Understanding Network Design: ARR Company Case Study

TCP/IP Concepts and Network Design

Networking is a very wide topic and understanding it will help us in designing a good network. A good network will be based on various considerations bearing in mind we know what we intend to achieve at the end of implementation of such networks. Network can be defined as the interconnection of devices such as the server, hubs, switch, workstations, printers and others so that they can share and transfers resources over a given platform. The networking comes from network which is the process through which such devices communicate so that they will facilitate easy ways to transfer and share the files within the network. Before we engage ourselves in buying or purchasing the network devices we are always required to know the design model which we may anticipate to use for any given network solution.

In understanding the model design of the ARR company network then we have to know the meaning of TCP/IP concept and much more understanding the primary family they apply when they are connecting to the internet using the networking protocols. Transmission control protocol/ internet protocol is a simply a protocol suite that will the conversations that happens on the internet in the whole globe. The ARR network will help us in understanding the concept of TCP/IP where we are needed to design a network that is scalable and much more that will allow future additional and extensions of devices if a need arose. In understanding the concept of the design of any network then we must know the requirements of any given company. ARR Company is a company that have about 6 branches in Melbourne and its surrounding and is need of a network solution that will allow them to communicate easily among the branches.  Each and every branch is 70km from each other and we will need to draw a WAN design for all the six branches and a LAN design for the head office showing how the workstations in the three floors are arranged and modeled. The research on this report as a network administrator is on the basis of understanding the principles of network design and the way this models will help the designers of the network in building a network that will be flexible, reliable and much more scalable at all times, very resilient and which is very easy when managing at all times [1].

When we want to understand the design the network which will meets our needs then we expect to encounter some issues which must be addressed in the order through which we will be able to come up with a good network design. These issues if well solved at an early stage then we will be expected to have a network design that is free of errors and much more that will not be vulnerable in to the outside world especially when we consider the cases of the security issues. [2]. Some of the considerations and issues that will be needed to be addressed before we think on the implementation of such network are such as follows. First is that we need to know the rules of the data transfers where we have the use of protocols in determining the number of channels that are needed and in this case we have to base our argument on the usage prioritization. We base our argument on the modes of communications. Secondly is the use of protocol layers which must have the capability to correct all the packets sequences they receive and checking if they are in the correct order. Third issue is understanding the number the maximum data that can be sent over the network. Lastly is to understand when we want to send the packets and if they are small in size then how will they processed and will they processed efficiently.

Considerations and Issues in Network Design

ARR company network design model is expected to be very complex because of the other branches it have in Melbourne and its surroundings so we will expect to have a challenge in choosing the design model of the network. We already have in mind the two network design models that is the Flat Design Model and the three layered hierarchical network design model. In the case of ARR Company we are expected to choose a network that will allow easy communication between the given branches in Melbourne.

The reason for choosing the three layer hierarchical is because ARR is a big company and its runs outside networks which must communicate with the headquarter without any problem. The reason for snubbing the flat network design model and considering the use of the hierarchical layered model is because of the following reasons [3]. If we apply the hierarchical in ARR Company then the solution of the network will be hierarchy where the problem that needs to be solved will be broken in to smaller and portions which are manageable no matter how complex they may seem. Secondly is the case of modularity which will help in separating the functions of the existing devices in the network in different modules so that they can make the network to very much easier when we are designing. Thirdly is the concept of resiliency which will be to make the network to be available to all the users in all conditions. Lastly but not least is the flexibility and scalability of the proposed network design which will have the ability to modify the portions of the networks and the network being expanded without necessary having to draw the design again from scratch.

Wide area network (WAN) is a network design where we consider the combinations of different local area network so that they can communicate and transfer files and resources effectively from one Local area network to the other. As seen on the Wide Area Network design above we can see that there are 6 local area networks where each and every local area network is connected to the headquarter via the other one next to it. There are 6 branches of ARR Company and each branch has three departments that is the sales, marketing and the general support departments respectively. In designing this we must come up with a data center at the head office which will facilitate the supervision and monitoring of all the data that is being used in all the local area networks in all the six branches. Wide area network is always too complex but with the use of a good design model like the use of the Hierarchical design model in this case will help us in designing a good network design that will allow easy management of the entire network. No matter the complexity of the network it will be easy for the access layer, core layer and the distribution layers respectively to communicate effectively in making this work effectively. There are so many relations that might be related to how we connect to different offices and some of these potentials are such as follows.

1. Like how the cable will run from one office to the next.
2. How many points to be considered in each and every office
3. Is the network scalable in such a manner it can allow expansion of a wireless access connections if a need arose.
4. Another potential relation to be considered is the crosstalk challenges that may exist between the different offices in the organization.

