31270 Networking Essentials

Case Study
10th May 2015
Word Count: ____ (max 2500)

Jerome Diaz - 11993882

Christopher Tan - 12039234
Huynh Tuong Phong - 11543939
Kristy Lee - 98090475

Index

Executive Summary

Introduction

Network Topology

Hardware Choices

Media Selection

Internet Access Choice

VLSM

Printer IPs

Conclusion

Executive Summary
The purpose of this report aims to carry out recommendation for ICH for its
future networking development including concerned department and sites
within the next five years. Network topology, hardware choices, media
connection choices as well as internet connection are proposed as main
factors to improve ICH network performance and cost reduction. The last but
not the least, with the use of VLSM, it will strengthen the addressing scheme
of ICH for future expansion with more IPs.

Introduction

Network Topology
Due to the fact that the ICH executes across five separated sites and connect to
Metropolitan Head Office (MHO) via four branches, star topology and logical multiaccess topology are suggested as the most suitable physical and logical topology
for ICH.
Physical Topology
According to Beasley (2005), a model of star topology is built for a Local Area
Network (LAN) in which all nodes are separately linked to a central connection point
for example a hub or a switch. Therefore, all end devices in ICH HQ and its branches
will be interiorly connected through a central switch within their site respectively.
The advantage of this methodology is that if any connection fails, it will not
influence others. In addition, this technique provides more security because all
workstations must go through the main server to interact with another.

Furthermore, as stated by Beasley (2005), in order to maximize the effectiveness in

managing the number of end devices to be accessed to each site, the star topology
is the most suitable because its properties are scalable. Within the next five years
when the number of devices skyrockets, this topology will ensure that the bridges
that connect current sites and host will not be corrupted in case a new host is
added. Even though the cost to establish this topology is considerable because it
requires numerous additional cables, its effectiveness and efficiency for long term
can overcome the burden of cost. However, ICH needs to take into account that this
method can cause the whole system to be unable to access if the server crashes of
stops working.
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Moreover, a star topology will also be implemented with an individual router to

connect to the main bank of switches in the HO as required by ICHC for a separated
LAN network within their Head Office building. All 360 hosts in the MHO are
classified into different departments which are Marketing, Sales and Accounting.
Virtual Local Area Networks will be installed on the central switch in the HO; and
each department will possess its own VLAN which can only be accessed by devices
within that department. The benefits of using VLANs in the HO are bankable such
as increasing performance, security and cost efficiency. Firstly, the burden of HO
network traffic will be significantly reduced because only hosts within the same
VLAN, or in the same department in other word, with broadcasting device can
receive the message. Secondly, due to the fact that it is possible to configure
numerous VLANs with only one switch, the cost for VLANs implementation can be
axed. The last but not the least, network security will be strengthened with VLANs
because every department and its devices are situated in separated VLAN, it is
impossible for information to be transferred among departments.

Logical Topology
Don (2011) examines that a logical multi-access topology is a good option for
business network since it does not request for the use of contention from access
protocol to reply to data concurrence in each individual site because only one
device can transfer data through the network at a time. Therefore, ICH is suggested
to establish logical multi-access topology over the star topology in its network. Due
to the fact that most ICH sites within the next five years will have considerable
amount of end devices to transfer data at once, it is critically necessary to
implement multi-access topology to ICH network to prevent the whole system to be
slowed down. In addition, it also assists end devices in each site to share the same

media for communication. As a result, there is no necessity for ICH to purchase

more media and ICH also achieve cost reduction.

Hardware Choices
Router
For the choice of router, many router such as Cisco 881, Cisco 891 24X and Cisco
7301 stand out from the crowd. Cisco 881 have noticeable advantages such as 4
MBPS ports with manageable switch that can allow various connection among
devices in office. It also generate more secured segments of network for security.
Besides, it has no fan so that it can perform its duty quietly. Lastly, Cisco 881 is
affordable because it only costs approximately $500 including tax.
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On the other hand, Cisco 891-24X is recommended to be used in enterprise small

