CSC00240: Network Design Specification Report For Modern High School - Data Communication & Networks Assessment Answers

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Background:

A private high school is located in 3 adjacent two-story buildings. Each building is approximately 50 metres long and 15 metres wide. They are set about 40 metres apart. The school needs your expertise to upgrade their existing network. Their current network is old and will need to be replaced. The principal has asked for a “high school of the future, using the latest technologies with a network which can accommodate the load now and for another five years”.

The present high school has 500 students with only two computer labs each with 20 computers and 1 laser printer. There are a further 20 computers in the Library as well as another laser printer. The computer labs and Library computers have recently been upgraded to meet sufficiently the needs of the students. Staff room has 10 old desktop computers. The network was installed five years ago in 2011. Network operating system is Windows Server 2008. The network is simple hub/switch. The computers labs are not able to connect to other computer labs. Students cannot log in using their laptops. There is no wireless.

The new high school will have all teachers issued with Laptops/iPads and all the desktop computers have been removed from the Staff Room. There will be three computer labs each with 30 computers.

One building will have computer lab for multimedia students, the second building will have Programmers and the other building the Business students. The teachers and students each form communities of users with different needs and loads on the network. This understanding of communities of users is a key part of your assignment.

This school also needs to connect with a WAN of other modern schools. These other private high schools are located approximately 200km from this private high school. They need to be linked to the existing high school network formed by these other schools. This is a case for understanding distance remote situations for WAN.

Important objectives of the Network:

The two main objectives for the proposed solution are:

• A modern network for the school and
• To ensure that these schools have videoconferencing between them

The network is proposed to achieve the above objectives considering the school’s following business and technical goals.

Business goals:

• Improved communications, wireless, videoconferencing, etc.
• Spare no expense,
• Protect school information,
• The classroom of the future will double enrolments,
• Be excellent in technology.

Technical goals:

• The current network, computer labs, and library are upgraded to a modern network (campus design) to meet student and teacher needs,
• Scalability – remember they plan to double in size,
• Availability – Wireless network access is available in all classrooms as well as some outdoor areas for teachers and students,
• Students have access to study resources from school and home (different servers),
• Performance – network performance must be high,
• Reliability – no single point of failure,
• Security – protection of school information and other IT assets,
• Multimedia classrooms for the excellence classes.

Part 2

For part 2 report, you are required to design a recommended network based on the findings of PART 1 on the following:

• Analyse user network requirements
• Describe and analyse the current network

What you need to do

You are required to design the network you would recommend and how it would be configured. Remember the goal of building a new network is that it will support the schools needs for the next five years. Your recommendations are to be submitted as a formal report containing your analysis of the present situation (i.e., PART 1), and your recommended network solution.

As PART 2 of your report, you are required to:

1. Suggest a type of network architecture that is suitable for the organisation. You will need to

identify all the circuits (cabling), network hardware necessary to build the network(s) you are proposing and to justify your choice, i.e., you will need to explain the function of the hardware and network choice in your solution. ii. Explain both logical and physical network diagrams for the proposed network. iii. Draw compressive physical network(s) diagram that shows how you connect the hardware you

have chosen in (i). It will be based on the layout of your high school presented in PART 1 showing where your network devices are located. iv. Estimate the cost of implementing the network.

As part of your report, you are required to write an executive summary explaining why your design meets the business and technical goals. Presentation and referencing are important.

Remember that it is a school and access to the internet will need to be controlled and some sites blocked. Your report must include explanations justifying the design decisions you have made.

To help with these assumptions the following information is available:

IT Platform: Server 2016 Microsoft Office/Adobe

Cisco hubs/switches/routers

School Hosted Messaging to contact students/teachers

Executive Summary

Modern high school wants to change the old network in school with new proposed wireless network in school. Principal of school has asked for the “School of future” which means the new network of the school must be designed with latest technologies, design must help future upgrading of system. And new network must be designed taking consideration of present load and demands for next five years. there are two computer labs in school, each comprises of 20 computers in it and also have one laser printer in each lab. There is no Connectivity between these two labs. There are 20 computers and one printer in library too. There are ten old computers in staff room also.LAN is not wireless. each and every room is connected to separate switches. There are 500 students and 70 staff members in school. Their is no wireless server facility available in the school by which students can download the assignment with the help of server. Currently windows server 2008 is installed in the school. The new proposed network will be designed taking consideration of next five years need. New devices with modern technology are used in making this network.

