Comprehensive Report: Campus Network Design and Implementation

This report provides a detailed overview of campus network design and implementation, focusing on the architecture, simulation, and practical considerations for a commercial credit finance company in Sri Lanka. It begins by defining campus networks and their infrastructure, highlighting the use of technologies like 10 GBPS cables and the Cisco Hierarchical Network Design Model. The report explores the three-tier and two-tier layer models, modular campus network architecture, and the functions of the access, distribution, and core layers. Network simulation, particularly using OPNET, is discussed as a crucial tool for designing and testing networks without physical hardware. The case study of the finance company outlines its IT, Accounts, Admin, and HR departments, emphasizing the importance of a robust network for their operations. The report concludes by stressing the need for a well-designed network to support the company's growth and data security.

- Table of content –

Introduction to Campus Network designing and implementation Page 3 - 4
What is network simulation? Page 5
Introduction to OPNET network simulator Page 5
Scenarios and Objectives in the case study
Conclusions
Reference
Introduction to Campus Network designing and implementation

What is the campus network?
A campus network is a limited LAN (Local Area Network) or interconnected LAN group that serves a
university, government office, college, or comparative organization. In this unique situation, a typical
campus incorporates an arrangement of structures in the near area. The end clients in a campus network
may be scattered in the area, but in a geographical sense than in isolated LAN, yet they are normally not
as scattered as they are in the WAN (Wide Area Network).
The network architecture generally tend to outline the campus segment of the organization network to be
upgraded for the speediest practical engineering that runs on a fast physical infrastructure, for an example
implementing using 10 GBPS (Gigabits per second) cables. Also, organizations may have more than one
campus network in the same geographical area, depending on business objectives, and business nature of
customers in the area.
A profitable network framework is the stimulus of the current economy when all the associations are
directing more with less. These days, the networks were not planned to adapt to the high-data functions
created by the presence of executing in information correspondence. Therefore, there should be a
favorable methodology for implementing a network outline for a specific range.
The infrastructure of Campus networks
In this type of networking, the same technology and hardware are used in different buildings on one
campus or incorporation. They follow the same terminology as local area networks, but the difference is
that they are interconnected between different buildings in a particular location. Suppose about a campus
with various departments like as information technology, electronics, mass communication and fine arts
etc and in all of these department’s computer labs, they have implemented the same infrastructure of
hardware and other technologies using the Local area network as the main tool, and one message sent by
one department can be accessed by the other department, then we say that the network adopts the
techniques of the Campus Area Network (CAN).
Same is the case with the corporation or organizations that have multiple departments in one locality, and
these departments can communicate with each other using CAN”s communication medium. (Campus
Area Network). The same type of hardware in the Campus Area Network (CAN) system means that
routers, switches, hubs, cables, and even wireless connection points are the same in different buildings.
We can say that all these network resources belong to the same organization. If we talk about internet
connection companies, we see that one university uses the same connection for all their departments. In
CAN (Campus Area Network), just like the internet connection, one company deals with the entire
organization.
How do CAN (Campus Area Networks) Work? Uses of CAN
As we know that universities are the best example of this kind of interconnectedness, where
various universities, like administration office, educational departments, staff rooms,
gymnasium, common room, hostels, and conference rooms when linked together to form the
CAN (Campus Area Network). In most cases, corporate campuses connect via wireless
communication mediums rather than cabling and wirings, which are much cheaper to use than
long wires and cables. Organizations adopt this strategy because they are always investing in
low-cost and wireless communication through their building offices so they can control the

budgets for cables, hubs, switches, etc. They can do the same duty by connecting one or two
devices in their head office and providing signals that can be used without any inconvenience to
the other departments.
Campus Area Networks (CAN) are economical, favorable, and easy to operate within a
kilometer. It is very useful for universities and other corporate organizations to work from any
block and receive the gain speed of data transfer.
The Architecture
Cisco’s Hierarchical Network Design Model breaks down the complicated problem of network design
into something smaller and more feasible. Each level or layer of a hierarchy has a specific role. This helps
the network designer and architect to optimize and select the right network hardware, software and
features to play a particular task for that network layer
A general enterprise hierarchical campus network design consists of the following three layers:
 The fundamental tier that supplies optimal transport between sites and high-performance routing
 The Distribution layer that provides policy-based linkage and control boundary between the
access and core layers
 The Access layer that gives workgroup/user access to the network
The two hierarchical design architectures that are proven for campus networks are the three-tier layer and
the two-tier layer models
Three-tier layer model
This design model can be used in a large campus network where multi-distribution layer and buildings
need to be interconnected
Two-tier layer model
This model can be used in small and medium-sized campus network where the core and distribution tasks
can be collapsed into one layer also called a collapsed core/distribution model
Modular Campus Network Architecture
By applying the hierarchical design model discussed above to multiple blocks within the campus network,
this creates a more scalable and modular topology known as “building blocks" which allows the network
to meet evolving business requirements. Modular design can make the network more scalable and
manageable by promoting standardized traffic patterns. Network changes and improvements can be made
in a controlled and platform manner, giving greater flexibility to maintain and operate the campus
network.

