Optimizing FNU's Network for Better User Experience

The assignment content focuses on the redesign of FNU's network infrastructure to improve its performance, scalability, and security. The proposed design includes implementing switched Ethernet, LAN cabling, and selection of technologies and devices for each campus. It also emphasizes the importance of remote access technologies such as IPsec VPN, SSL VPN, and Seamless Roaming to support online training and education. Additionally, the design considers physical network redesign, campus interconnecting devices, and security measures to block unauthorized user access.

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Network Redesign for FNU
Overview
Business Domain:
The network redesigning is required at The First National University (FNU). FNU is a higher
educational organization for long distance learning. This is the first educational organization
providing online courses in the country. The university runs online training and courses; it requires a
network infrastructure of very high performance to provide Quality of Services to the end users. The
university covers 5 regional campuses and 10 metropolitan campuses and a main campus to run
such a huge educational institute. University offers undergraduates programs and postgraduate
programs through distance learning. Moreover it provides Vocational and Educational Training (VET)
as well as short programs for professionals to increase their skills. FNU teaches 45,000 students at
both undergraduate and postgraduate level for various programs on-campus whereas 15,000
students are studying off-campus for distance education at FNU. To ensure services to be delivered
at all the ends, FNU’s network is designed to divide into 3 facility centers. Firstly, Headquarters,
where main campus is located. Second, Operation i.e. Data Centre which is located 50 km away from
headquarters. At the Operations center, the technical staff is appointed for managing and
performing IT related tasks required for proper functioning of the network. The third division is the
Backup Facility. Backup facility is located 1000 km away from the main campus. This is because
backup facility is needed only when operation facility breaks down.
Network Issues:
1. As discussed above, due to heavy number of users on the network, it may result in network slow
down. The online submission is the key facility provided by FNU for ease of submission and
evaluation for the students as well as staff members. Due to online submission for both on-campus
and off-campus students, it has been observed quite a few times that the network problems
appear which makes the late submission for most of the students which in turn results in the bad
grades.
2. FNU has no Bring your own device (BYOD) and Work at home (WAT) policies embodied in the
network which is highly needed by the students and staff to make it possible to work from their
own devices. For this purpose, the secure wireless network should be implemented which
supports BYOD and WAT.
Immediate actions to take in regards of the identified issues:
1. Scalability for 50% increased enrollment in next three years.
2. Improvements with issues in online assignment submissions.
3. Implementation of bring your own device policy by adhering wireless network in the campus.
This enables the students to work on their own laptops, tablets, notebooks and smartphones.
4. With WAT it will allow users (students and staff members) to access network facilities from

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their homes.
5. Security measures must be taken to safeguard data from the hackers.
6. Providing Quality of Services to the network users both at on-campus and off-campus.
Identify Organisation’s Needs and Constraints
Business Goals
FNU is divided into regional and metropolitan campuses that are all similar in size of infrastructure,
staff members and technology. These campuses are all well built with network and required
technologies which serves at its best to the students studying in that campus. With academic
teaching and learning activities both on-campus and off-campus, FNU also has 12 external partners
some of them are:
Hospital: FNU deals with providing training to students for hospitals. On the other fair side, FNU
helps hospitals to get their best interns at the optimum search. The hospitals get benefited by
appointing best candidates at their hospitals with limited searching. The university offers all the
medical related courses which help hospitals to get the best suited candidate.
Research Center: FNU may help students by providing current research practices due to its
partnerships with research centers. It benefits students for future reference. On the contrary, the
research centers uses data and statistics from the university to research further about a particular
field of interest. FNU ties up with such research centers to allow them to perform researches in
some areas.
Vendor Support and Technology are other fields FNU have partnerships with which one or the
other way benefits the students learning process. Also, the FNU offers campus interviews for the
students to get placed in various companies which in turn benefit the companies for selecting best
candidates on the basis of their grades.
As per the requirements discussed above for FNU, it becomes very important to identify the
organizations goals to provide best services to the users of the network, be it students, teaching staff or
technical staff. The business goals are as elaborated below:
1. The university is currently having 45,000 students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level
for various programs on-campus whereas 15,000 students are studying off-campus for distance
education. Future goal of university is to expect new enrollments of 50% rise in upcoming three
years. From the business point of view, the FNU is preparing to add new students both on-
campus and off-campus. FNU presumes to increase the students at the largest possible rate by
providing learning in new and currently trending fields.
2. The FNU provides day learning courses for on-campus students. These activities can also be
extended to short training programs to attract more students and get more enrollments on-
campus. Some short training courses should also be undertaken with certification that will
attract more students seeking for on-campus education for limited time period.
3. The off-campus online courses provided by the university are limited to some extents. To
increase the enrollments, it is required to introduce new training courses. With new courses