This new proposed network will be designed into three new proposed lab in which 30 new computers will be installed in each of the lab. Staff room comprises of laptop and I-pads with which teachers can communicate wirelessly with students. And a server is installed in server room with the help of which teachers can upload assignments and students can get the assignment by logging in with the given username and password.

A WAN is also installed in campus for communication with another school situated 200 km from this school It helps in doing video conferencing with the other school.

Introduction

• background

The system which is installed in the school is not capable of connecting students and teachers wirelessly. If they want to take data from the school’s computers then they have to take it into the pen drive and CD. All rooms are connected separately with their individual connection thus they cannot connect mutually with each other.

• scope

Once the new system is installed all rooms and labs are connected wirelessly with the help of router. This will help both teachers and students as they will then connected each other wirelessly with the network.

• New 3 labs are designed which comprised of 30 computers each, which are connected wirelessly with the help of router. The new labs are multimedia, programming and business. After installing this network students can switch to other network without moving to another lab.
• A powerful server will be installed in the school. teachers can upload assignments directly to server which can be accessed by students by logging in with the correct username and password. There is also proposed LAN group which will help teachers and students communicate with each other.
• WAN is installed in this proposed network with which this school can do video conferencing with another school.

• purpose

Project will full fill following purpose:

1. By installing WAN network, school can communicate with other school too, thus this increase the productivity of the school. Hence the number of students will increase gradually.
2. Less maintenance cost of this network make it profitable for school.
3. Network is secured with high profile server thus security of the network is very strong.
4. Devices with latest and modern technology are used in the network configuration. So the performance of the network is excellent. It is highly reliable network.
5. New multimedia lab will attract many new parents for enrolling there childrens to the school.

Organisational description

• general description

There are three two storied building in the school. In 2011 this network was installed in two computer labs with separate LAN connecting 20 computers of each lab. Library comprise of 20 computers and one laser printer .Ten old computers are installed in staff room. These rooms cannot mutually connect each other as there is no wireless LAN facility installed. These labs are connected separately with separated LANs.

New network will connect all three labs, library, and staff room mutually with wireless network. As new network comprises of LAN,WAN and SERVER which are all wirelessly connected. Thus whole school is connected wirelessly, thus accessing information, transferring files will make much easier.

• Physical network layout

Below figure shows the physical network layout. In which we can see that the three labs , staff room, library and server room. multimedia lab and staff room are located in building no.1,programming lab and library are in building no.2 and server room& business lab are located in building no.3.

Fig1: Network Floor Plan Layout

Analysis of user requirements

• Analysis of users communities of this network

This network is used by teachers and students in the school.

1. It provides a wireless environment with faster connectivity. Different part of buildings connected with each other wirelessly.
2. All rooms are connected with LAN which are all connected to main backbone LAN which is connected with router thus making whole the environment wireless.
3. Security of data is strong as high profile server protects it with strong security.
4. Roaming facility is achieved.
5. It is the quality of the network to handle dynamic configurations thus making it capable of recognising any device connected to it and permitting it to join network with any device wether it is mobile, I-pad, pc etc.
6. The LAN emits Radio signals thus to connect with it. It is require to install wireless adapter that can recognise those signals.
7. Floor height, construction material all are considered while installing network. As it is required to change frequency and range of network accordingly.

• Capacity estimation

There are 500 students,75 teachers which will use this network. Network require bandwidth around 30 to 35 mbps.

Factor that determine network capacity estimation are:

1. Number of users connected by single access point on the network.
2. Number of WIFI devices per user can help in evaluating the capacity.
3. Active user percentage.

Access points required are in between 20 to 25 number for this range of users.