branch such as Suburban Branch, Remote Branch and Metropolitan Branch. The
device provide web-based Cisco Configuration Professional configuration tool which
simplifies the operations such as deployment, management and troubleshooting
with the assistant of smart wizard and task-based tutorials. Users are not required
to have sufficient knowledge of command-line interface in order to use the tool. By
using this feature, the configuration process will become easier and more efficient.
The router also comes with eight-port 10/100-Mbps Fast Ethernet managed switch
which provides multiple connections between devices. In addition, the router
provide dual-band access point, allows wireless connection in autonomous mode.
This means users can operate the access point independently and connect to the
network using wireless more conveniently without waiting for synchronization
signal. In enterprise small branch where there are lots of traffics going back and
forth within the network, using autonomous wireless connection will provide more
time efficiency.
Lastly, Metropolitan Head Office is suggested to use Cisco 7031. This router uses
the VPN Acceleration Module 2+ (VAM2+) able to provide IP Security (IPSec)
encryption scalability up to 280 Mbps which is the most suitable for headend and
site-to-site VPN deployments. Considering the number Teleworker will increase by
10 over the next 5 years and mainly use VPN connection and point-to-point
network, Cisco 7031 offer an extreme benefit of high performance in VPN
connection. Furthermore, port adaptors are provided for the connectivity with the
router Cisco 7301 by inserting into the correct slots within the system chassis. The
combination between different ports is also possibly accomplished to match

accurately the connection requirement after considering the cost. The broadness of
connectivity options as well as the flexibility and scalability of the device will be
convenient in meeting changes of the system requirements without requiring
chassis replacement. Cisco 7031 has 100% modularity which is continuously
upgradable. This feature ensures the router able to consistently perform at highest
levels as well as maintaining high quality of functions while retaining the original
investment.

Switch
Cisco Catalyst 3750X-24T-S -switch - 24 ports - managed - rack - mountable is
strongly advised to be used to ensure the switch matches network requirements.
The switch is also packed with network module, which possesses two 10GBE SFP+
ports network module including two regular SFP ports, and two SFP in order to join
switches through fibre. The price is approximately $3,955, which is quite expensive,
however, it supports cat6 cable that provides faster connection for Metropolitan
areas and other small branches of enterprises. It can be troublesome for the ICH
due to high cost but in return, it will generates more benefits such as smoother
experience and faster connection, especially for long term benefit.
Cisco SG100D-08 8-Port Unmanaged Gigabit Desktop Switch is suitable for small
offices such as Executive Home Office. As far as the project concerns, Executive
Home Office is expected to remain the same with 5 hosts over the next five year,
therefore in order to reduce cost while ensuring there are enough ports to connect
devices together, the switch is recommended to have 8 ports . The device does not
require any software or anything to install and configure. Each port of the switch is
able to automatically adjust itself for the optimal speed as well as determines to run
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between half or full-duplex. The ease of use help the office workers to avoid
unnecessary worries about configuration and setup process. In addition, the price
only comes around $75 dollars which is affordable while still meeting the network
requirement.

Wireless Access Point

Cisco Aironet 1700 Series Access Point provides 802.11ac Wave 1 support with 3x3
MIMO and two spatial streams with higher bandwidth, which is three times
compared to 802.11n networks. This means the network can still be delivered at
high speed over a wide range; which ensure the high performance and consistency
of the network. The device is also able to direct devices to connect with the AP in
certain coverage range in order to provide the fastest data rate.

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Media Selection
To select the appropriate media for the internal connections of each of our subnet,
we must consider the bandwidth requirements for the hosts on each network. We
must also consider the network topology, and what requirements that will have. As
we have chosen a star topology, this means we have to choose two types of media
connections; connections between each switch (backbone or vertical
connections) and connections from switches to host devices (distribution or
horizontal connections).

Wired vs Wireless Media

In this current day and age, especially with the rise of Bring Your Own Device
(BYOD), we can expect that ICHs network will need to support both wired and
wireless connections. We will need wired media for our backbone connections and
also for distribution connections to immobile work stations, which will provide fast,
stable, high bandwidth connections. Wireless media will also be required to connect
mobile devices to conveniently to the network.

Wired Media Comparison

The two types of wired media that are currently available are copper and fibre optic
cabling, each having their own advantages and disadvantages. Copper cabling is
cheaper, and easy to terminate and work with. Fibre has higher bandwidth
capability as well as being able to run over much longer distances, but is
significantly more expensive to purchase and install. We can also get really specific
about copper cabling, with three main standards being used at this present time,

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Cat5E, Cat6 and Cat 6A. below is a summary table with price estimates per meter
as well as their capabilities

Backbone Media
For our backbone connections, it is important that our connections between
switches are significantly faster than our distribution connections between switches
and hosts (end devices). This is so we can avoid bottlenecking between switches. As
such, the best solution that is fibre optic cabling, and while it is considerably more
expensive than the other options, it provides significantly higher bandwidth. Using
fibre will help future proof the network as we can expect the bandwidth speeds
between hosts and switches to continue to improve, and the only way we can
ensure continued efficiency is to have backbone bandwidth speeds as fast as
possible.