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added in online training or long distance learning it is possible to attract off-campus students for
distance education.
4. As far as partnership related expansion is concerned, the FNU administrative and managerial
staff must communicate with more hospitals, companies and research centers. These partners
extension result in attracting more students. Also it may result in recognition from various other
universities.
5. To provide large number of courses for huge number of students, FNU is aiming to provide the
best network for the users. The current goal is to redesign the university network to provide end
to end services without any interruption. Many students using network all the time must have a
heavy load at every moment. FNU aims to use better network policies for the entire network.
6. Foremost goal of FNU is to increase students and this increase in students will result in heavy
loads at metropolitan campuses. This will result in increased number of regional campuses for
distributing students.
7. University also aims at providing BYOD and WAT policies in the network for more usability in the
network.
Needs of improvements in FNU Network:
1. Since several numbers of students and staff members uses the network, FNU network must be
very good at providing best performance. Right from internet surfing to downloading files,
sending emails and providing high end network performance is the high need of the network.
2. The business goal of FNU is to increase number of students by 50% in the next three years;
hence it requires a network design which is highly scalable in nature. New PCs at campus must
be added up in the network without much overhead is the basic need of the network since more
number of students is expected to be increasing in upcoming years.
3. The university provides off-campus distance learning and hence must be available at any time
for its distance learners. Moreover, it requires the student’s on-campus to submit their
assignments online; hence availability of network is very important at that part as well.
4. FNU must also provide Bring Your Own Device and Work AT Home policies in the network for
more usability in the network. These policies are highly needed at the university since it is
affecting the usability of the network. Once more and more personal devices can be connected
to the network, it will affect in overall students learning process.
5. FNU needs to implement a secure wireless network which safeguards student’s login
credentials, files, and other important assets. Moreover, it may restrict the intruder getting into
the network by facilitating strict security measures. Authentication will also need once BYOD
and WAT policies discussed above are implemented in the network to filter illegal activities. The
other security measures should also be taken to protect important files in the server.
Constraints in FNU network
1. Foremost limitation of FNU network is that it does not support bring-your-own-device (BYOD)
which makes it difficult for students to migrate their work from university PCs to laptops and
vice versa. With this limitation students cannot work from their own laptops, notebooks or
tablets.

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2. The network does not support work at home (WAT) policy which does not allow users to access
university network from their personal spaces. WAT must be provided by the university which
will help staff members to carry their pending work out from their homes.
3. Another noticeable limitation is that it sometimes fails to upload assignments due to poor
performance which leads in late submission of homework. This eventually results in poor grades
of the students. The load at the deadline of the submission is observed to be very heavy in the
network which results in slow down of the network and hence students are unable to upload
their assignments on time.
4. The main campus of the university holds large number of users including students and staff.
Other campuses like regional and metropolitan campuses are in similar sizes and technology
usage. All those campuses use old complex technologies which are out-dated and results in
poor performance of the network.
Some technical issues are also noticed in the network which is needed to be noticed and fixed as early as
possible. The technical goals related to the university network as discussed below:
Technical Goals:
1. Scalability
Scalability can be best defined as the ability of the network to ensure no degradation in overall
network performance even if the network size in increased. Scalability is one of the most
important features a sound network can attain. It is the property of the network to add devices
to its existing cluster in such a manner that new added devices do not collectively form a load
that exceeds the cluster’s collective load to offer adequate performance. Scalability once
attained on the network, provides good quality of services in the network since it eventually
relates to the network performance.
The redesigned FNU network must have this feature so that it can be scaled to support
extended usage of services including multimedia applications. This feature is important in FNU
so as to include online teaching in its training part. FNU must provide scalable network for
further enrollments of the new students both on-campus and off-campus. This features must be
employed everywhere at all the campuses. There are several techniques to attain scalability
these are, Network Load Balancing (NLB), scaling up and scaling out. Network load balancing is
the trustworthy technique that allows the network to assess the load on the network and
balance it to provide better network performance. FNU network needs high scalability for its
goal to enroll 50% of the current strength in next three years.
2. Availability (half a page)
The organizations with multiple data centers, network availability are a vital concern. To
perform operations daily such as downloading files from server at FNU requires high need
of network availability because users performing daily operations in the network need the
network to be available all the time. Availability is serious when it comes to disaster

