Network and System Administration

This report provides information on the development of a computer network system for connecting the head office of an organization with its branches. It covers topics such as requirement gathering, network proposal, IP addressing plan, device requirements, security plan, deployment plan, network design, performance metrics, and hardware setup.

Running head: NETWORK AND SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
Network and System Administration
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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NETWORK AND SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2. Requirement Gathering..........................................................................................................2
3. Network proposal...................................................................................................................2
3.1. IP addressing Plan...........................................................................................................3
3.2. Device Requirement........................................................................................................4
3.3. Security Plan...................................................................................................................5
3.4. Deployment Plan.............................................................................................................6
4. Network Design.....................................................................................................................7
4.1. Justification.....................................................................................................................8
5. Performance metrics...............................................................................................................8
6. Hardware Setup....................................................................................................................10
6.1. Directory service with centralized user account, computer accounts and groups.........10
6.2. DNS setup.....................................................................................................................10
6.3. DHCP server Setup.......................................................................................................11
6.4. Standard Client OS setup..............................................................................................11
6.5. HTTP Web server Setup...............................................................................................12
7. Conclusion............................................................................................................................13
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................14

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1. Introduction
The report is prepared for the development of a computer network system for
connecting the head office of the organization with its branches. A simple peer to peer
network is used for the connection and sharing data and resources. The current setup of the
organization is evaluated for the development of the network framework. The number of
devices connected in the network is estimated for the development of IP addressing plan and
a network diagram is created demonstrating the topology and devices used for the
management of interconnection. A security plan is created for centrally administering the
network and the performance metrics and the hardware setup is demonstrated in the report
that would help to setup the system.
2. Requirement Gathering
For the development of the network solution it is important to gather the requirement
and create a network design aligning the requirement. The users of the network is needed to
be divided into groups for enabling sharing of data and resources. Privileges are needed to be
managed for providing them different services and improving communication, collaboration
and threat protection. According to the requirement a hardware is needed to be setup and it is
needed to be installed and configured with the DNS, DHCP, HTTP and client OS setup such
that a centralized user management is enabled. The number of subnets needed and the
number of hosts needed to be connected per subnet is need to be identified. The services that
are needed by the user for management of internal communication is also needed to be
evaluated for the configuration of the server with the service and align the network following
the requirement. A firewall is needed to be deployed for restricting the outside user to access
the internal resources of the organization and a VPN connection is also needed to be setup
between the branches for increasing the security of the network framework.

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3. Network proposal
3.1. IP addressing Plan
Subn
et
Nam
e
Need
ed
Size
Allocat
ed Size
Address Mas
k
Dec Mask Assignable
Range
Broadcast
Head
Offic
e
254 254 192.168.2.
0
/24 255.255.255.
0
192.168.2.1
-
192.168.2.25
4
192.168.2.25
5
Bran
ch 1
254 254 192.168.19
0.0
/24 255.255.255.
0
192.168.190.
1 -
192.168.190.
254
192.168.190.
255
Bran
ch 1
254 254 192.168.19
1.0
/24 255.255.255.
0
192.168.191.
1 -
192.168.191.
254
192.168.191.
255
Head
office
–
Bran
ch 1
2 2 10.1.1.0 /30 255.255.255.
252
10.1.1.1 -
10.1.1.2
10.1.1.3
Head
office
2 2 10.2.2.0 /30 255.255.255. 10.2.2.1 - 10.2.2.3

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–
Bran
ch 2
252 10.2.2.2
3.2. Device Requirement
For the development of the network a list of the device that are needed for the
development of the network. A DHCP, DNS and a RADIUS server is needed to be
configured for the management of service that are needed by the users connected in the
network. A router is needed to be deployed and configured such that it can help in
management of service and operation. Redundant link is needed to be user for
interconnecting the device and increasing the performance of the network. A proper network
cabling plan is needed to be followed for interconnecting the network device with the host
and configuring the server according to the requirement of the user.
Device Name Device Type Requirement
Router Cisco 2811 series router It can be used as a VPN
gateway and management of
delivery of data packets
between the different host
connected in then network.
Switch Cisco 2960 series switch It is used of distribution of
the network and creating
redundant link for ensuring
that no packet are lost.
Servers WEB Server, DNS Server, Web server hosts the

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DNS Server, DHCP server company’s website
DNS server maps the Ip
address with the URL
DHCP server is used for
automatically assigning Ip
address to the host
connected in the network.
Linksys Router Wireless Access Point It is used for connecting the
wireless devices with the
organizational network.
3.3. Security Plan
The security plan is needed for created for guiding the users to appropriately use the
electronic device, internet and email. The plan created for the organization is given below:
Email Usage – the acceptable standard for receiving, sending and opening emails are
needed to be covered and it also define the topics that can be discussed using email.
Password Security – the usage of the password for accessing devices, programs or
accessing files are needed to be outlined and the users are needed to be educated to create
secure password and time span for changing the password.
Internet Usage – The websites that are acceptable and the use of internet for shopping,
banking and other personal needs are needed to be restricted (White, Fisch and Pooch 2017).
A right balance for increasing the employee trust is needed to be maintained such that the
misuse of internet is reduced and determine the culture and security needs best fitted for the
organisation.

