Computer System Research & Network Design for Springfield Local Library

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the computer system and network design for the Springfield Local Library (SLL). Part A focuses on the hardware and software requirements for various departments, including employee workstations, helpdesk, server, and public access computers. Part B delves into the network design and implementation, outlining the network topology, addressing scheme, and protocols used. The report also discusses the impact of the design on cost, ease of use, and performance.

Computer System Research
Exercise & Network Design
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Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................... 3
Part A..................................................................................................................... 3
Computer System Research...............................................................................3
Software and Hardware Requirements...............................................................4
Part B..................................................................................................................... 6
Network Design.................................................................................................. 7
Network addressing............................................................................................ 8
Network Planning............................................................................................... 8
Implementation................................................................................................ 10
Impacts on Different Aspects...............................................................................12
Conclusion........................................................................................................... 12
References........................................................................................................... 13
List of Figures
Figure 1: PuTTY Configuration....................................................................................................3
Figure 2: MY SQL Server...............................................................................................................4
Figure 3: Network Design.............................................................................................................7
Figure 4: Frame Relay Configuration.......................................................................................9
Figure 5: Packet Tracer Imple...................................................................................................10
Figure 6: Test 1..............................................................................................................................10
Figure 7: Test 2..............................................................................................................................11
Figure 8: Test 3..............................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
The Springfield Local Library (SLL) has decided to create a new network
design for its new building. This assignment will help to understand the
new system requirement and networking scheme for its new library. Part
A of this report consists major Hardware and Software requirement by SLL
to meet its requirement as per the case study and Part B will illustrate the
networking design and implementation of the network which SLL required.
Part A: Computer System Research
The Springfield Local Library (SLL) requires a quiet efficient workspace for
its staff and for the public users. A wide variety of system requirement in
terms of hardware and software must be met to fulfil the SLL case study
requirement.
All the system under the employees must have antivirus installed. For
antivirus there are lots of options to choose with like – McAfee antivirus,
Norton antivirus, QuickHeal antivirus etc., selection of antivirus depends
on SLL.
All the systems are running latest Windows Operating System (Windows
10 Enterprise) which provides the best support for Microsoft application
like – Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel etc. Also, most of the
antivirus are totally compatible with Windows OS.
For the helpdesk, it is required that it can access any remote system in
the network of SSL. For this Putty, the software can be handy. A putty is a
software that can give access to a remote system over the network. It
provides a tunnel access directly to the Command Line Interface (CLI) of
the destination system. But it is required that the other system must have
SSH (Secure Shell) access configured.
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Figure 1: PuTTY Configuration
Hostname or IP must be given of the destination endpoint system in putty
software (Figure 1) and then after clicking open system credentials are
entered in the prompt and after that you get access to your end system.
A system is configured using windows server which run SQL server in it.
This system will provide database features and services to its users who
can get access to the database via remote access.
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (Figure 2) which is integrated in
windows server can resolve this problem easily. Here all the database
server related work can be performed. SQL server can provide a great
benefit in maintaining the databases like – in stock books or total
customers or staff related databases. Here local SQL servers can be
created (Figure 2) and local users can use this database to make updates
in it.
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Figure 2: MY SQL Server
Software and Hardware Requirements
Following is the software list according to case scenario –
 Antivirus (any market-leading antivirus software Quickheal, McAfee
etc.)
 Microsoft Windows 10 (Enterprise or Professional)
 Microsoft Office Package (including all major software like – Excel,
Word, PowerPoint etc.)
 Microsoft Windows Server 2016
 Putty
Every software critically depends on the hardware it's working on.
Hardware is always the first requirement for a system. SLL requires quite
a different type of hardware to meet the requirement of the scenario.
Different departments have their own need of system requirement.