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planning and recovery. FNU aims at providing a network that is available approximately
99.9 percent of the time and offers an MTBF (mean-time-between-failure) of 6000 hours
and an MTTR (mean-time-to- repair) of less than 90 minutes. Network availability with
these values can never fail even at the students’ submission deadlines. As per students
complaints about network slow down at the time of submission, the network with such
availability metrics can fulfill their request of network availability. A key concern FNU’s
students and staff is concerned about is availability of network at their personal spaces so
that they can work from home as well. Implementing WAT in the FNU network is in
demand from students and staff of the network.
3. Network performance
The overall network statistics assessment to define and analyze if the network is capable
of serving quality of services is termed as network performance. It quantitatively and
qualitatively assesses the performance of the computer network which tells the network
administrator to observe, analyze and improve the services provided by the network.
Network performance is measured as:
Bandwidth: metrics for data transfer rate.
Throughput: the maximum amount of data transferred at one time in the network.
Delay and latency: The extra time taken by the: data than the stipulated one.
Jitter: the difference in data flow within the network due to congestion.
Data loss: Data drop before its delivery to the recipient.
The above mentioned parameters define the overall network performance of the
network. Any of the parameter is failing to achieve its quality in the network leads to
complete drop of network performance. FNU wants to provide a wireless network that is
privately secured for students, staff members and visitors as well. With many users on
the network, FNU needs to be redesigned to fully satisfy the network performance.
FNU’s network must also have a response time less than a second for interactive
applications. The network administrators must increase the bandwidth of the Internet
connection to support new applications in the network.
4. Security (half a page)
Security is a key concern in any network even if it is as small as ten computers. FNU’s big
network is under the threat of security breaches. With wireless network, security comes into
picture since wireless network themselves are less secure. Some security measures are needed
to be employed in the network to make it secure. Network security is the act of safeguarding
network data as well as network devices from intruders and malware attacks. With large
number of users and several numbers of devices in the network, security is a key feature to
work on.
FNU’s network must be redesigned to protect the end to end device connections. Moreover, it is
needed to safeguard network from hackers stealing authentication and authorization rights in
the network. To achieve high level of security, network layer of the protocol stack implements
various algorithms, policies and controls which benefits by providing access to the authorized

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users in the network while prohibiting false users to enter into the network. Security not only
protects your personal data and login credentials in the network but ultimately protects your
reputation. FNU with so many users at a time needs a concrete security measures so that no
reputation will be threatened.
5. Manageability
A network is said to be manageable if it allows most of its tasks to be automated. The FNU
network is very huge with different and diverse tasks and services within the network.
Manageability is required at the IP support end where there are many tasks to work on
especially regarding network management. If more of the tasks are automated, the network
itself reduces most of the burden from IP support staff. These tasks include:
1. Network Configuration
2. Data Backups
3. Load Balancing
4. Network Management
5. Network Monitoring
6. Troubleshooting
7. Updates
The tasks once performed by itself, network is said to be manageable. FNU’s network should
also be redesigned to perform several tasks by its own.
6. Usability
Usability of the network or an application is defined as the ease of access of such
products that helps user to use it by using all its functions with utmost ease. The network
usability is how effortlessly and easily a network user can use the network without having
issues like operational issues or connection issues. The FNU network is very complex and
supports various users’ at a time and hence requires the great degree of usability. The
network and its applications should be so very easy that the students and staff members
must handle it very easily. The applications in the network includes university website
that manages students, their submissions, results display, etc. Network usability plays an
important part when the network or its applications are difficult to use.
With usability, network administrators can assess the level of difficulty and redesign its
applications for ease of access to its users. FNU’s network must be easy to operate for
the students and staff so as to make it effective in use for them. Students in the network
are very much new to this kind of environment hence usability must be achieved by the
network for making it easier to use it. Usability in the network can be accomplished by
first analyzing which areas are difficult in use and hence redesigning it may help in
attaining usability.
7. Adaptability

