Data Communication Networks: Design and Security for usoft.com

This report details a network solution for usoft.com, a biomedical company with a headquarters and two branches. It includes an analysis of the existing LAN topology, business and technical goals, and security needs. The solution proposes an IP addressing scheme with VLANs for each department in the headquarters, separating servers, IP phones, and computers for enhanced security and reduced congestion. A physical network diagram considers the building's floor plan, while a logical network design employs a three-layer hierarchical model. Security measures, such as firewalls and antivirus software, are recommended to protect sensitive data. The report concludes with the importance of aligning business goals with network development and provides a comprehensive plan for a secure and efficient network.

Running head: DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
Data Communication and Networks
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
Executive Summary
An evaluation is done on the requirement of usoft.com (a private biomedical company) for
the development of the report. A research is done on the current framework of the
organization and the number of user in each of the department for the development of the IP
addressing plan and configuring the network device following the IP address. The link that
should be used for connecting the different branches with the headquarter should be
identified and the technology that should be applied for the development of the network
framework should be selected such that it improves the performance and flexibility of the
network framework. Some extra number of address spaces are kept in reserve for each of the
department such that developed network would have support for the future growth of the
organization. The security issues that can arise for the development of the network should be
identified and proper security measures should be applied such that the organizational
information are kept secured.

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Requirement Analysis and Specification...................................................................................3
IP addressing scheme.................................................................................................................6
Network Design.......................................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................13

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
Introduction
Usoft.com is a private biomedical company that have a headquarter and two branches
spreading in the goad coast region. An analysis is made on the current local area network
topology of the organization for the identification of the modification that should be done in
the topology for meeting the future requirement of the organization. The business goals of
usoft.com is evaluated for the identification of the changes that should be made in the current
design. Th technical goals of the organization is evaluated for identification of the future
requirement and the other features that are needed by the employees of usoft for increasing
their workplace performance. The security needs, flexibility and availability of the network
should also be identified for the selection of the topology and securing the network
framework from the external agents and improve the flexibility and availability of the
network.
Some assumptions are made for the development of the network framework and the
current structure of the headquarter of the company is evaluated for the preparation of the IP
address scheme. For each of the department of the headquarter separate three separate vlan
are created for reducing the congestion in the network and increase the response time. The
servers, IP phones and the computers are kept in different subnet such that the servers are
kept secured such that a centralized control is managed on the network. A physical and a
logical network diagram is prepared following the requirement and building floor plan such
that it can be used by the network development team for development of the network without
any error.
Requirement Analysis and Specification
For the analysis of requirement of usoft.com an analysis is made on the number of
users and the number of departments of the organization. The building floor plan is evaluated

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
and the floor allocated for the department is analysed for the development of physical
network diagram. The number of users in the department is also analysed for subnetting the
provided IP address and subnetting it according to the number of users in each of the
department. The network is developed such that is flexible to meet different option of the
organization and aligned with the requirement of the organization. The network design is kept
simple such that the errors in the configuration of the network can be easily troubleshooted
and the availability of the network is increased. The management of access of the user to
access the servers of different organization should be managed for increasing the security of
the network and eliminate different security risk associated with the development of the
network. Since the network is designed for a biomedical company, thus it is important to
keep the blueprints of the telehealth devices secured such that it cannot be used by other
companies for gaining competitive advantage. Thus the servers of the solution design should
be kept secured from external access and the router should be configured with access control
list for the management of the access of the servers. Keeping the servers in different subnet
can resolve the issue and eliminate the vulnerability of the network.
A security policy should be developed such that it is followed by the users for using
the network and the risk of external threats such as virus, malware and trojans are eliminate.
Each of the workstation connected in the network should be installed with antivirus software
such that the threats can be detected in the early stage and the network is secured from
different attacks. The risk associated with the network should be identified for the
implementation of the security measures and improve the security of the usoft network. Data
flowing between the different departments should be managed for the development of the
network such that the security of network is not compromised. A firewall is needed to be
installed in the entry and exit point such that the internal network is kept secured from the
outsiders and the internal resources are kept secured.

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
There are 6 departments in the company headquarter and the users of each of the
department along with the IP phones and servers are given in the following table. The number
of employees working in the department and the servers are analysed for development of the
VLAN.
Software Development
Number of employee 102
Each employee has 01 PC + 01 IP Phone
The department has 3 Servers
Solution Design
Number of employee 92
Each employee has 01 PC + 01 IP Phone
The department has 2 Servers
Customer Support
Number of employee 62
Each employee has 01 PC + 01 IP Phone
The department has 1 Server
Sales
Number of employee 52
Each employee has 01 PC + 01 IP Phone
The department has 1 Server
Finance
Number of employee 32
Each employee has 01 PC + 01 IP Phone
The department has 1 Server
Human Resource

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
Number of employee 22
Each employee has 01 PC + 01 IP Phone
The department has 1 Server
IP addressing scheme
For the development of the Ip address plan the given IP address that is currently used
by the headquarter is used and subnetted following the current structure of the organization
and given below:
Subnet
Name
Need
ed
Size
Alloca
ted
Size
Address Ma
sk
Dec Mask Assignable
Range
Broadcast
Software
Develop
ment
(Data)
102 126 172.16.120
.128
/25 255.255.255
.128
172.16.120
.129 -
172.16.120
.254
172.16.120
.255
Software
Develop
ment
(Voice)
102 126 172.16.120
.0
/25 255.255.255
.128
172.16.120
.1 -
172.16.120
.126
172.16.120
.127
Software
Develop
ment
3 6 172.16.123
.192
/29 255.255.255
.248
172.16.123
.193 -
172.16.123
172.16.123
.199