Employees PC hardware requirement –
 Storage – 500 GB SATA Hard drive would be enough to meet the
employee’s requirement
 Memory – 8 GB Ram DDR3 can run the application used by
employee easily
 Processor – Intel 7th Generation i3 can meet the basic requirements
 Software – Microsoft Office package, antivirus (Quickheal)
 Operating System – Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise
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Helpdesk PC hardware requirement –
 Storage – 500 GB SATA Hard drive would be enough to meet the
helpdesk requirement
 Memory – 12 GB Ram DDR3 can run the application used by
helpdesk user easily
 Processor – Intel 7th Generation i3 can meet the basic requirements
 Software – Putty, Microsoft Office package, antivirus (Quickheal)
 Operating System – Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise
Server PC hardware requirement –
 Storage – 2 TB SATA Hard drive would be enough to store the large
database of Library
 Memory – 16 GB Ram DDR4 can run the SQL or any other server
easily
 Processor – Intel 7th Generation i7 is required for such fast
processing
 Software – Microsoft SQL Server Management
 Operating System – Microsoft Windows Server 2016
Public PC hardware requirement –
 Storage – 250 GB SATA Hard drive would be enough
 Memory – 4 GB Ram DDR3 can run the basic application
 Processor – Intel 7th Generation i3
 Software – Microsoft Office package
 Operating System – Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise
Assembling this hardware would not be enough because there’s still no
connection or network between these systems. For this networking must
be introduced. Networking components (like routers, switches etc.) are
used to connect PCs in different branches with one another.
Networking hardware devices required –
 Routers – Routers are the heart of any network. They are
responsible for routing the packages, optimising the network,
improving security and many more. For SLL we will install Cisco
1941 Series Router.
 Switches – Switches are the hardware where a number of devices
can transfer their data to other devices. For SLL we will be using
Catalyst 2960 Series Switch. It can hold up to 24 fast Ethernet
connection at a time.
 Cables – Cables are important and cable selection is critically
important in networking. Copper straight through cable is used
when connecting pc to a switch or to connect the switch to a router.
Serial DCE cable is used for connecting Router to Router.
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Part B: SOHO Network
The given scenario of Springfield Local Library (SLL) network is based on
Small Office/ Home Office network style. The network consists a large
number of networking hardware like a router, switches etc.
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Network Design
Figure 3: Network Design
The network of SLL (in Figure 3) is virtually created over Cisco Packet
Tracer software. The complete network is designed to meet each and
every requirement made by SSL. All the three floors consist following
network hardware configuration –
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Floor 1 –
 Router – A dedicated router is installed for the floor naming Router0.
 Switches – There are two switches one for the complete floor which
connects floor router and other systems and one for the Public
Access Room where the public user can access the system and surf
the internet.
Floor 2 –
 Router – A dedicated router is installed for the floor naming Router1.
 Switches – There are three switches installed on this floor. To
switches are particularly installed only for common room and for
cubicles, it provides open sockets for users in these rooms.
Floor 3 –
 Router – A dedicated router is installed for the floor naming Router2.
 Switches – There’s only one switch on this floor and each system is
connected to it.
Network addressing
The complete network in SLL is configured by the concept of subnetting.
Subnets are used where one network is to be divided between two or
more systems. Subnet scheme for SLL is below:
Floor Router Subnet Network ID
1 Router0 192.168.1.0/24
2 Router1 192.168.2.0/24
3 Router2 192.168.3.0/24
Subnet Mask for each Subnet Id would be 255.255.255.0.
Network Planning
The network planning of SLL includes various protocols like EIGRP, DHCP,
FTP etc. The following protocols and configurations are used –
 All routers are configured with Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing
Protocol (EIGRP). It’s a protocol which connects different network
independently with each other and lets router to the packets from
source to destination.
 Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) is used to provide dynamic IP
addresses to systems.
 Frame Relay is used to connecting two different networks over WAN
like the Internet.
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Figure 4: Frame Relay Configuration
We have to configure the frame relay setting of cloud, this setup will
create a connection between SLL network and the Internet. For this serial
port of cloud are set up so that the networks are relayed (Figure 4).