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The network is said to be adaptable of small changes done in the network that does not affect
the overall performance. The FNU’s network is currently using wired services but now FNU’s
administrators are planning to provide wireless services provisions to students and staff
members. The new network must be designed with wireless provisions and hence it must be
adaptable to new changes in the network. The network adaptability is the ability of the network
to respond positively to the change and hence fit into the new circumstances. Repair the IP
addressing scheme of the old network since the network is planned to migrate to the wireless
technology.
FNU network is requires all its users to use bring your own device policy in which personal
devices of the students can also be connected into the network without any difficulty or
connection issues. Availability of network will allow its students to connect their personal
devices with utmost ease. Moreover, FNU is planning to implement the WAT policy in which the
university network will be available all over the globe so as to help its staff to work at home. In
order to make these two policies implemented in the network, FNU needs to implement a
network with high availability.
8. Affordability
With implementation of security, usability, availability and other technical goals in the network, it
becomes very difficult for the network administrators to keep the network affordable. With the security
concerns, the new devices and software needs to be employed in the network. These devices are
somewhat costly and may vary in price when you need it again in next few years. To make a network
available and usable, it also requires a good sum of amount. Moreover, to make it manageable is a hectic
task since it is available, usable and secure. Managing a huge network is also not easy to cope up with.
FNU’s network must be affordable in cost since its new requirements are very high. Some important
concerns affecting affordability of the network are as given below:
1. Adding new wireless devices in the network may lead to extra investments.
2. With the employment of new security features, the network needs to add new supporting
technologies and network security software to accomplish the new requirements related to security
concerns.
3. Wireless technology is more prone to security threats and hence new QoS support is needed to be
employed in the network.
Existing Network
This section briefly describes the current infrastructure implemented at all the campuses in the
university. As stated before, all the regional and metropolitan campuses are using the same size of
network, devices and staff. Following are the hardware specifications currently used at all university
sites.
Hardware at Metro and Regional campuses
 Computer Labs: 10, 24 PCs each with Windows OS and a printer
 Staff PCs: Windows 7 (dual monitors), headsets and webcams.
 Networked Printers: 4 in each faculty.
 Local Network Storage: 1
 Switched Ethernet: 100Base-Tx

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Hardware at main campus
 Computer Labs: 50, 24 PCs each with Windows 10 OS and a printer
 Staff PCs: Windows 10 (dual monitors), headsets, webcams and VoIP video phones.
 Networked Printers: 20 capable of scanning and photocopying.
 Local Network Storage: 1
 Switched Ethernet: 100Base-Tx
Hardware at Operations site
 Servers: Windows and Linux Servers capable of operations like mail, DNS, DHCP, web,
authentication, domain controlling, SAN, database, load balancing, blackboard and video
streaming. The servers at operations site also support FNU’s online learning management and
students’ information management. It also handles ERP services.
 Staff PCs: Windows 8 OS.
Hardware at Backup site
The backup site comes into picture immediately if the operations site fails. It has the same
infrastructure as a backup site and deals with backing up all the data from operations site
periodically. The backup site is far away from the main campus and requires same hardware as
operations site. Once the failure in the network or break down in detected, the backup site loads all
the data from its servers to the operations site with few minutes to revive the network. The services
provided by the operations site are all mirrored by backup site. The backup site is barely used site
but it is of great importance if operations site fails. It helps in recovering the network data.

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Current Wide Area Networks at FNU
Figure 1 Block Diagram of Current WAN at FNU
As shown in above diagram, FNU has 5 sites connected in mesh topology with Virtual Private
LANs (VPLS) using point-to-point connection. Mesh topology ensures redundancy between
operations site, backup site and main campus. The operations site stores data of the network.
There are 5 regional and 10 metropolitan campuses each of which are connected to main
campus, operations site and backup site via Frame Relay permanent virtual circuits (PVC).
Main, Metro and Regional Campus Network at FNU
Each network device at main campus is connected through the 100Base-TX Switched Ethernet LANs but
since the network improvements are decided to be made, modern switched Ethernets are planned to be
added in place of 100Base-TX Switched Ethernet LANs. Staff members at FNU are divided as:
Regional and Metro Campuses (250 staff)
Approximate Number of students 2,000
Administrative Staff 50
Academic Staff 150
Management Staff 50
Main Campus (2000 staff)

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Approximate Number of students 15,000
Administrative Staff 500
Academic Staff 1,000
Management Staff 500
Operations and Backup Site Network at FNU
Site name #Staff Operations
Operations Site 100 Engineers 1. Technical support of data center
2. Networking
3. Maintenance
4. Application Development
Backup Site 100 Engineers
The Operations facility and backup facility is also supported by 100Base-TX Switched Ethernet LANs.
Functions of each staff members are distinct and important at FNU. Academic staff at all the
campuses is responsible for teaching different courses on campus. There are 7 main faculties at FNU
including business, mathematics, health science, social science, computer science, humanities and
physical science. Administrative staff looks up the admission process of new students, manages
students’ records and handles all the administrative tasks related to FNU and its students.
Management Staff includes information technology to handle all the IT related work related to
network and web application, human resources and senior management deals with recruitment of
staff. In last 3 years the students’ enrollment at FNU has tripled in number and the staff members are
increased at double rate.
The details of IT infrastructure are as follows:
1. Every campus building is equipped with high-end core switch.
2. Every floor in every building contains 24-port Ethernet switch that connects the students
and staff PCs. Each of these switches is in turn connected to the high-end core switch.
3. Floor switches follows IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol. These are 100Base-TX
layer-2 switches
4. The network is assigned with IP address 192.168.0.0 with the devices having same
broadcast domain except the public servers.
5. The server located at the operations facility is DHCP server for the FNU’s network. IP
addressing is done with DHCP.
6. The DHCP server runs the Windows-based network management software package which
monitors the switches by using SNMP and RMON.
7. Email, Web and DNS servers are also located at operations facility.
8. Multiservice Platform router has a default route to WAN which does not run a routing
protocol. This router is a NAT-Firewall for the network.
9. Local file storage is offered at each campus from where data backup is taken at regular
interval to the data servers at operations facility.
Network Infrastructure Issues

