Information Systems Network Essentials

This report focuses on the various aspects that ABC Company needs to consider in order to meet its objective of growing by 100% in the next five years. It covers the choice of networking media, network topology, type of internet connection, and IP addressing scheme. The report recommends fiber optic cable for the head office, CAT6a cable for Rockdale, Chatswood, and Leichhart, and wireless communication for Epping and Bankstown home offices. It also recommends Cisco 4000 Series router for the head office and Cisco 2900 Series router for the branches.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 1
Information Systems Network Essentials
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 2
Executive Summary
Network reliability and availability are two main aspects that will determine the overall
performance and productivity of the company. As such, the choice of the network media and components
used matters a lot. It is important to ensure that the best components are used in order to enjoy the
benefits of a good network. Networking media determines the speed and reliability of the network.
Hardware components such as switches and the topology used should be flexible enough to support future
growth of the network. Therefore, ABC Company should put this factor into consideration in order to
meet the expected growth of 100% in the next 5 years.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 3
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Networking Media.......................................................................................................................................4
Network Subnet...........................................................................................................................................7
IPv6 Addressing..........................................................................................................................................8
Hardware Recommendations.....................................................................................................................10
Routers..................................................................................................................................................10
Switches................................................................................................................................................13
Network Topology.....................................................................................................................................16
Type of Internet Access.............................................................................................................................20
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................20
Reference List............................................................................................................................................21

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 4
Introduction
In today’s world, network infrastructure forms the backbone for the company success because it
facilitates communication and resource sharing. As such, it is important to have a reliable network in
place (Feuer, 2013). ABC Company is a retail business that deals with computing components. It has its
head office in the city and three branch offices in Hornsby, Parramatta, and Sutherland. Also, it has two
home offices in Bankstown and Epping. The branch offices are connected to the head office via WAN
connection. The company expects to grow by 100% in the next five years and plans to restructure the
network to meet the new requirements. This report will focus on the various aspects that the company
need to consider in order to meet this objective including the choice of networking media, network
topology, type of internet connection, and IP addressing scheme.
Networking Media
There exist several types of networking media but have been categorized into three general
groups: twisted pair, coaxial, and fiber optic cable. However, ABC company requires a medium that will
meet the requirements of the head office and the various branches. These branches have different network
needs and bandwidth size. The head office has three departments, that is, accounting, sales, and marketing
which requires high speed networks that can support the many files shared within the company and the
media sent to customers (Oppenheimer, 2011).
Because of this reason fiber optic cable is recommended for the head office. Some of the
properties that makes this cable the most suitable medium is because it is not affected by attenuation
because of the strands of glass and insulated casing. Additionally, it can support high-performance data
over along distance without suffering from signal loss (Woodford, 2018). Moreover, fiber optic offers
higher bandwidth as compared to other networking media.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 5
Figure 1: Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic can transmit 100Gbps, but ABC company will only require a fiber cable that will
support up to 10Gbps but scalable (Mitchell, 2018). This capacity is enough to handle all the network
needs of ABC company and is less susceptible to interference. This medium is also the best choice to
support server connection in order to increase performance and speed of resource request. Since the
company only have 4 servers that support all the request for the head office and its branches, it needs a
stable, reliable, high-performance, and high-speed medium. Fiber-optic cable meets all these
requirements. Fiber optic cable costs $7 per meter. However, this cable is expensive to buy. Additionally,
it requires careful installation as such an experience person will have to be hired increasing the expenses
and is complex.
Rockdale, Chatswood, and Leichhart will require CAT6a cable because of the future scaling
expected. CAT6a can run on frequency up to 750MHz (Lin, Jia and Long, 2017, p. 216). Network
requirements for these branches are not network intensive and does not require heavy transmission of files
over the network. Additionally, this medium is less susceptible to crosstalk and interference. Furthermore,
the cable is more reliable and offer consistent transmission in harsh because of the enhanced shielding
and specification. It is a 10GBASE-T Ethernet and thus can comfortably support the current and future
requirements of the three branches. CAT6a cable costs $1.35 per meter.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 6
Figure 2: CAT6a Cable
However, CAT6a cable is heavy and large in size. As compared to fiber, it can be subject
to attenuation and cannot be used for transmissions that require longer distances
Wireless communication medium is the recommended choice for the Epping and Bankstown
home offices. Wireless medium utilizes infrared or radio frequencies to transfer data between two
communicating devices over the network. Wireless medium is the best choice because of the small
number of hosts and the less amount of traffic sent over the network. Also, since these are home offices,
cables cannot be laid out. Wireless communication can support up to 54 Mbps which accommodates the
traffic between the head office and the home office well (Cisco Systems, 2018). It is also a cheaper option
as only a wireless adapter is needed.
However, wireless communication is limited to a smaller radius and cannot be used on a radius
more that 100m. Signal attenuation is also common in wireless communication and as such the signal
strength and quality are affected. It is also less secured compared to cabled media.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 7
Network Subnet
Subnet Subnet Address Subnet Mask Host Range of
Addresses
Broadcast
Address
City Head Office
(Accounts)
172.10.16.0/26 255.255.255.192 172.10.16.1 to
172.10.16.62
172.10.16.63
City Head Office
(marketing)
172.10.18.0/25 255.255.255.128 172.10.18.1 to
172.10.18.125
172.10.18.126
City Head Office
(Sales)
172.10.20.0/25 255.255.255.128 172.10.20.1 to
172.10.20.125
172.10.20.126
Leichhart Branch 172.16.103.0/25 255.255.255.128 172.16.103.1 to
172.16.103.125
172.16.103.126
Rockdale Branch 172.22.99.0/26 255.255.255.192 172.22.99.1 to
172.22.99.62
172.22.99.63
Chatswood
Branch
172.102.16.0/26 255.255.255.192 172.102.16.1 to
172.102.16.62
172.102.16.63
Epping H.O. 172.100.14.0/28 255.255.255.240 172.100.14.1 to
172.100.14.14
172.100.14.15
Bankstown H.O. 172.105.2.0/29 255.255.255.248 172.105.2.1 to
172.105.2.6
172.105.2.7
Server Network 172.18.10.0/29 255.255.255.248 172.18.10.1 to 172.18.10.7