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Software / Hardware Protocol – Any third party software or program should not be
approved for installation in the PC and they should also be restricted to modify, uninstall or
repair the existing the software or hardware component (Hussain, Hasan and Chughtai 2017).
The password requirement for protecting files and acceptability for using hardware or
software is also needed to be provided.
Company and Employee Owned device use – It should define the restriction for
utilizing devices of the company for personal usage and the employee using the personal
device for professional use. The security requirement for each of the device is needed to be
outlined in this section.
Incident reporting – A clear understanding is needed to be presented to the employees
such that they can report any instance of identified virus, SPAM, account breach and malware
to the upper management.
Social Media Usage – For increasing the productivity of the employees and
preventing breaches of data a no social media policy is needed to be implemented on the
devices owned by the company. The privacy and confidentiality issues is needed to be
discussed in respect of company, competitor, client, employees and social media for sharing
the photos of employees and company (Ballestrero et al. 2017). The flexibility of the issue is
needed to be managed and risk range for the social media is also needed to be understood.
3.4. Deployment Plan
For the deployment of the network the first step is to identify the functional needs and
deployment environment. The features and the capabilities for the deployment of the network
is needed to be considered for processing applications, modules and toolkits. The components
are also needed to be identified and the interaction between the component are needed to be
managed in relation with security of the network devices. The capacity and performance of

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the workplace environment is needed to be identified for identifying the number of physical
servers that are needed for performing specific function (Zeb et al. 2016). The redundancy
needed for the management of operation and improving the performance of the network is
also needed for mitigating the failover plan. A design is needed to be created for the
deployment environment and the topology pattern is needed to be created for its deployment
in the network. The methodology available for the configuration is needed to be analysed for
standardizing the deployment environment. The server is needed to be configured with roles
and service such that the request can be distributed across different server and expanded
depending on the growth of the organization. The DHCP servers are needed to be configured
according to the subnet plan and different pools are needed to be created such that the IP
address are automatically assigned to the hosts connected in the network (Pirani, Simpson-
Porco and Fidan 2017). A wireless access point is also needed to be deployed for supporting
BYOD and improving the performance of the employees. The access point is needed to be
secured with the application of encryption mechanism such that it risk of misuse of the
network is eliminated and the network is secured form the illegal users.
4. Network Design

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4.1. Justification
A site to site VPN connection topology is selected for the development of the network
and connecting the head office with the head quarter and the two branches of the
organization. It helps in creating a secured connection between the two end points and for the
establishment the router is used as the VPN gateway device. With the selection of Site to Site
VPN the need of VPN client software for establishing the connection is eliminated and here
the hosts can send or receive TCP/IP traffic using the VPN gateway. The encapsulation and
encryption of the outbound traffic is done by the VPN gateway and it is sent using the VPN
tunnel. On the other end the gateway the header is stripped and the content is decrypted for
relaying the packet to the targeted host. It is selected since the site to site VPN is capable of
handling critical data traffic for example VOIP communication which have the requirement
of good service and lower latency. Local Servers are needed to be deployed in the sites for
the management of user account and groups such that risk associated with the network is
eliminated. For increasing the network security the computers are needed to be installed with
antivirus software such that the virus can be detected and network is secured from the
external agents.
5. Performance metrics
Latency, bandwidth and throughput and responsiveness of the network is needed to be
analysed for improving the network performance and eliminating the delays in the network.
The network devices are needed to be configured such that there is no latency for transmitting
the data packets between different location of the network. The latency may cause problem
for the VOIP network since the user may face call drop and jitter and thus it is necessary to
divide the network communication channel and increase the efficiency of the network (Lipton
et al. 2015). Sufficient bandwidth should be available for transmitting data packet between

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different host connected in the network. The through put of the network is needed to be
analysed for the selection of ISP and improve the network performance. The bandwidth is the
measure of amount of data that is transmitted for the certain amount of time. The network
responsiveness and uptime should be higher and the connection should be functional. A
service level agreement is needed to be signed between the ISP for eliminating the problem.
The hardware and software should also be used for monitoring the network performance and
tracking the utilization of the memory and other metrices necessary for managing the network
performance (Plonka and Berger 2015). There are different data points that are needed to be
tracked on the network and it is needed to be documented for reducing the network error and
increase the utility of the network.
Application Required Bandwidth
Email 10 – 100 Kbps
Messaging < 10 Kbps
Web Browsing 64 – 100+ Kbps
Audio Streaming 96 -160 Kbps
VOIP 24 – 100+ Kbps
Video Streaming 96 – 200+ Kbps
File Sharing 0 – infinity Mbps

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6. Hardware Setup
6.1. Directory service with centralized user account, computer accounts and groups
6.2. DNS setup

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6.3. DHCP server Setup
6.4. Standard Client OS setup

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6.5. HTTP Web server Setup

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7. Conclusion
From the above report it can be concluded that for the development of the network
solution it is important to manage the hosts and the other network peripheral deployed in the
network. For the installation of the server a separate room should be considered and the
hardware are needed to be protected from accidental damage. Proper cooling and ventilation
facility is needed to be arranged along with backup of the servers such that the network is
secured from any disaster. The users connected with the network should have separate
account and strong password that is used for using the specific resources of the organization.
User management is also necessary for centralizing the management and management of
roles and responsibility of the users. A design of the network is created and reason for the
section of the topology is given in the report. The performance metrics and the hardware
setup that is needed for the configuration of the network is also documented in the report
along with the screenshot for demonstrating the steps used for configuration of the network.

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