iTech Network Design Proposal

This assignment details a network design proposal for iTech, focusing on a simulated three-layered hierarchical model. It outlines the process of assigning IP addresses dynamically using DHCP, demonstrates accessing a web server from client PCs, and provides recommendations for implementing this design. The document also includes figures illustrating these concepts.

IT Infrastructure
[Document subtitle]
SEPTEMBER 17, 2017
Name
StudentID

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Infrastructure Components of IT.................................................................................................................3
Computer Hardware Components...........................................................................................................3
Requirements of Software Platforms.......................................................................................................4
Three-Layer Hierarchical Model..................................................................................................................4
IT Infrastructure Analysis of the Existing iTech............................................................................................5
Scope of the network geographically..........................................................................................................8
Access Layer............................................................................................................................................8
Distribution Layer....................................................................................................................................8
Core Layer................................................................................................................................................9
Scalability.................................................................................................................................................9
Design of the Dedicated server.................................................................................................................10
File Server..............................................................................................................................................10
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server............................................................................10
Mail Server............................................................................................................................................10
Web Server............................................................................................................................................10
DNS Server.............................................................................................................................................10
Dedicated Server logical Design.................................................................................................................11
IP addresses and Network Mask............................................................................................................11
Cloud Based Design...................................................................................................................................12
Microsoft...............................................................................................................................................12
Navisite..................................................................................................................................................13
Network simulation...................................................................................................................................14
Configuring DHCP Server.......................................................................................................................14
DNS and Web Servers Configuration.....................................................................................................16
Dynamic Network Configuration...........................................................................................................18
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................19
Conclusions................................................................................................................................................19
Reference..................................................................................................................................................20

List of Figures
Figure 1:Hierachical Model..........................................................................................................................5
Figure 2Flat model.......................................................................................................................................6
Figure 3Future model..................................................................................................................................7
Figure 4Access Layer Layout........................................................................................................................8
Figure 5Geographical scope design.............................................................................................................9
Figure 6Logical design of dedicated server................................................................................................11
Figure 7Microsoft azure.............................................................................................................................13
Figure 8Access layer simulation.................................................................................................................14
Figure 9DHCP 1..........................................................................................................................................15
Figure 10DHCP 2........................................................................................................................................15
Figure 11DHCP 3........................................................................................................................................16
Figure 12DNS 1..........................................................................................................................................17
Figure 13Web server config.......................................................................................................................17
Figure 14Web server web browser............................................................................................................18
Figure 15DNS Server Url............................................................................................................................18
Figure 16Dynamic IP assignment...............................................................................................................19
Figure 17Web server access......................................................................................................................20

Introduction
IT infrastructure is the interconnection of computing devices for the purpose of communication
and sharing of resources (Brandley, 2017). Many different organizations implement various
designs of networking. The below report is a proposal of network design to iTech company who
are considering replacing their current poorly designed network for improved and effective
performance (Long, 2010).
Main Objective, Purpose and Reason why?
Future Scalability of the Network – The network design to be implemented should add of more
of network equipment if need be, without necessary having to rebuild the whole network
installation. This means that in the event where iTech wishes to add more workstations to its
network, the space will be available and the process made easy (Coleman, 2012).
Easy Network management – The iTech network design should be easy to troubleshoot in case
of any problems and also it should enable the organization to be able to manage network
resources more effectively without conflicts.
Network Security – This network should enhance a more secure environment for the operations
of iTech administrative functionalities in rendering services to its clients and between its
adjacent offices between the three buildings adjacent to each other.
This report entails an analysis of the components of IT infrastructure need for design of iTech
network, three-layered hierarchical network model, dedicated server network design, cloud based
design and Data Center Block network simulation of the proposed network design for iTech
Company, recommendations and conclusion.
Background Information of ITech
iTech Company is a software development company whose offices are located between three
adjacent five-story buildings. The company hosts 900-workstations within its network across
each building. Each building has about 300 workstations distributed across all of its offices. The
design of LAN in this organization for each building is similar. This company has its data center
located on second floor of one of the three buildings. In the data center is where the company’s
servers such as mail server, web server, DNS among others are hosted. The domain name for this
organizations is www.iTech.org.au. The current network at iTech is poorly designed and does
not serve its functions effectively.