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The issues related to the old WAN at FNU are as follows:
1. Academic board of FNU identified that the business process of the university highly depends
on the amalgamation of systems and services. This process is very complex and hence it
makes a major issue in the network. This concern to the overall growth of the FNU.
2. The senior executive addressed another issue with FNU network that the university spends a
good sum of amount to build and maintain those systems that are less critical while ignoring
those services that are important to focus on. It suggests that the FNU must focus on
improving the learning and teaching quality in the cost-effective manner. So that most of the
students with economic issues can also get to learn from FNU.
3. The FNU fails at providing best services to its users hence; it should focus on improving
current network infrastructures and migrate towards modern devices and technologies to
guarantee fewer problems in the network. The possible solution to this issue can be aimed at
migrating all its services and applications to the cloud.
4. The current network at FNU is preferably secured but its improvements towards wireless
services may bring lots of security concerns. With this, new authentication and authorization
schemes will be needed to be employed for blocking the internal and external network
attacks. The hackers at the internal level can hack all the important files at files server and
may spread virus within the network which might then be difficult to cope up.
5. FNU is not using any measure for disaster recovery other than backing up its data to
operations and backup facility sites. More focus should be made on prevention of such
disaster or breakdown of network. FNU network must be redesigned to employ new security
schemes suitable for wireless network so that new students or staff devices in the network
may not create any havoc in the network.
Network Traffic Analysis
Network Traffic Flow
The FNU network uses following application and enterprise services running at all the
campuses.
Application / Service Description Users Traffic Flow
Academic and students
work
Students perform their relevant
task such as writing assignments
and codes (students from
computer science faculty) and
saving them at data servers in the
network for further use. Students
use the printing facility to print
their documents within the
campus. Also academic staff uses
the application for saving their
documents and printing them.
Students and
academic staff
End PC to Data
server
Data Server to
Printers
Email Service using SMTP Email service is used at high level
by all the users of the network by
using MS Outlook Desktop.
Students and
University staff
Between end PCs
and Email Server

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Web services
(HTTP and HTTPS)
Web services are used by all the
users to surf internet and access
online information.
Students and
University staff
End PCs to Web
Servers and vice
versa
Online Library Main library of FNU is located at
headquarters but regional and
metro campuses also have small
library facility which lets
students’ and staff to access
online library.
Students and
University staff
End PC to Data
servers
Higher Performance
Computing
Higher Performance Computing is
located at operations site which is
used mainly by nation’s research
centers
Students,
staff and
external
partners
End PCs to
Data servers
Distance Learning All the seven faculties offer online
learning for distance students via
online sessions that uses video
streaming.
Students and
Academic staff
End PCs to web
servers and
data servers at
FNU
Moodle Management of learning
Resources offered to the students
off-campus
Students and
Academic staff
End PCs to web
servers and data
servers at FNU
ERP Human Resource Management
and SAP Enterprise Resource
Planning
Administrative
and Management
staff
Staff PCs to Data
Servers and vice
versa
Student Information
System
The University administration staff
uses this system to keep track of
class registrations, enrolments
and student records.
Administrative
and academic
staff
Staff PCs to
Data Servers
and vice versa
Data Analytics Business intelligence Platform to
find, explore, and share data-
driven insights within FNU.
University
Senior
Management
Staff PCs to
Data Servers
and vice versa
GoogleDocs Online word processor to create
and format documents and work
collaboratively.
University staff Staff PCs to
Google Wen
servers and vice
versa
Office 365 To access Microsoft Office apps on
Windows, macOS, iOS, Android,
and Windows mobile. It also
Students and
University staff
Staff PCs to
Email Server
and vice versa