We will look further at the core and distribution and access layers.
The Access Layer
In a LAN environment, the login layer is highlighted grants end devices access to the network. In the
WAN environment, it can supply teleworkers or remote sites access to the corporate network via WAN
connections.
As shown in Figure 1-5, the entry layer for a small business network typically includes layer 2 switches and access
points that provide a connection between workstations and servers.
The access layer provides several tasks, including
 Layer 2 switching
 High utility
 Port security
 QoS classification and marking and confidence limits
 Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) inspection
 Virtual access control lists (VACLs)
 Spanning tree
The Distribution Layer
The distribution layer aggregates the data received from the access layer switches before it is transmitted
to the core layer for transfer to its final destination. In Figure 1-6, the distribution layer is the boundary
between the 2nd layer domains and the 3rd layer routed network.
The distribution layer device is the focus of the wiring closets. Using a router or multi-layer switch to
segment workgroups and isolate network problems in a campus environment.
A distribution layer switches can provide upside-down services for many access layer switches.
The distribution layer can provide,
 Assembling of LAN or WAN links.
 Policy-based safety in the form of access control lists (ACLs) and filtering.
 Routing services between LANs and VLANs and between routing domains (e.g., EIGRP
to OSPF).
 Redundancy and load balancing.
 A boundary for path aggregation and summarization configured on the interfaces toward
the core layer.
 Broadcast domain control, because the routers or multilayer switches do not forward
broadcasts. The device acts as the boundary between broadcast domains.
The Core Layer
The core layer is also called as the network backbone. The core layer includes high-speed
network devices like Cisco Catalyst 6500 or 6800. These are designed for packets switch as

soon as possible and interconnect multi-campus components, such as distribution modules,
service modules, the data center, and the WAN edge.
As shown in Figure 1-7, the core layer is very important for the interconnection between the
distribution layer components (for example, the distribution part interconnecting the WAN and
the Internet edge).
The core must be highly available and redundant. The core aggregates traffic from all
distribution layer devices, so it should be able to submit large amounts of data quickly.
Among the core layer considerations are:
 Providing high-speed switching (i.e., faster transport)
 Providing reliability and fault tolerance
 Scaling by using faster, and not more tools
 Avoiding CPU-intensive packet handling due to security, inspection, quality of service
(QoS) classification, or other processes
Two-Tier Collapsed Core Design
The two-tier hierarchical design maximizes performance, network availability, and the ability to scale the
network design.
However, most small enterprise networks do not grow significantly over time. Therefore, a two-tier
hierarchical design of core and distribution layers falling into one layer is often more practical. A
"collapsed core" is when the distribution layer and the core layer functions are executed by a single
device. The basic motivation for a collapsed core plan is to reduce network costs while maintaining many
of the advantages of the three-tier hierarchical model.
The example in Figure 1-8 shows the distribution layer and the core layer functionality being broken
down into multi-layer switch devices.
The hierarchical network model gives a modular framework that allows flexibility in network design and
facilitates ease of executing and troubleshooting.
What is network simulation?
Network simulation is the design, deployment, implementation, and testing of networks using
performance metrics. It can be utilized without the physical hardware with the reasoning of practical
learning and the financial proficiency to any of the topology used to build up the network. There are tools
to simulate the implemented networks with legitimately, as for this scenario, by utilizing the OPNET
network simulator. In-network simulator tools, it is possible to simulate anything in to networking with
logically, for instance, there is a connection to check the use of its transfer speed (bandwidth), despite the
fact that connection is not utilizing as a part of the present world, we can test it from logically through
those network simulators, that is the main advantage of the network simulators.
PART A – Designing a network and modeling it