Infrastructure Components of IT
There are various components of IT infrastructure that facilitates the design of a good network
designed for different organizations. In the case of iTech Company, the following are
components of IT infrastructure that will be needed for designing the new network.
Computer Hardware Components
Some of the networking hardware devices may include such as:
Ethernet fibre cable
This is the transmission media that connects networking devices to the network. Fibre cable
provides high transmission speed compared to other Ethernet cables in the network and we
propose it to be used to connect network backbones between iTech network design layers.
Switches Scalability
In order to achieve scalability objective, Modular switches which enhances flexibility and
scalability during configuration should be used. They come with different sizes of chassis
allowing installations of modular line cards which allow more ports to be added to the switch.
The Router
This device will be used to connect the three iTech LANs from the three buildings where the
company is located. The router also will provide access to the external connections such as the
internet in case of cloud design approach.
WAP.
Wireless Access Points device is used to broadcast Wi-Fi signals across iTech organization in
order to allow more users to connect wirelessly to the network.
Servers.
These servers are such as the DNS server, mail server, Web server, DHCP server and file server
which will enhance storage and sharing of iTech network resources.
Requirements of Software Platforms
Software platforms includes the OS such as the network operating system used on the servers for
management of resources and accessibility of such network resources.
The entire network design will highly depend on these IT infrastructure components for a
successful implementation of the new design (Mbaocha, 2012). Each component has its own task
which determine the performance of the entire iTech network.

Three-Layer Hierarchical Model
This is a networking design where the network is broken down into three layers. Each layer in
this model performs specific functions which lead to simplifying of the network design thus
making it easy to scale and manage the network (CISCO, 2014). The three layers of this model
are;
Access layer – This layer provides direct end user connection to the network.
Distribution layer – This layer connects access layer components and also enables connectivity
of access layer to services
Core layers – This layer connects distribution layers to large LAN in the organization.
The three layers can be represented diagrammatically as seen below.
Figure 1:Hierachical Model
Therefore, the proposed network design for iTech Company should adapt this model considering
that the organization is big having being located on the three adjacent buildings that host about
300 workstations and a Data Center on one of the building. Isolating this network into layers will
make it easy for iTech Company to manage the whole network as well as enhance scalability in
future.
IT Infrastructure Analysis of the Existing iTech
The current network design at iTech Company is not efficient, scalable, differentiated, secured
and easily manageable. This is because all of iTech LANs are on the same level which dictates to
a flat network model where all devices or network in an organization share common behavior
and property. This flat model therefor, means that, the network is more vulnerable to problems
and in case of the network goes down then the rest of the iTech network will as well go down. In

the current model it is also not possible to bring in another network device or component without
having to interfere with the rest of the network thus limiting it from being extended. Trouble
shooting in such design is also difficult as a result of all devices being similar it becomes hard to
determine where the problem is in case of a breakage. Also the fact that all the networks share
the same backbone, this means that the security of such a network is poor and can be easily
interfered with. The structure of this network can be represented below.
Figure 2Flat model
Future iTech IT Infrastructure
The future network design being proposed on this report for iTech Company will have a clear
defined network components structure. The Infrastructure will be designed in terms of network
blocks that are differentiated to perform specific tasks. The proposed design will not rely only on
one back bone as it is the case with the current structure and therefore, a failure of one access
switch for instance will not affect the operations of the other parts of the network. This design
will be based on a three-layered model which will simplify the whole network design, render it
more flexible, scalable, and manageable. It will be also quite easy to identify failure in the
network thus making the troubleshooting process faster (Cisco, 2013). This can be represented
below