Distribution Media
As mentioned earlier, we will need to choose both wired and wireless media. For
wired connections, we would recommend Cat6A as it has the highest bandwidth out
of the possible copper media choices. Fibre is out of the question because currently

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end host devices do not support fibre connections. While it is almost twice as
expensive as Cat6 it is a worthy investment as it will be considerably future proof.

As far as wireless media goes, our chosen wireless access points provide us with
both IEEE 802.11ac and IEEE 802.11n wireless technology. IEEE 802.11ac is the
most current standard, supporting throughput of at least 1 Gigabit per second.
However, older devices do not support this standard, which means it is necessary to
have IEEE 802.11n capability as well.

Summary Table

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Internet Access Choice

There are various Internet access choices inclusive of fibre optic, ADSL/2/2+, cable
and wireless broadband. The recommended Internet access type for Innovative
Computer Hardware is fibre optic connection as it provides a reliable and stable
connection delivering incredible speeds of up to 100Mbps which is most beneficial
to the expanding company of ICH. Although fibre optic is not accessible to all areas,
it is available to ICH as Internet access for the entire company is through the Head
Office, which is located in the Metropolitan area.

TPG offers a fibre optic broadband service for businesses from $299 per month for a
24-month contract with an additional setup fee of $5000. Although this is quite
expensive, other ISPs offer comparable fibre optic broadband for $1000s a month.
This is the most suitable plan for ICH with its unlimited data of 100Mbps
symmetrical speed, no shaping speed, no data quota and no restrictions. The
unlimited monthly data allowance is scalable to provide for the expected future
growth and increase. Their own PPC-1 undersea cable provides low latency access
to the Internet therefore businesses dealt by ICH via the Internet will be reliable,
fast and efficient.

An alternative to TPGs fibre optic broadband plan is TPGs ADSL2+ business plan
from $69.99 per month. Also with the unrestricted data limit, this ADSL2+ is not as
costly as fibre optic but with speeds of only up to 20Mbps, which is one fifth of the
speed provided by fibre optic.

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VLSM

Printer IP Addresses

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Conclusion
In conclusion, the Innovative Computer Hardware companys requirements for a
future network expansion can be satisfied through the consideration of the following
recommendations. A logical multi-access topology over a physical star topology
implemented at each site will provide ICH with a cost-efficient, scalable and faulttolerant network, while a fibre optic broadband service from TPG will provide
sufficient bandwidth and data allowance for ICH to communicate over the Internet .
We have selected appropriate hardware devices to fulfill the requirements of each of
the companies sites, as well as selecting the relevant media for our LAN
connections.

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Bibliography/References
CBT Nuggets 2012, MicroNugget: What is a VLAN?, video recording, viewed 25 April
2015, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk5gUu5fFDU>.

Cisco, (2015). Cisco Aironet 1700 Series Access Point Data Sheet. [online] Available
at: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/aironet-1700series/datasheet-c78-732347.html [Accessed 22 May 2015].

Cisco, (2015). Cisco IOS Switching Services Configuration Guide, Release 12.2 Routing Between VLANs Overview [Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2]. [online]
Available at:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios/12_2/switch/configuration/guide/fswtch_c/x
cfvl.html#wp1003415 [Accessed 2 May 2015].

Cisco, (2015). Cisco Small Business 100 Series Unmanaged Switches. [online]
Available at: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/smallbusiness-smart-switches/datasheet_C78-582017.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2015].

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Apr. 2015].

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Cisco.netacad.com, (2015). Home - Networking Academy. [online] Available at:

https://cisco.netacad.com/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2015].

Lawrence, K. (2015). Understanding VLANs, and Inter-VLAN Routing Part I. [online]

Blog.boson.com. Available at: http://blog.boson.com/bid/86387/UnderstandingVLANs-and-Inter-VLAN-Routing-Part-I [Accessed 20 Apr. 2015].

Techsoup.org, (2015). Cisco 880 Series Advanced IP Services License. [online]

Available at: http://www.techsoup.org/products/cisco-880-series-advanced-ipservices-license--G-47300-- [Accessed 28 Apr. 2015].

Tpg.com.au, (2015). TPG Business Fibre Optic Broadband Service. [online] Available
at: http://www.tpg.com.au/fibre-optic [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015].

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