The network connection scheme on ports of routers is as below –
Router Port IP address assigned
Router0 Gigabit Ethernet
Serial Port 1
Serial Port 2
192.168.1.0/24
100.100.100.0/30
192.168.20.0/30
Router1 Gigabit Ethernet
Serial Port 1
Serial Port 2
192.168.2.0/24
192.168.10.0/30
192.168.20.0/30
Router2 Gigabit Ethernet
Serial Port 1
192.168.3.0/24
192.168.10.0/30
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Implementation
The network design is implemented successfully on Cisco Packet Tracer
(Figure 5). And following are some screenshots from the implementation
of the network of SLL.
Figure 5: Packet Tracer Imple
The ping function in the network is working which means the network
components and systems are communicating with each other
successfully.
Figure 6: Test 1
In figure 6 the pc from reception is successfully communicating with the
system in the helpdesk. This shows the network is successfully working.
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Figure 7: Test 2
A dedicated server installed in SLL on the third floor which handles the
database server and also acts as an application server. In figure 7 files are
fetched from server to pc in library database access room. This can only
be done is the user have the login credentials to access databases.
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Figure 8: Test 3
According to a case study of SLL, it was required that PCs in Public Access
Room must have internet access. Figure 8 shows that Internet is
accessible on the PCs in Public Access room.
Impacts on Different Aspects
 Cost – Cost wise the designed network is as much cost effective
according to the requirement of the Springfield Local Library. But it can
be more optimised like by introducing wireless routers which will
reduce the cable cost.
 Ease of use – The provided network design includes an individual router
for each floor which makes it handy and easy to configure the
networking configuration floor wise and it also makes the network
more secured. Protocols like DHCP can make new users easy to
connect to the network.
 Performance – Performance wise the network is quite efficient. The
performance of the network is great because the complete network of
SLL is divided into three smaller networks which make it efficient. But
the network can be more robust and non-breakable by taking security
measures like firewalls and several secured protocols (like Telnet, SSH
etc.).
Conclusion
After performing Part A and Part B as per the Springfield Local Library
(SLL) case study a successful understanding of Software and Hardware
requirements & design and implementation of SLL network is achieved.
This brings to an efficient networking model for SLL.
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References
 Cisco. (2017). Cisco 1941 Series Integrated Services Routers Data
sheet. [online] Available at:
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/routers/1900-series-
integrated-services-routers-isr/data_sheet_c78_556319.html [Accessed
6 Mar. 2018].
 Kosem, G. (2016). EIGRP Configuration With Packet Tracer |
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https://ipcisco.com/eigrp-configuration-with-packet-tracer/ [Accessed 6
Mar. 2018].
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Available at: https://www.lifewire.com/introduction-to-network-cables-
817868 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
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https://linode.com/docs/networking/ssh/ssh-connections-using-putty-
on-windows/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
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2018].
 Meena, S. (2018). How to Configure DHCP, DNS, HTTP Servers in Cisco
Packet Tracer Along with Switches - Technohelper24. [online]
Technohelper24. Available at:
https://www.technohelper24.com/configure-dhcp-dns-http-servers-
cisco-packet-tracer-switches/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
 ProTechGurus. (2016). How To Configure Frame Relay in Cisco Packet
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relay-cisco-packet-tracer/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
 Rubenking, N. (2018). The Best Antivirus Protection of 2018. [online]
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http://in.pcmag.com/antivirus-from-pc-ma/34241/guide/the-best-
antivirus-protection-of-2018 [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
 Soper, M. (2016). RAM Types and Features | Foundation Topics |
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 TurboFuture. (2017). Types of Computer Hard Disk Drives. [online]
Available at: https://turbofuture.com/computers/Types-of-Computer-
Hard-Disk-Drives [Accessed 6 Mar. 2018].
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