Description and analysis of current setup

• Circuits

1. CMOS circuit is used in this network configuration.
2. CAT 5e coaxial cables are used in connecting devices.
3. Wan switch is needed for WAN installation

• Hardware

Following are the hardware which are used in configuring the network:

1. 3 Net gear switches
2. 1 d-link wired Ethernet combo routers
3. 1 Cisco Ethernet router
4. Net gear firewall cable
5. 23 access points
6. CAT 5e coaxial cables

SERVER COMPUTERS REQUIREMENTS

1. Dual core, 64 bit
2. 24 GB RAM
3. Fast hard disks 1500 GB
4. Windows server 2012

DESKTOP COMPUTERS REQUIREMENT:

1. Intel p4 CPU 2.80 GHZ
2. 2GB RAM
3. 500 GB HDD
4. Monitor with SVGA card with 4 GB RAM

LAPTOP AND IPAD REQUIREMENT

1. Intel atom QC
2. 2GB
3. 32GB SD card
4. 11.6” screen

STUDENT LAPTOP

1. 2GB RAM
2. 400 GB HDD
3. P4 processor
4. WIFI facility

• Logical network topology

This topology will gives us information about data flow, IP addresses and data flow of the network. Main points of this topology are as follows:

Fig 2 LOGICAL: NETWORK TOPOLOGY

• Physical network topology

This topology shows us the arrangement of links and nodes of the proposed network. Different type of topology are used in the proposed network which are as follows:

1. BUS topology is used in the multimedia lab because of easy installation and minimum use of cable is also the prime factor.
2. RING topology is used in programming lab. It requires operation in programming lab thus all nodes are connected with single switch which makes data transfer fast due to unidirectional approach.
3. BUS topology is used in business lab because of easy installation.
4. STAR topology is used in server room to increase the performance of the network as it is connected to the central router which can be configure for higher data transmission speeds. Scalability of this topology is another factor to choose it.
5. FLAT topology is used in case of WAN set up as it is used for distant Communication; It has capability of involving microwaves and leased line protocols.

DIAGRAM SHOWING PHYSICAL TOPOLOGY

FIG3 NETWORK DIAGRAM

• ANALYSIS OF EXISTING NETWORK

The existing network comprise of separated LAN setups in two computer labs, staff room and library .Each of which are connected with separated switches. There is no mutual connection between this rooms as there is no wireless network.

New proposed network to be designed with LAN setups connecting each room with wireless router thus making them interconnected with each other and help in communication wirelessly without any hinder. WAN is also setup with the help of WAN switches installed.

Performance of the new network over old network:

1. The existing network is designed with the help of UTP CAT 5 cables which are based on obsolete technology. New network will be designed with CAT 5e coaxial cables which provides faster transmission. As number of devices are connected to the network are more than that of old network thus this cables provide high performance.
2. Old network used two switches of 24 ports this is replaced by 32 port switches and there is router installed which is not in old network.
3. BUS topology, RING topology and STAR topology are used in new proposed network in older network BUS topology and RING topology were used. STAR topology in proposed network is installed in server room for high performance of network. Which was not a case in old network.

Description of proposed network

• GOALS

Following are the objectives which this proposed network must full fill which are as follows:

1. Schools gets the modern network with latest technologies.
2. Video conferencing facility makes communication with other school lot easier.

These above two mention objectives are important for full filling the goals of the network.

BUSINESS GOALS

1. Improved communication, fully wireless support and video conferencing are main highlights of this network
2. No extra expenses are availed.
3. Secure network that makes information on network protected from threat of outsiders.
4. these modern environment created by this network will doubles the enrolments.
5. Latest technology will give higher performance to the network.

TECHNICAL GOALS

1. All the rooms like labs library and staff room can easily wirelessly connect to the the network.
2. Scalability of the network is the property which makes it formidable for future needs.
3. As this network is wireless spread across whole school thus availability of network is for all.
4. After servers are installed this can be accessed at students home thus to download the assignments from home will be great for students.
5. Performance of this network is high throughout.
6. Security is too high

• CIRCUITS

1. CMOS circuits are of modern technology.
2. WAN switches are installed for WAN network.

• SOFTWARE

The software which is used here is SERVER 2016 MICROSOFT OFFICE.

ADOBE CISCO HUBS are used by network AND SCHOOL HOSTED MESSAGING is used by user.

Cost estimation

125687

TABLE.1

Conclusion

The proposed network is full filling the criteria of wireless network with both LAN and WAN capabilities. It is convenient to use both for teachers and students. With this network this school can communicate with other school with the help of video conferencing. This network is highly secured with firewall. this report mainly discuss about the user requirement of the new network. various topologies used in the network, network diagram and cost estimation is shown in this report