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provides webmail and social
networking services via the
Exchange Server
Adobe Creative Cloud To access Adobe apps including
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
and Premiere Pro.
Students and
University staff
End PC to
Application
Server and vice
versa
Academic Information
Management System
Academic workflow support Academic staff End PC to
Application
Server and vice
versa
Video Conferencing
System
For Online meetings. Each campus
has at least two virtual rooms fully
configured.
Students and
University staff
End PC to
Application
Server and vice
versa
Laboratory Software All computer labs are equipped
with Microsoft Office and a wide
range of software development
tools (both proprietary and open
source)
Students and
University staff
End PC to
Application
Server & data
server and vice
versa
Protocols and Quality of Service Requirements
Protocols for routing and switching aren’t used in the current FNU network. In wireless services the
MPLS and OSPF network is very highly recommended as described in detail in next section. The QoS
support required in the network are discussed below:
The network in its initial years was simpler than today’s network. IP telephony, Audio video streaming
are some more complicated and crucial part of today’s network traffic and the time effective delivery of
service without data loss has become more important today. Hence four above mentioned pillars are
highly needed to support Quality of service in today’s heterogeneous network. The merits of all four
pillars are described as below:
1. Packet Classification: It ensures classification of packets at router and differentiates them to the
different classes of traffic. Packet classification is extremely important task of the network. Switches in
network use packet classification to select the packet paths instead of de-multiplexing. It helps switches
to classify packets and enroute them very efficiently rather than any other technique. Packet
classification ensures fast delivery of packet by saving overhead time. Also router in the network which
sends packets over Multiprotocol Label Switching tunnels makes a good use of classification to save
time.
2. Isolation: To ensure Quality of Service in the heterogeneous network, all the resources must be
dedicated to the desired operation in the network. For example, the bandwidth, links and buffers must

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be isolated for one transfer operation and same resources should not be allocated to another operation
in the network.
3. High Resource Utilization: Another pillar for supporting Quality of Service in network is allocation of
resources in such a way that it does not affect negatively by another misbehaving flow. This ensures
degree of isolation between flows of packet in such a way that it doesn’t affect the other traffic flow.
This allows using resources of the network efficiently and in optimum manner. Consider at an instance, if
non-sharable fixed bandwidth is allocated for the flow may get wasted if not in use currently. Hence the
merit of this pillar may sometimes prove to be non-beneficial.
4. Call admission: When isolation of resources sometimes causes unavailability of sufficient resources for
another task in the network, the concept of call admission comes into a picture and proves to be very
beneficial. In call admission, the flows declare their requirements of resources to achieve Quality of
Service. On the basis of their requirements, the flow is then admitted to the network if it can satisfy the
requirements declared. Otherwise, the flow id blocked till the sufficient resources are free. Call
admission controls and regulates the traffic flow in the network to ensure that the current flow is
attaining quality delivery without compromising the QoS of the existing flows. Call admission process is
highly beneficial where the traffic contains audio/video data. This process ensures quality delivery of
audio and video in wireless communication and IP telephony. It first checks the network environment
and then decides if this traffic flow will get delivered without sacrificing QoS levels. On this basis, the
traffic is either blocked or allowed to pass through the network.
Logical Network Redesign
Network Topology Design – including detailed views of core, distribution, and access layers (two pages).
Figure 2 Logical Network with core, distribution and access layers

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The logical design above shows the division of all the devices in the FNU network at all the layers
namely, core, distribution and access layer. All the network devices in the FNU network are supposed to
be connected in the depicted way for gaining benefits of all the services. Redesign of the network is
essential to make it usable for all the users in effective way.
Core Layer:
Core layer contains WAN routers to provide the internet facilities in the network. These routers need to
follow OSPF routing schemes for effective routing process in the network.
Distribution Layer:
Distribution layer contains high end switches that are connected to the core layer routers which in turn
are connected to the access layer switches at each site. These switches can be extendable if more
campuses are established in upcoming years. The switches are employed to follow MPLS switching
scheme which will be beneficial in overall switching process in the network. Each of these distribution
switches provides internet access to all the PCs and devices at each site.
Access Layer:
The access layer contains end user PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones and notebooks. The switches are
installed at each floor to connect all the devices wirelessly as well as wired connections for PCs in the
laboratories and staff desk.
IP Addressing Scheme Design is as follows:
LAN #hosts NetID Mask/
CIDR value
Broadcast Usable range #usable
hosts
USABLE ADDRESS 192.168.0.0 /12 192.175.255.255 192.160.0.1 - 192.175.255.254 1,048,574
Main Campus 17,000 192.168.0.0 /17 192.168.127.255 192.168.0.1 - 192.168.127.254 32,766
Operations Site 100 192.168.128.0 /24 192.168.128.255 192.168.128.1 - 192.168.128.254 254
Backup Site 100 192.168.129.0 /24 192.168.129.255 192.168.129.1 - 192.168.129.254 254
Regional Campus 1 2,250 192.168.129.0 /20 192.168.143.255 192.168.128.1 - 192.168.143.254 4096
Regional Campus 2 2,250 192.168.144.0 /20 192.168.159.255 192.168.144.1 - 192.168.159.254 4096
Regional Campus 3 2,250 192.168.160.0 /20 192.168.175.255 192.168.160.1 - 192.168.175.254 4096
Regional Campus 4 2,250 192.168.176.0 /20 192.168.191.255 192.168.176.1 - 192.168.191.254 4096
Regional Campus 5 2,250 192.168.192.0 /20 192.168.207.255 192.168.192.1 - 192.168.207.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 1
2,250 192.168.208.0 /20 192.168.223.255 192.168.208.1 - 192.168.223.254 4096