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 8
172.18.10.6
Leichhart WAN 172.16.103.0/30 255.255.255.252 172.16.103.1 to
172.16.103.2
172.16.103.3
Rockdale WAN 172.22.99.0/30 255.255.255.252 172.22.99.1 to
172.22.99.2
172.22.99.3
Chatswood
WAN
172.102.16.0/30 255.255.255.252 172.102.16.1 to
172.102.16.2
172.102.16.3
Epping WAN 172.100.14.0/30 255.255.255.252 172.100.14.1 to
172.100.14.2
172.100.14.3
Banks Town
WAN
172.105.2.0/30 255.255.255.252 172.105.2.1 to
172.105.2.2
172.105.2.3
IPv6 Addressing
Subnet Subnet Address and mask
(All/64)
Host Range of Addresses
City Head Office (Accounts) 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
2002:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
City Head Office (marketing) fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0.0.0.0/64 fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0.0.0.0 to
2002:0:0:0:fe80:0:0:0:ffff:ffff
City Head Office (Sales) 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 9
2002:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Leichhart Branch fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
e80:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Rockdale Branch fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
fe80:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Chatswood Branch 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
2002:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Epping H.O. 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
2002:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Bankstown H.O. 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
2002:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Server Network 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 2002:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
2002:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Leichhart WAN fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
fe80:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Rockdale WAN fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
fe80:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Chatswood WAN fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
fe80:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Epping WAN fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 10
fe80:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Banks Town WAN fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:0/64 fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 to
fe80:0:0:0:ffff:ffff:ffff:fffe
Hardware Recommendations
Network performance and efficiency sole depends on the networking media and hardware used.
However, it the company needs that dictates the selection of these requirements. ABC Company is
expected to have growth 100% in the next five years. The following switches and routers have been
selected for the head office and the various branches.
Routers
Head Office
The recommended router for the head office is Cisco 4000 Series. This is an integrated router that
offer virtualization, application experience, unified communication, and secure WAN connection.
Virtualization enables the ABC company employees to connect with the company from anywhere.
Network control and management is simplified and has the ability to securely connect the head office
with the branch offices (CertificationKits, 2018).
Figure 3: Cisco 4000 Series