Company Profile
The commercial credit finance company is a developing finance company in Sri Lanka. It is located in
Colombo 03. The company has four departments and is located in a 10 Km land area. Its employees
work in four adjacent buildings. The network between these buildings connects to the data center in the
A building.
IT Department
The IT department plays an important role in the finance company. The tasks of the IT department are
to manage and monitor the process of local or cloud-hosted system servers, resolve the IT-related issues
of each user or employee, manage and monitor the main network. Similarly, the IT department is
responsible for the ability and responsibility to perform the business process efficiently and safely.
Furthermore, the IT department is responsible for the security of all data and information. Generally,
the IT department is a department with all the server access and authorize permissions on the network.
Accounts Department.
In this company, the accounting department gives accounting administrations and money related support
to the company it has a place with. The office records creditor liabilities and receivable, stock, finance,
settled resources, and all other budgetary components. The office's accountants, audit the records of every
department to decide the organization's budgetary position and any progressions required to run the
association cost successfully.
Admin Department
The admin department is the department that manages the administration process of the company.
Responsibilities of an administrative officer include managing office supplies, stocking, and ordering,
preparing regular financial and administrative reports and administration of company databases and office
supplies management. Employees in the admin department of this company have access to all servers.
HR Department
The HR department is a key part of the prosperity of any business, whether small or large. Human
resources obligations include financial, benefits, employment, firing, and compliance with the latest state
and government fee laws. Any mistakes in these issues can cause a lot of legal problems for the business
and also lead to significant employee frustration.
Those departments have very strong networks, and the company's management plans to expand the
company with as many employees as they can. The company has 50 staff and is a well-developed
company in the financial industry. Each department is housed in a separate building. Given below is a
departmental table showing the staff that each department has.
Department Number of Staff

IT Department 10
Admin Department 25
HR Department 10
IT department 5
All staff members in Commercial Credit use four major applications: Database, Email, FTP and HTTP.
These applications are used in the day-to-day operations of the department. Generally, every department
uses a database, which is very important because the company has all the customer information and
records of their needs. The company's main communication system is an email service. All departments
and their customers use the email system. Web browsing is also a key requirement of the company as it
needs to be updated with software and other modern technologies. The network is maintained for
administrative purposes. The FTP service is mainly used by the IT team. Therefore, you must have an
FTP server, HTTP server, email server, and database server.
Network design
Summary of devices and technologies used across the entire network
Network Devices and hardware
In the Switch category, I used core 3-layer custom switches in the core layer of the network (we can
customize our own network devices in the OPNET modeler), core high-end routing capability (layer 3)
switch required, because of the whole traffic of the network goes through the basic layers as I mentioned
in the three-layer architecture. To this customized layer 3 Core switch I add 14 Ethernet ports and 4 FDDI
ports. So why am I adding 4 FDDI ports, at least I need 3 FDDI ports to connect to the subnets over Core
switches, as I mentioned earlier I used FDDI cables to interconnect subnets to the basic layer. And in the
distribution layer, I used 128 Ethernet (1000mbps) layer 2 switches also with the subnets LAN's shown in
the models. As I mentioned in the company profile, management is planning to expand the company's
employees, so that's why I used 128 port Ethernet switches for the LAN, so it's better to have more ports
than anything.
For routers, in both core layer and subnet access layer, I used customized routers, in the core layer, I
added two 5 Ethernet port routers to access the Internet, it does not support FDDI, but in subnets, I

customized the Cisco 4000 series router to support FDDI, there was only 1 FDDI port, But since there are
redundant routers on the network, I needed at least two ports with 2 Ethernet ports, Cisco 4000 Series is a
high-level router that supports FDDI and represents a new technology of multi-service and branch
platform architecture and its cable connects to any user in a LAN via any connection.
For servers and firewalls, I also used customized servers with 4 Ethernet ports, because the redundant
path of the distribution layers requires at least 2 1000mbps ports in the servers. I add two firewalls with
internet access and for the maximum security for the entire network. As shown in Figure 1, there are 4
main servers maintained by the company's IT department, which are FTP, HTTP, e-mail, and database
servers. While FTP is mainly used by the IT team for their IT purposes, the Admin Department has a
website for e-business, which, according to the company profile mentioned earlier, focuses on fashion
design, which keeps them update on the latest styles, design concepts and so on. The admin department
users also require the FTP service that works for the e-business website. And for web browsing and
electronic communication, I have used HTTP and email servers too (Figure 1). Web browsing of the
Administration Department is essential as they are responsible for designing concepts developing in the
fashion industry.
 Cable types used in the architecture
The cables used in the subnets are the UTP copper cables, which support up to 1000mbps (Gigabit
Ethernet) to connect to there each 1000mbps Ethernet support network switches and routers. Also,
because of the distance and reliability of the network, I used fiber optic cables to connect the sub-
networks with the core layer. In the core layer and IT department, I used 1000BaseX copper cables to
connect the servers and distribution switches. For Internet access, I used T1 cable for reliable connection
to ISP (Internet Service Provides). The T1 internet cable is the most solid choice, but it is also the most
expensive. T1 is an incredible administration for organizations that can't get unreliable web access.
Because it is solid is the way that it is a direct link to the ISP's instead of the link, which more often than
not has at least one top link.