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Metropolitan
Campus 2
2,250 192.168.224.0 /20 192.168.239.255 192.168.224.1 - 192.168.239.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 3
2,250 192.168.240.0 /20 192.168.255.255 192.168.240.1 - 192.168.255.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 4
2,250 192.169.0.0 /20 192.169.15.255 192.169.0.1 - 192.169.15.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 5
2,250 192.169.16.0 /20 192.169.31.255 192.169.16.1 - 192.169.31.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 6
2,250 192.169.32.0 /20 192.169.47.255 192.169.32.1 - 192.169.47.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 7
2,250 192.169.48.0 /20 192.169.63.255 192.169.48.1 - 192.169.63.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 8
2,250 192.169.64.0 /20 192.169.79.255 192.169.64.1 - 192.169.79.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 9
2,250 192.169.80.0 /20 192.169.95.255 192.169.80.1 - 192.169.95.254 4096
Metropolitan
Campus 10
2,250 192.169.96.0 /20 192.169.111.255 192.169.96.1 – 192.169.111.254 4096
Unused Address Space 192.168.112.0 – 192.175.255.254
Switching and Routing Protocols for FNU
MPLS Switching Protocol:
In order to speed up and shape network traffic flow, Multiprotocol Label Switching protocol is used. It
allows most packets to be forwarded at Layer 2 before it is passed to Layer 3 i.e. at routing level. In this
protocol, layer 2 of ISO model performs forwarding of packets in the network. The switches in the
network are intended to perform this activity. These switches read the labels and forward the packets
on the predefined path. These paths are termed as label-switched paths (LSPs). In order to improve QoS
in the network, MPLS plays a pivotal role. This type of switching is very useful where time-critical
applications are in demand such as online video training where data needs to be forwarded in greater
speed. FNU’s network is very huge and needs this type of switching to reduce time required for the
packets
Open Shortest Path First for routing:

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Routers using Internet Protocol (IP) uses OSPF for finding shortest and best path for routing packets in
the network. OSPF is designed to help routers decide which path is best for the packets to reach to the
destination. When there are autonomous network containing several networks inside of them, OSPF has
a great importance. RIP, the widely used routing protocol is now replaced by the OSPF protocol.
Automatic updating of routing table also takes place when using OSPF since it helps router learn the bets
and shortest path even when the network configuration is changed. OSPF immediately detects the
change in the network which in turn helps routers to find the shortest path without many efforts. In RIP,
the routers sends entire routing table to its neighbour routers in every 30 seconds. OSPF sends only the
part of data that has changed. FNU’s network is huge in size where there is several number of devices
connected.
Network Management Strategies:
Network management for FNU is a hectic task since it is a complex network. Some important things to
work around in order to achieve best network performance are as follows:
1. Since FNU is a complex network, best technologies should be chosen so as to minimize the risk
of network failure. Not all the strategies can be implemented but the critically required
strategies can be implemented to save the network. Some tools and software applications can
be employed to make the network more secure for all its users.
2. It is very important to discover the best network topology for such a huge network. But to
choose wisely, the network must be studied well to redesign the good network topology. When
network topology is discovered correctly half of the problems are solved related to the network.
3. Configuration management is another strategy to improve the efficiency of the network. This
helps in process automation that saves university’s resources and time. This management is
helpful in finding changes in the network that will in turn save lot of time in finding the problems
(if any) due to network change.
4. Application Performance monitoring is another network management strategy to work on. This
improves the quality of experience for the users in the network.
All the tools and strategies if implemented in the network can make network much more usable and
smooth in functioning. It is possible to implement all these strategies at certain extent for the better
network performance. FNU’s network has to be implemented with most of these network strategies in
order to give best user experience since it allows many online services to its students.
Physical Network Redesign
Selection of Technologies and Network Devices for each Campus (LANs)
LAN cabling
In order to transfer information through one network device to another, cables are required in the
network. Different types of cables are available that can be used in LANs depending on the type of
network, network topology, size of network and protocol used in the network. To design a successful
network, it becomes very important to relate to the network needs so as to define the cabling type for
the network. Following are the types of cables:

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1. Coaxial cable
2. Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable
3. Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable
4. Wireless LANs
5. Fiber Optic Cable
For FNU’s new network design, the switched Ethernet is expected to implement in the new network
where LAN cables will only set up at campus where end to end point connections are required like,
1. Router to high end switch
2. Switch to other switches on each floor
3. Each switch on the floor to end PCs in labs and staff desks
LAN Technologies
LAN technologies implements Ethernet technologies in a campus network. It can be used in different
combinations as below:
1. At the access layer, an Ethernet of 10 Mbps speed can be used to provide satisfactory
performance in the network for most users. Along with it, a Fast Ethernet can be installed for
clients and servers consuming heavy data.
2. Gigabit Ethernet is the best option to provide link between access layer and network devices. In
addition, the supporting segments or clusters can be attached through Ethernet.
3. In order to connect servers’ at large campuses to offer client-server architecture, Fast Ethernet
of Gigabit Ethernet creates a good solution. With Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ethernets can be used to
avoid slowness in the network.
4. The distribution layer and core layer can be connected through the Gigabit Ethernets because
each of these layers supports dual links. To balance load this change must be adapted.
5. Gigabit Ethernet should be used between switches and the backbone for fast transfer of data
between backbone switches.
FNU’s network is huge and complex hence rather than using same type of cables or Ethernet
technologies, the combination of LAN technologies may help in providing best network
performance.
Campus interconnecting Devices
FNU network is very large since it contains several staff members, students and other management staff
at each site. Hence the interconnection of devices at each site should be properly done to offer best
services to its users.
The devices used will be:
1. Routers
2. High –end Switches
3. Switches

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4. Wireless Routers
Selection of Technologies and Devices Campus Wide (WANs)
The devices selection is very important when it comes to huge network like FNU. Hence the good quality
devices that can be scaled up to several users in future should be selected and deployed. The switched
Ethernet for LAN and MPLS and OSPF protocols are selected for FNU’s new network. Moreover, the
application must also be redesigned to employ more security to the applications so as to avoid data leak
and theft even if the hacker is inside of the network. Data centres must be protected by saving all the
data in cipher text by employing more rigid security plans. These all security measures should be
employed at all the sites including regional, metro, headquarters, operations and backup sites.
Remote Access Technologies
For Remote access, students learning online need a high performance network that can provide best
quality services to the distance users. On the whole when a student is enrolled for online training, he
expects the online training should be uninterrupted to get the full benefit of admission to that course.
The online training involves using VoIP and conferencing techniques. By applying MPLS in the network,
FNU’s network will always be ready to use for online training without any interruption. Since MPLS
reduces time for the packet to move from one end to another.
Some technologies that FNU should adopt for remote access:
1. IPsec VPN
2. SSL VPN
3. Friendly Net Detection
4. VPN Path Finder
5. Seamless Roaming
6. Network Access Control
7. High Availability Services
8. Overlapping Networks
Physical Network Map

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Figure 3 Physical Network Map for FNU
Conclusion
FNU network is a huge and complex network that is currently being used with some problems regarding
network performance and ease of use. The current network needs some improvements to provide full
benefits of internet to its students and staff members. Along with on-campus infrastructure
improvements, there is a great need of improvements in technologies for off-campus students. FNU is
heavily growing university with high increase of students every year. This led the management
personnel to think over its redesign. The redesign of the network is expected to have wireless access to
student and staff personal devices such as laptops, tablets, notebooks and smartphones. The network
must also implement security measures to block unauthorised user access. Moreover BYOD and WAT
policies are also in focus when migrating to the new redesigned network. The proposed design
according to the requirements of FNU is all kept in vision while designing the new network structure.
This design is better than the old network structure and design which will benefit the university in all
aspects.
References
[1] Kenneth D. (2008). Designing and Supporting Computer Networks, CCNA Discovery Learning Guide.
Cisco Press, Pages 48-1.
[2] Computer Networks-A top-down approach by Kurose and Ross.
[3] Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide sixth edition by Todd Lammle