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 11
Cisco 4000 Series is an expensive router and require high level expertise both to configure,
manage, and maintain.
Leichhart Branch
The recommended router for this branch is AC2300 Nighthawk Smart Wi-Fi which supports MU-
MIMO for streaming simultaneously and offers high speed transmission with less buffering and less lag
(Wickboldt, et al., 2015, p. 282). This router can handle the current and future requirements of Leichhart
branch office. Its security standards are the best and offers better performance. The router can be accessed
remotely making it easy for the IT support team to easily troubleshoot the network from anywhere. It has
advanced cyberthreat protection features for all the devices connected to it.
Figure 4: AC2300 Nighthawk
However, this router is not intelligent enough to filter off unwanted traffic and web content.
Additionally, it does not have an in-built firewall to secure the network.
Rockdale Branch
Linksys WRT1900Ac router is the best choice for Rockdale. It has a speed of up to 1.9Gbps and
offer high performance. It has dual-core CPU of 1.3 GHz and offers amazing signal strength and covers a
wider range.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 12
Figure 5: Linksys WRT1900Ac router
However, this router is less secure and does not have in-built firewall.
Chatswood Branch
Links WRT1200AC is the recommended router for this office branch because of the exceptional
network performance. However, it is prone to attacks and cannot filter off unwanted traffic and does not
have in-built firewall.
Figure 6:Links WRT1200AC
Epping H.O. and Bankstown H.O
The recommended router for the two home offices is Covr AC3900 which provide faster and
stronger network signal that supports 4k streaming. This will be able to handle the request of the hosts
because they are few. Additionally, it offers reliable wi-fi for up to 6500 square feet seamless coverage
(Di Corato, 2013). Users can connect to the wi-fi automatically while within this range. It is an intelligent
router and can block specific websites and filter unwanted web content. It also supports communication

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 13
encryption. However, this router lack intelligent capabilities to filter off unwanted traffic and lacks in-
built firewall (Aftab, et al., 2015, p. 174). It is also relatively slow as compared to the other routers
recommended. It can broadcast signals up to a maximum of 70m radius which is a shorter distance.
Figure 7: D-Link Covr AC3900
Switches
City Head Office
The head office will use Cisco SFE2010P. the sales department will be connected with three
switches of so as to support the current and the future requirements. The marketing and accounting
departments will require two kinds of this switches each. This model of switch can connect up to 48
network devices, servers, access points, and printers to facilitate sharing of files over the company
network (Gentile, Griffith and Souryal, 2012, p. 49). Its connected using power over ethernet. This switch
facilitates easy expansion of the network without affecting the entire network operations. Also, it is
possible to configure and manage all other similar switches from a single menu. This kind of switch is
also recommended to be used for Rockdale and Leichhart office branches.
However, this switch is expensive and requires expertise to configure, manage, and maintain.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 14
Figure 8: Cisco SFE2010P Switch
Server
For sever connection, the recommended switch is the Cisco SFE2000P which can connect up to
24 network devices. This is because it can accommodate heavy traffic without failing and can
comfortable allow transfer of big files such as videos and applications across the network. Also, it
supports redundant power supply when used with Cisco RPS1000 (Lin, Hamdi and Muppala, 2012, p.
1184).
This switch is relatively expensive and it is complex both to setup and maintain.
Figure 9: Cisco SFE2000P Switch
Office Branches
Chatswood network needs will be well handled by 24 port-Cisco Small Business 200 series. It is
a reliable and provides high network performance which will ensure availability of network resources for
the Chatswood employees (Di Corato, 2013). It is easy to use and affordable. The switches can be

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 15
managed remotely and offer high level of security. However, this switch is less powerful compared to
Cisco SFE series. It is also expensive to setup and maintain and lacks security features like firewall.
Figure 10: Cisco Small Business 200 series
Epping H.O. and Bankstown H.O.
The best switch that can be used by the home offices is the Cisco Catalyst 2960-CX switch. It has
8 GE ports, 2 SFP and GE copper uplinks and enhance lifetime warranty that is limited. Additionally, it
supports line-rate forwarding performance (Lin, Hamdi and Muppala, 2012, p. 1185). This switch will be
able to handle the needs of the home offices. However, this switch has low performance and cannot
handle heavy traffic and is limited to few users. It also lacks security features to protect the network from
external attacks.
Figure 11: Cisco Catalyst 2960-CX

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 16
Network Topology
City Head Office
Hybrid (Star-Bus) Topology
Hybrid is the best topology for the city head office. It requires a combination of bus and start
topology. The bus topology will be used to connect the three department; every departments will be
connected to a core switch using star topology. The hybrid topology ensures that just in case there is a
problem in one of the departments, then the operations of the other two departments are not affected
(Zeng, Jia and Wang, 2018, p. 98). Department wise, star topology is preferred over ring topology
because in star, failure of one workstation does not in anyway affect the performance of the other network
devices within the department. It is reliable and ensures high availability.
Figure 12: Hybrid Topology- Star-Bus
(Source: Zeng, Jia and Wang, 2018, p. 99)
This topology is the most reliable because it is easy to troubleshoot and detect faults within the
network. When a fault is identified it can be isolated without interfering with the rest of the network to
allow corrective measures to be employed to resolve the fault. Additionally, the network can be scaled
and more network components can be added without affecting the existing network architecture. In star-