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
(Server) .198
Solution
Design
(Data)
92 126 172.16.121
.128
/25 255.255.255
.128
172.16.121
.129 -
172.16.121
.254
172.16.121
.255
Solution
Design
(Voice)
92 126 172.16.121
.0
/25 255.255.255
.128
172.16.121
.1 -
172.16.121
.126
172.16.121
.127
Solution
Design
(Server)
2 2 172.16.123
.200
/30 255.255.255
.252
172.16.123
.201 -
172.16.123
.202
172.16.123
.203
Custome
r
Support
(Data)
62 62 172.16.122
.64
/26 255.255.255
.192
172.16.122
.65 -
172.16.122
.126
172.16.122
.127
Custome
r
Support
(Voice)
62 62 172.16.122
.0
/26 255.255.255
.192
172.16.122
.1 -
172.16.122
.62
172.16.122
.63

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
Custome
r
Support
(Server)
1 2 172.16.123
.204
/30 255.255.255
.252
172.16.123
.205 -
172.16.123
.206
172.16.123
.207
Sales
(Data)
52 62 172.16.122
.192
/26 255.255.255
.192
172.16.122
.193 -
172.16.122
.254
172.16.122
.255
Sales
(Voice)
52 62 172.16.122
.128
/26 255.255.255
.192
172.16.122
.129 -
172.16.122
.190
172.16.122
.191
Sales
(Server)
1 2 172.16.123
.216
/30 255.255.255
.252
172.16.123
.217 -
172.16.123
.218
172.16.123
.219
Finance
(Data)
32 62 172.16.123
.64
/26 255.255.255
.192
172.16.123
.65 -
172.16.123
.126
172.16.123
.127

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
Finance
(Voice)
32 62 172.16.123
.0
/26 255.255.255
.192
172.16.123
.1 -
172.16.123
.62
172.16.123
.63
Finance
(Server)
1 2 172.16.123
.208
/30 255.255.255
.252
172.16.123
.209 -
172.16.123
.210
172.16.123
.211
Human
Resource
(Data)
22 30 172.16.123
.160
/27 255.255.255
.224
172.16.123
.161 -
172.16.123
.190
172.16.123
.191
Human
Resource
(Voice)
22 30 172.16.123
.128
/27 255.255.255
.224
172.16.123
.129 -
172.16.123
.158
172.16.123
.159
Human
Resource
(Server)
1 2 172.16.123
.212
/30 255.255.255
.252
172.16.123
.213 -
172.16.123
.214
172.16.123
.215

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
Network Design
Physical Network Design
For the development of the physical network diagram the floor plan of the 6 story
building of the headquarter is analysed. An analysis is made for the placement of the network
devices such as routers, switches, access point and the Pcs for each of the department and
develop the physical network diagram. The same plan is followed for each of the floor such
that the network administrator does not face any difficulty while laying out the network
cables and install the network device in different location of the building. The servers of each
of the department are kept in separate room for restricting its physical access ad improvement
of the network security. Two floors of the six story building is occupied by the solution
design department and each of the floor are installed with a single server for increasing the

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
redundancy and decreasing the response time of the network. The finance and the human
resource department are combine in the ground floor for managing the request of the users.
An wireless access point is installed for each of the department for allowing the employees of
the department to connect their wireless devices with the network and enable sharing of
information or access the organizational resources for improving the productivity.
Logical Network Design
A three layer hierarchical model topology is used for the development of the logical
design of the network. Here each of the departments are allocated with a separate switch such
that the workstations can be connected with it and allowed to communicate with the
workstations installed in other department. The core network device, distribution switches
and the access level switches are connected with redundant link such that the user can reach
the destination address using different path. The interface of the router is sub divided for
allocating IP address to the multiple VLAN and the router is configured with DHCP pool of
address such that the devices connected in the network gets automatically assigned with IP
address, subnet mask and default gateway for each of the VLAN. The router is also needed be
configured with dynamic routing protocol such that if there is any changes in the network the
path is updated in the routing table. The central switch is also needed to be configured with

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
server for sharing the vlan information to the client switches connect with it and enabling
centralized management on the network.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above report that an analysis is essential for the
development of the network solution. The business and the technical goals of the organization
should be aligned with the development of the network solution. The building floor plan and
number of user for each of the department is also needed to be identified for the development
of the IP addressing plan and configuring the network hardware devices following the
address plan development for the company headquarter. The evaluation of the floor plan
helps in identification of the location of the hardware device and increases the efficiency of
the development process of the network. The physical and logical network diagram is created
for the identification of the wiring and network devices that are essential for the development
of the local area network for the companies headquarter. The current structure of usoft.com
headquarter is analysed for the preparation of the network subnet and configure the device
with the assignable of IP address. The requirement of the users in the network is analysed for
the identification of the network service that should be configured for the development of the
local area network. The firewall protection and the encryption that should be used for
configuring the access point should be evaluated for increasing the network security and
restricting the unknown users to access the internal resources of the organization.

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DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
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