Figure 3Future model

Scope of the network geographically
iTech Company has three five-story buildings where its offices are located. The offices being
adjacent to each other with a data center located on one of the building on the second floor, it
therefore means that the geographical scope requirement for the proposed network would be
many-to-many. The many-to-many geographical scope would be as a result of having different
networking devices defined on different layers of the three- layer hierarchical model. The many-
to-many geographical requirement will enable interconnectivity between the three LANs in the
three buildings as well as all the network components represented in each layer. This
geographical requirement for iTech Company network design can be represented with respect to
each layer of the model as discussed below.
Access Layer
This layer consists of computers, phones, wireless access devices, printers among others which
access resources within iTech Network. This layer connects networking devices to the network
and manages the mode of communication between end user devices in each network (CISCO,
2014). iTech access devices will be connected via access switches which links them to the
distribution layer of the network design. A sample of Access layer set up is as shown below.
Figure 4Access Layer Layout
Distribution Layer
This layer interfaces between access layer end user devices and the network core. Process such
as intelligent routing and switching occurs in this layer where iTech end users request are
forwarded to their destination for processing. Every distribution layer device such as a switch, a
router is well defined on what tasks it should perform on receiving access device request. The
devices here link the access level devices to the core components of the iTech network.

Core Layer
Under this layer we have devices such as switch or routers which enables network functions such
as packet routing in order for these user’s to be able to access both the external and internal
network services. This layer links together distribution layer switches which interfaces access
devices to network services in the iTech Network. This layer is scalable and can be extended to
cater for more access layer devices.
The geographical design for the iTech Company network can be structured as shown below..
Figure 5Geographical scope design
Scalability
With addition or growth of access layer devices, the network can be expanded at distribution
layer and also at the core layer without having to restructure the entire network design. This is
made possible by the fact that more distribution layer switches and core layer switches can be
added to accommodate more end users (Guide, 2011) .

Design of the Dedicated server
There are several servers that iTech Company need in their network for storage and sharing of
resources via network (Hope, 2017). The servers play a vital role as they are the source of
information to the entire organization thus, they serve dedicated tasks. iTech dedicated servers
include;
File Server
This server stores and manages transfer of data files across iTech network.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server
DHCP server assigns end user and other networking devices connected to the iTech network IP
Addresses dynamically
Mail Server
This is an application that manages users email transfer across the network. The server ensures
that all emails are stored and communication between users in the network is more effective.
Therefore, the server is purely dedicated in managing emails within the network.
Web Server
It uses http to provide response to the users when they query for any web page hosted in the
server. For iTech Company their web server domain name is www.iTech.org.au and will be
hosted in a dedicated web server located at iTech Data Center.
DNS Server
This server matches the domain names with their associated IP addresses within the iTech
network and they are provided by Internet Service Providers (Rouse, 2009). It processes requests
from the users and locate the responses from the Web server using user’s IP addresses.

Dedicated Server logical Design.
The below diagram represents a logical dedicated server design for the proposed iTech Network.
Figure 6Logical design of dedicated server
It is therefore wise for iTech to have all its servers located in the data center each having its own
LAN in order to ensure that a failure on one LAN do not affect the operations of the other LAN.
From the above diagram it will be easy for iTech to keep track of every action performed as well
as control all their resources at a single central point. This will ensure that resources are fully
utilized and the operations within the entire network are well defined.
IP addresses and Network Mask
The appropriate IP Address Scheme for iTech would be Class B of IP address (Anon., 2010).
This class of IP Address will support scalability as well as flexibility. With about 900 user in the
internet, iTech Company would need a range of IP address that would cater for more than 1300
users including those connected wirelessly. Thus, a class B IP Address range would be effective
and appropriate. The table below shows a class B range of IP addressing that could be used by
iTech Network.

Table a: IP addressing details
IP
Address
Block
IP
Class
Network
Address
Subnet Mask Subnet
Bits
Host
Bits
Number
of
Subnets
Host
per
subnet
168.26.1.0 B 168.26.0.0 255.255.248.0 21 11 32 2046
Table b: IP Addressing for iTech Buildings
Building Subnet Subnet Mask Subnet Size Host Range Broadcast
A 168.26.0.0 255.255.248.0 2046 168.26.8.1 to
168.26.7.254
168.26.15.255
B 168.26.16.0 255.255.248.0 2046 168.26.16.1
to
168.26.23.254
168.26.23.255
C 168.26.24.0 255.255.248.0 2046 168.26.31.254 168.26.31.255
Cloud Based Design
There are many cloud based design organizations that iTech Company could opt for. The
company may choose to have its data center hosted on cloud rather than in its premises (Anon.,
2017). This will require a reliable, accessible and secure cloud service providers considering that
iTech relies much on the internet in conducting its tasks. Some of these cloud organizations
include:
Microsoft
This organization has a cloud based package called Azure. This package provides services such
storage services, Data Management, Messaging, and Content Delivery Network, and this means
iTech Servers could as well be hosted there as it is more secure. Microsoft has a good reputation
and its product are widely used across the globe. This makes it more trustworthy and reliable in
providing cloud services. Microsoft Azure is more scalable and reliable since it is controlled by
Microsoft Azure Fabric which ensures that services and the platforms laid delivers quality Data
Center services (Macken, 2016). The whole platform of Microsoft Azure can be depicted in the
diagram below.