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 17
bus topology, failure of the bus/trunk will disconnect the two network and no communication will occur
between the network and devices connected to the trunk.
Branch Offices
Star Network Topology
For the branch offices, the recommended network topology is star topology. In this topology all
the network components are connected to a central hub which can be a router, hub, or switch. The
network devices are connected indirectly to each other via a central hub. Before the data or network
traffic gets to a node it has to go through the central device for it to be redirected to the correct destination
(Bradley, 2015). The hub controls and manages the entire network and acts as a junction to connect
different devices on the star network. It is also easy for the central device to connect and communicate
with other network hubs on different networks making it easy for the office branches to connect to the
Head office and the server site.
Figure 13: Star Topology

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 18
(Source: Bradley, 2015)
Star topology provides better performance as compared to ring and bus topologies and the signals
or traffic is not broadcasted to all the nodes rather the central device is intelligent enough to determine the
destination address and send the traffic or signal to that node without broadcasting it. The network
performance is dependent on the central device as such it is important to consider the network
requirements before choosing the central device. Additionally, management and administration of the
network is centralized and as such it is easy to control and troubleshoot the network and offer easy
monitoring of the network performance (Wang et al., 2018, p. 72). Furthermore, if one node fails then the
network is not affected, the node can be isolated and corrective measures are applied the reconnected
back to the network. In star topology failure of the central hub will bring down the entire network.
Home offices
Wireless Network Topology
For the Epping and Bankstown home offices, wireless network topology will be used. This
topology will serve the home offices well because of the proliferation of mobile devices, tablets, and
laptops in home offices. However, this kind of topology is slower than the wired topologies and faces
more security issues because of the broadcasted signals. Additionally, it is relatively cheaper as compared
to wired networks because no cabled connections are required among the network components and
maintenance cost is low (Kolawole et al., 2017, p. 283). Trip hazards are also reduced because cables
running on the floors in homes are not there. Wireless network topology cannot handle more devices
because network performance is reduced as more devices are added. Also, it is less secured and
unreliable.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 19
Figure 14: wireless Topology
(Source: Kolawole et al., 2017, p. 285)
Several wireless devices are plug and play and thus the total cost of implementation is reduced
and redundancy is eliminated. Wireless topology is adaptable to many requirements and situations and is
very versatile and mobile. In addition, it is easy to set up and dissemble the wireless networks which
makes it perfect for the home offices (Choudhury, 2016).

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 20
Type of Internet Access
Cable Modem Connection
The recommended type of internet access for ABC company id the cable modem internet
connection. This type of connection is a modem and network bridge that uses RFoG and HFC
infrastructure to offer bi-directional data communication (McDowell, 2017). It delivers high-speed
broadband internet connection using a cable benefiting from the high bandwidth provided by the RFoG
and HFC network. Depending on the choice of the ISP provider, fiber or coaxial cable can be used. This
type of internet access is highly reliable and provides high internet availability. In addition, it supports
transmission of up to 10Gbps but varies depending on the number of users connected to the cable modem
(Edwards, 2014). It facilitates fast uploads and downloads of files and has the ability to prioritize data
transfer. Moreover, signals can be transmitted over long distances without experiencing signal attenuation
(Ekwonwune, Anyiam and Osuagwu, 2018, p. 123). As such, this is the best choice to be used by ABC
company.
Conclusion
Network reliability and availability are two main aspects that will determine the overall performance and
productivity of the company. As such, the choice of the network media and components used matters a
lot. It is important to ensure that the best components are used in order to enjoy the benefits of a good
network. Networking media determines the speed and reliability of the network. Hardware components
such as switches and the topology used should be flexible enough to support future growth of the
network. Internet access services is very important because it facilitates communication between the
company and the outside word. As such, when choosing an internet access connection, it is important to
select the most reliable and offers high availability. However, network security is also critical to ensure
the security of network resources such as data.

INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 21
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INFORMATION SYSTEMS NETWORK ESSENTIALS 23
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