server	2	2	172.16.123.200	/30	255.255.255.252	172.16.123.201 – 172.16.123.202	172.16.123.203

Customer Support 

Subnet Name	Needed Size	Allocated Size	Address	Mask	Dec Mask	Assignable Range	Broadcast
Customer Support Data	62	62	172.16.122.64	/26	255.255.255.192	172.16.122.65 – 172.16.122.126	172.16.122.127
Customer Support Voice	62	62	172.16.122.0	/26	255.255.255.192	172.16.122.1 – 172.16.122.62	172.16.122.63
Customer Support Server	1	2	172.16.123.204	/30	255.255.255.252	172.16.123.205 – 172.16.123.206	172.16.123.207

Sales Department

Subnet Name	Needed Size	Allocated Size	Address	Mask	Dec Mask	Assignable Range	Broadcast
Sales Data	52	62	172.16.122.192	/26	255.255.255.192	172.16.122.193 – 172.16.122.254	172.16.122.255
Sales Voice	52	62	172.16.122.128	/26	255.255.255.192	172.16.122.129 – 172.16.122.190	172.16.122.191
Sales Server	1	2	172.16.123.216	/30	255.255.255.252	172.16.123.217 – 172.16.123.218	172.16.123.219

Finance Department

Subnet Name	Needed Size	Allocated Size	Address	Mask	Dec Mask	Assignable Range	Broadcast
Finance Data	32	62	172.16.123.64	/26	255.255.255.192	172.16.123.65 – 172.16.123.126	172.16.123.127
Finance Voice	32	62	172.16.123.0	/26	255.255.255.192	172.16.123.1 – 172.16.123.62	172.16.123.63
Finance Server	1	2	172.16.123.208	/30	255.255.255.252	172.16.123.209 – 172.16.123.210	172.16.123.211

HR Department

Subnet Name	Needed Size	Allocated Size	Address	Mask	Dec Mask	Assignable Range	Broadcast
Human Resource Data	22	30	172.16.123.160	/27	255.255.255.224	172.16.123.161 – 172.16.123.190	172.16.123.191
Human Resource Voice	22	30	172.16.123.128	/27	255.255.255.224	172.16.123.129 – 172.16.123.158	172.16.123.159
Human Resource Server	1	2	172.16.123.212	/30	255.255.255.252	172.16.123.213 – 172.16.123.214	172.16.123.215

The logical network diagram is created for usoft.com with the identification of the network device and hardware that are required for the development of the network framework. The protocols and technology that would be used for the development of the network is analysed for the development of the logical framework of the network design.  

Microsoft Visio is used for the development of the physical network diagram and demonstrating the hierarchy and topology used for the development of the network framework. For the development of the physical network design the current floor plan and organizational structure is evaluated with the business and technical needs of the company. Separate switches are used for each of the department and since the solution design department would be located in two of the floors two switches are used for solution design. Three layer hierarchical model is used for the development of the network framework and the devices are grouped into core, access and distribution device for increasing the redundancy, scalability and availability of then network. The network designed would support the future growth of the organisation and reduce the management cost needed for maintaining the network device. The core device have router and firewall that are used for the management of data traffic in the network and a DMZ zone is created for securing the accessibility of the server for the internal and external users associated with the company.    

Security Configuration of the Network

Conclusions

The above report is created for the development of a network framework for a private biomedical company. The sites that are needed to be connected and the technology that can eb used for securely connecting the remote branch is evaluated for its application in the network solution based on the security and cost of application in the network. The network is designed for the improvement of the communication between the different departments and branches of the company. The number of people working in each of the department is needed to be identified for the preparation of the Subnet plan and three subnets are created for each of the department for connecting the hosts, VoIP phones and servers. VLANs are created for each of the subnet and named according to the department such that the network administrator does not face any difficulty while configuring or troubleshooting the network. Creation of separate VLAN for the server and the VOIP helps in increasing the security of the network. The Voice channel is needed to be separated such that the user connected in the network does not face any lag or drop in call. The accessibility of the network should be managed and the users should be grouped according to their service requirement such that the flexibility of the network is improved. The network solution is designed with multiple path and remote access to reach the different parts of the network such that it is available to the users. Wireless network should also be configured such that it can be used by the indoor and the outdoor users to connect with the network and access the resources needed for the management of the work.  

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