Choosing a Network Design Model for ARR Company

For a local area network to work effectively then there need to be good connection from the router to the end devices. In the above case there we can see that we have a router which acts as the interface between the end users and the internet they apply. The router is used for monitoring what comes in and what goes out of the network. We also have some other servers in the data center where each and every server plays a major role in making this design a success. We have seen the DHCP being used as tool where we can Auto assign the other devices IP address respectively. The DNS server matches the corresponding IP address with the web files. We also have others like the mail server which facilitates the sharing and transferring of resources over the network. Local Area network is used by the people within the given organization but in this case it is the staff of ARR Company. Having about 100 workstations to be used in office between the three floors we will expect each and every floor to have its own switch so that we can minimize the cases of crosstalks. We will also use the security devices such as the use virtual private network and the firewalls to filter the data entering and leaving the network and adding encryption respectively so that we can have a secure transmission of the data. To explain more on the configuration we can configure router as follows.

— System Configuration Dialog — Would you like to enter the initial configuration dialog? [yes/no]: n Press RETURN to get started! Router>enable Router#config t Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z. Router(config)#int fa0/0 Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.46.25 255.255.255.0 Router(config-if)#no shutdown Router(config-if)# %LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface FastEthernet0/0, changed state to up %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface FastEthernet0/0, changed state to up exit Router(config)#exit Router# %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by console exit Router con0 is now available Press RETURN to get started. Router>enable Router#config t Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z. Router(config)#int fa1/0 Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.46.26 255.255.255.0 % 192.168.46.0 overlaps with FastEthernet0/0 Router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.47.26 255.255.255.0 Router(config-if)#no shut down Router(config-if)# %LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface FastEthernet1/0, changed state to up %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface FastEthernet1/0, changed state to up

There are many types of cables that we can use when we are transmitting the information that we may need within the organization of a network in given structure of an organization. [4]. We will have to consider the size of ARR company and we have to do an analysis of the kind of machines the organization have, or plan to have, the quality of the network and much more the reliability of the network in facilitating the smooth flow of the information within the organization. [5]. In this concept of ARR Company we would recommend the wiring and use of network cables of the type Ethernet cable of Cat 6 e category. When we are transmitting using this cable we expect the transmission to be very resistant in the surrounding interference from the surrounding which in turns will make it to be more reliable and much more very effective if used. Ethernet cable cat 6e will transmit info via the ARR network in a very fast speed than another network cable that may be already in existence. When we consider the structure of ARR Company of the architecture physically then the network cables will be suspended over high so that they can reach other floors and thus the interference such as noises or the challenges of the crosstalk will occur often. When we use Ethernet cat 6e we will expect to minimize any chance of such network interference. The Ethernet cable cat 6e will help the organization in overcoming all the issues of attenuation which might degrade the signals of the network when we are transmitting over long distances. [6].

Designing a Wide Area Network (WAN)

Ethernet cab cat 6e will support up to 100 mbs data rate of transmission. Thus, this has made it possible in handling data of large bandwidth and this has made it to be very essential to ARR company since it has large and systems and workstations which are expected to be heavy and this has led to an urge for them to need a network solution that will transmit large volume of data at any time without delays or uncontrollable traffics of data. The other benefit of using Ethernet cat 6e will be because it si very universal [7]. Being universal means that we can be able to transmit data when we are using any device without necessary considering the manufacturer like it is in the case of ARR Company. The diagram below is a representation of the cable to be applied.

For ARR company to do a purchase on the networking cable for wiring then they should consider some various factors that will be used in relations to the network structure they intend to deploy hence helping them in  making a good choice of the best network to lay down or set up. Some of the factors to be considered as such as the: the amount of bandwidth in terms of data they expect to be transmitting over the proposed network; how easy it is to install the selected Ethernet cables; how easy it is to configure the network. Another consideration is the amount of noise or electromagnetic interferences (EMI) that are associated with the location where the network os expected to be installed which might bring some interferences to the signals across and over the network. Last considerations is exact length that is needed in transmitting signals using the best speed possible [8]. If all the above considerations are considered then we expect the network to meet all the requirements of ARR Company [9].

The physical topology of any network is the way we configure the cable, computers and any other peripherals that is connected over the network. It is good to understand the peripherals that are used and that need to be arranged in the entire network. Many are times we confuse between the logical and physical topologies but the logical topology is simply the way the information is passed inside a workstation.

When we are applying the topology to apply it is good we have a clear on how the office look like. The considerations of the arrangement is based on how the furniture are arranged. In the case of ARR Company since it runs on a three-storey building we expect to use a physical topology in each and every floor. If we consider the following scenario in explaining we can say.

Types of Cables for Network Transmission

If 10GB fiber backbone is between the cabinet in the first floor we will expect the network to be very effective to all the neighboring and rooms in the server. This will help in giving one a good bandwidth and much more a good resiliency. If we consider to use at least two VLANs on each and every floor where one is representing voice while the other is for data this will mean that we will have an advantage of adding other devices such as the wireless the CCTV devices, electronic access control (data center) and with the use of more VLANs we expect them to be applied very well if connected.