Figure 7Microsoft azure
Navisite
This is another organization that provides cloud services to organizations, it manages
applications and provide hosting services for organizations (Navisite, 2017). Navisite uses the
latest and quality technologies in designing, building, deploying and managing organizations
information systems and applications Therefore, with Navisite, Organizations can host their web
servers, file servers, among others thus creating their Data Center here rather than having it on
their premises. This cloud organization also provides infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) which
enhances high speed and flexible performance for business operations. Navisite, offers cloud
desktop services which enable organizations to be able to manage their workforce effectively. It
is scalable thus accommodating all the requirements of iTech Company should they opt to have
their data center hosted on cloud.

Network simulation
The below diagram shows the access layer design of iTech Network simulation, simulates using
cisco packet tracer. The IP Address applied is 168.26.1.0/24.
Figure 8Access layer simulation
Network simulation above uses client PCs as the access layer end user devices & the cisco
generic switches for interconnecting. DHCP server is configured so that it can assign IP
addresses to all the devices in the network automatically. The DNS server matches the iTech web
files hosted on the web server while the web server hosts iTech Company website and web
applications. From this simulation the PCs in the network are able to view the web files hosted
on the web server in this access network (Meena, 2017).
Configuring DHCP Server.
The following steps are followed while configuring the DHCP server.
1. Click on the DHCP server to open it as shown in the figure below.

Figure 9DHCP 1
2. Select desktop option and open IP config as shown in the diagram below.
Figure 10DHCP 2
Select Static option and fill in IP address, Subnet Mask,Default Gateway and DNS server
respectively as shown above.

3. After filling all the details with regard to DHCP server we click on the Service tab and
select DHCP service and fill all details just like in step 2 where in this we fill the pool
name,default gateway, DNS server, Starting IP, Subnet mask and the maximum number
of users respectively.
Figure 11DHCP 3
4. Finally click ON to complete the process.
DNS and Web Servers Configuration
The following Steps and accompanied screenshots diagrams explains the configuration of both the DNS
and web Servers.
I. On the DNS server configuration window select Desktop Option and on the IP Configuration
tab select DHCP option and this will assign the DNS server IP Address automatically. The
explanation is as show in the diagram below.

Figure 12DNS 1
II. Repeat the same procedure now with the Web Server. The below diagram shows the
results after the Ip address has been assigned by the dhcp.
Figure 13Web server config
III. On the Web Server window in IP Configuration select HTTP service and create a web
page www.itech,org,au as shown below.

Figure 14Web server web browser
IV. After setting the web page , click on DNS and select the service panel as shown
below.
Figure 15DNS Server Url

Dynamic Network Configuration
To automatically assign a client an ip address click on one of the PCs in the set network ,choose desktop
option and then Ip configuration and finally select the DHCP Configuration for automatic assignment as
shown below .
Figure 16Dynamic IP assignment
Accessing Web Server From Client PC.
For one to access web server in the network we have to click any client machin and on the
sektop tab we select web browser and on the url section we type www.iTech .org.au and click go
for accessing to the web server.

Figure 17Web server access
Recommendations
My recommendation to iTech will be that it should put the above simulated network in to
implementation as it is structured according to their requirements that is the three-layered
hierarchical model and architecture, hence proposing the above set as it clearly define the
requirement.
Conclusions
The proposed model is more flexible, scalable, easier to manage, troubleshoot, maintain as well as more
secure thus, suiting the future network design of iTech Company in service delivery.
Reference

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