Network Design Assessment

Network Design Assessment

David Story

NTC 411

September 15th, 2014

PHILIP TEELING

Network Design Assessment

This paper will outline the network design assessment for the Riordan Manufacturing Organization. The network design shows how the organization is connected using WAN and has a pictorial of all the locations. It shows the connection between the main headquarters located in San Jose, California and the other facilities located in Pontiac, Michigan; Albany, Georgia; and Hangzhou, China. The network design lists all the equipment that used in each location of the organization and is used for the delivery of network information. NOTE: the network design should include major components like hosts, servers, workstation, nodes, and devices that are connected to the network. This will allow the network designers to determine where to place the equipment, how to connect them, and have a diagram for future expansion.

Placing the equipment is vital to any organization, because it will affect the users and the other departments of the organization. Looking at the diagrams, the network designer has placed the components in the proper areas to make the transmission of data more efficient, utilization of switching data, and for the best connection configuration. This will give the best flow of data and ensure that Riordan Manufacturing can carry out their daily functions. The combination of the hardware, software, network devices, and cat5 cabling listed will allow for the best communications for the company. What I mean by this is that the company will have no problems with sending, receiving, storing, or accessing information form with in and to the other sites of the company. In addition, the usefulness of the network is certain since the main components such as printers, computers, and backup power storage are in place.

Even though the network components are outdated, the network is complete and contains the necessary and important equipment of a network infrastructure. The network has the security and storage needed to keep the information contained within safe from hackers and those with limited access. This means that the network data capacity and speed is sufficient enough to carry out daily functions for the users of the system. There is a Windows server, Exchange Server, Unix Server, and Network Attached Server on the network that houses all the users and company information for use in daily functions and allows for backing up the information in case of loss.

It is important to include a backup plan and system for the entire network. This would ensure that the organization does not lose any data. The backup plan should ensure that the main server is protected against risks such as natural disasters, employee sabotage, fire and breakage. We have learned for the attacks of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Tsunami that hit Japan how critical it is to have data storage backup in an entirely different location, preferably from several miles to thousands of miles away. The backup plan has to have sufficient storage capacity, which would allow the organization to store its data without loss in case of a risk occurrence. In addition, the network infrastructure should focus on the security of the information. The security of information is vital for the operation and existence of the organization, not only physical security but anti-virus and network security, which means that the company has to focus on upgrading security. According to the network outline, there is no sufficient security plan for the data.

The organization has critical and confidential data, which should be protected against intruders and network hackers. For example, the system links different departments such as finance, HR, Corporate, and marketing. It is important for the organization to maintain the confidentiality of the information from each department, which would have dire consequences in case of leakage. The network ought to upgrade its security by incorporating individual secure areas on the servers for customer data and company information, and incorporate security strategies and policies that will ensure that the data is safe. In addition, the network infrastructure should be upgraded from 100baseT to 1000base T to accommodate for any future growth. The manufacturing company forecasts growth which means it should have a system that will be able to withstand the additional flow of information or the addition of any equipment.

The current bandwidth capacity of the company network is sufficient for the type of daily functions they perform. It should be noted that the organization should upgrade their current 100baseT to 1000baseT to accommodate for future growth of the network and the additional flow of data. After the upgrade the network will be able to handle any expansion of the company or the addition of users and computers. Along with the upgrade of the bandwidth capacity, Wi-Fi should be added to allow the users in the warehouse and on production floor a way to keep the database up to date.