Hardware Technology Report: Network Setup and Security Measures

This report details a comprehensive hardware technology solution for a company's network infrastructure. It begins by outlining the requirements, including a firewall, database server, cloud-based solution, and access control protocols. The report then summarizes these requirements, followed by a discussion of potential vendors such as Cisco, Microsoft Azure, and others. Product information from Cisco is provided, detailing the Cisco Blade server, Catalyst switches, and Meraki security appliances. The report identifies potential risks and compatibility issues, with the CEO's system highlighted as a critical security concern. Approximate costs for various components are estimated, along with the technical assistance needed for implementation and a likely one-month timeframe. Quality assurance steps involve ethical hacking and vulnerability sealing. The report concludes with equipment performance benchmarks and a bibliography.

Running head: HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY
Hardware Technology
Name of Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

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Table of Contents
List of all required equipment, services and resources....................................................................2
Summarization of the requirements.................................................................................................2
Potential vendors for the sourcing the requirements.......................................................................2
Product information from the vendor site........................................................................................3
Potential risks and compatibility issues...........................................................................................4
Additional Information....................................................................................................................5
Approximate costs involved........................................................................................................5
Technical assistance/expertise needed for implementation.........................................................5
Likely time frame for implementation.........................................................................................5
Quality assurance steps to ensure that the implementation occurs according to expected criteria
and standards...............................................................................................................................5
Equipment performance benchmarks (base on reviews and vendor information) for each
equipment....................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................6

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List of all required equipment, services and resources
The main requirements for the company are to install a firewall, a database server and
obtain a cloud based solution for their network system.
The company also has to install access control protocols in their network. This would prevent the
unauthorized access to the systems of the company.
The company also has to install some extra hardware in the system such as a separate router for
the connection to the CEO. The network also requires an additional server machine for the
storage of local data.
The company also have a requirement of obtaining a vendor who would provide a cloud solution
to the company. In addition to this an updated software package is also to be provided by the
vendor.
Summarization of the requirements
As a summarization of the requirements of the company the firewall and the
authentication are the primary requirements. In addition to this there are some hardware
requirements for the company. In addition to this, there is also a need to select a proper vendor
who will provide the company with the cloud solution.
Potential vendors for the sourcing the requirements
The potential vendors considered for the purchase of the network elements for the
company are:
 D-Link
 Cisco

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 Gigabyte Technology
 CNet
 IBM
 JCG
 Intel
 Linksys
 Netgear
 Ralink
In addition to this, the main providers of cloud solutions that are considered for the company
are:
 Amazon Web Services.
 VMware.
 Microsoft Azure.
 Google Cloud Platform.
 Adobe.
 IBM Cloud.
 Rackspace.
 Red Hat.
Product information from the vendor site
The Cisco Company is selected as the provider for hardwires in the network. The Cisco
Blade server is to be installed in the network. The Cisco UCS B22 M3 Blade Server helps in the
provision of balanced production with minimized cost and this helps the organization in proper

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utilization of IT infrastructure and scale-out workloads (Services, Computing and Servers, 2018).
The Cisco UCS B22 M3 server makes use of the Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2400 product
family with:
 Two PCIe mezzanine slots
 Two hot-plug drives
 Expandability to 384 GB of RAM (using 32 GB DIMMs)
In addition to this additional switches and a router is also obtained from the Cisco Company.
The catalyst 9400 series switches are selected and the Meraki MX switches are selected. Cisco’s
leading modular-access switches for enterprise, the Catalyst 9400 Series supports up to 9 Tbps.
Threat definitions and filter lists are seamlessly updated, ensuring every site has bleeding-edge
protection from the latest vulnerabilities and troublesome websites. Every Meraki Security
Appliance supports several features, like a stateful firewall and integrated Sourcefire intrusion
prevention (IPS) engine, to keep networks secure. Hence, the Firewall requirement is also set up
for the company.
In addition to this, it is recommended that the Microsoft Azure cloud solution is obtained for
the company. The Azure solution would provide a better integration with the Microsoft windows
server. With Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Managed Disks and SQL databases while providing
network performance and high availability with Load Balancer (Azure.microsoft.com, 2018).
Potential risks and compatibility issues
There was a potential risk of cloud integration with the network, but that was resolved
with the choice of Microsoft Azure Services. However a potential threat is the system of the

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CEO. It needs to be protected at all times as this the system is directly connected to the data store
of the company.
Additional Information
Approximate costs involved
The approximated cost are provided below:
Database Server: 20,000 dollars
Switches: 300 dollars
Routers: 1000 dollars
Cloud integration: 5000 dollars
Total: 26300 dollars
Technical assistance/expertise needed for implementation
Some technicians are to be hired for the implementation of the network. In addition to
this the staffs of the company are to be made accustomed with the network.
Likely time frame for implementation
The project is likely to be completed within a time span of one month.
Quality assurance steps to ensure that the implementation occurs according to expected
criteria and standards
The network is to be tested by some ethical hackers and the potential entry points to the
network identified by them are to be sealed off.

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Equipment performance benchmarks (base on reviews and vendor information) for each
equipment
There are no particular benchmark, however the response time is to be reduced by at least
40% after the improvements in the network.

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Bibliography
Services, P., Computing, S. and Servers, C. (2018). Cisco UCS B22 M3 Blade Server. [online]
Cisco. Available at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/servers-unified-computing/ucs-b22-
m3-blade-server/index.html [Accessed 2 Mar. 2018].
Azure.microsoft.com. (2018). Create your Azure free account today | Microsoft Azure. [online]
Available at: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/free/?
&wt.mc_id=AID631154_SEM_CslnaLzl&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsZiAh_jM2QIVRbbACh1mY
AuhEAAYASAAEgJJofD_BwE [Accessed 2 Mar. 2018].
Hayes, A.F., 2017. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A
regression-based approach. Guilford Publications.
Moro, S., Cortez, P. and Rita, P., 2015. Business intelligence in banking: A literature analysis
from 2002 to 2013 using text mining and latent Dirichlet allocation. Expert Systems with
Applications, 42(3), pp.1314-1324.