If we consider to have about over 30 people in each floor the chances of having about over 255 devices per floor in the future will be highly reasonable and hence we could consider a subnet and routing in each and every floor. The actual medium will be entirely dependent on the budget allocated. Regarding a one or ten Gb uplinks, that may come down to the budget of ARR company and their design of the network. If their switches are stackable (or a Cisco monster with 200 ports) then 10Gbe is going to, obviously, provide you with a lot more bandwidth back to your data center. That said, unless you’re doing some serious data transfer I doubt you’ll come even close to saturating it. If your budget is a bit lower and you can’t stack your switches for each floor, then chances are most of your users will be squeezed through a single 1Gb uplink anyway, which negates the need for 10Gb backhaul.

As seen from the two explanations we can say that the application of a ring topology will be of help in making this work as a success. In ring topology this is where each and every device has two neighbors for communicating with. In the case of ring topology all the messages will travel through a ring but in the same direction which may be either anticlockwise or even in the clockwise directions. Any failure in any cable failure it may break the loop and this can take an entire network. When implementing a ring network we will have to use FDDI, the tech of token ring and the SONET. They are usually found in offices with more than one floor

The following are some of the reasons for recommending the use of ring topology by ARR Company.

1. Ring topology is very well organized where each and every node can send data when it immediately receives and empty token. This will help ARR Company in reducing the chances of collisions. The traffic flows in the same direction which leads to increase in speed in the flow of data[10].
2. In cases where the bandwidth load increases then the performance will always be better when compared to that of the bus topology.
3. We might not need the network server in each and every floor in controlling the connectivity between the available and connected workstations.
4. When we apply the scalable feature and add more devices over the network this will not affect the network performance.
5. All computers or any workstations connected to the network will access the resources equally.

The protocols to be applied in this case will be the TCP/IP protocol which is the global internet protocol. TCP/IP means that we will have transmission control protocol and the internet protocol which usually refers to family of networking as a whole and all the related communications protocols. TCP/IP usually operates on three and the layer four of the TCP/IP model. These layers are the transport and the internet layers respectively [11].

The stairs in three floor plan are drawn as rectangle series where they have a direction that is indicating where the stairs are travelling from one floor to the next or even going back down. As seen in the design plan we can say that the stairs are expected to rise about 3 feet above the floor which is represented and cut with a diagonal line. All the stairs that above the “cut line “are represented with lines which are dashed.

In this case we have done some assumptions based that the office are entitled to meet the requirements of the given network. In this case the best idea is supporting the intranet of AAR Company and the server which is needed. AAR Company have set a budget that will help in designing a network that have a technology of good quality [12].

Conclusions.

The idea behind the above report is to help come with a good network design for both the local area network and the entire wide area network of ARR Company. We have to design the network design for both the LAN and WAN of the ARR company as it has been clearly shown in the diagrams above which will help in coming up with the samples of the anticipated three floor plans. We have also discussed on the type of topology that will be needed to be applied and in this case we have applied the use of ring topology because of its order in arrangement and performance and mush more sharing of resources. The use of TCP/IP was chosen due to its global applications and that it works well with the two layers namely the transport and the network layer.

The report above was prepared to help us to be able to recognize the topologies of the network, the types of media and the network components. We have been helped to identify the network OSI layers where the various devices which are used to separate devices. We have employed the basic cabling where we have used the Ethernet cat 6e for wiring and applied it in the three layered hierarchical network design in connecting to other devices.

Reference

[1]	L. Adato, “5 Fundamental Requirements For High-Performing Networks,” A new set of network essentials is necessary to meet the challenges of today’s network administration and management, pp. 23-36, 2015.
[2]	N. Requirement, “Network Requirements for a Small Office,” requirements network, 2014.
[3]	Cisco, “Benefits of a Hierarchical Network,” Cisco, 2009.
[4]	B. Mitchell, “Introduction to Network Cables,” Internet and Network, pp. 1-3, 2017.
[5]	W. Gordon, “What’s the Difference Between These Ethernet Cables, and Will They Make My Network Faster?,” Ask Life hackers, pp. 5-9, 2013.
[6]	T. Merritt, “How to pick the right cables for your home networks,” Culture, pp. 1-3, 2010.
[7]	N. Blas, “Networking Guides,” Networking Guide, pp. 6-7, 2015.
[8]	S. AG, “Serial Data Transmissions,” Technical Information, Frankfurt, 2014.
[9]	J. Shore, “Synchronous vs. asynchronous communications,” News journal, pp. 1-6, 2017.
[10]	P. Sparrow, “Ring Topology : Advantages and Disadvantages,” Ianswer, 23 january 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.ianswer4u.com/2011/05/ring-topology-advantages-and.html. [Accessed 1 June 2018].
[11]	BWMO, “Network design,” bwmo, 24 march 2014. [Online]. Available: https://bwmo.net. [Accessed 1 June 2018].