System Administration Project: Designing a LAN Infrastructure for ALS

This project details the design and implementation of a Local Area Network (LAN) infrastructure for ALS Pty Ltd, a small to medium enterprise (SME) with 60 employees. The project focuses on setting up a centralized authentication and resource management system using Active Directory. The network design includes a logical network diagram with routers, switches, and firewalls. Key components of the project involve Active Directory installation, DNS configuration (including forward and reverse lookup), and Organizational Unit (OU) creation for departments such as Sales, HR, Operations, Finance, and Marketing. The project also covers user and folder creation within these OUs. The solution provides detailed explanations and screenshots of the configuration steps and references to relevant resources. The project aims to create a secure and manageable network environment for the company, addressing IP addressing and security considerations.

System Administration

Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................3
Design of Network Diagram..........................................................................................................................3
Configuration of whole project......................................................................................................................3
References......................................................................................................................................................3

Introduction
This is a scenario based project for a small company as described here. ALS Pty Ltd is a SME
(Small to Medium Enterprise) based in Sydney. The company is a new start-up specializes in
designing and manufacturing widgets. The company has 60 employees at their new Head Office
in Sydney. The company decided to setup a LAN infrastructure environment with Centralized
authentication and resources (object) management. They organization structure is based on
different departments named Sales, HR, Operation, Finance and Marketing. This is completed on
the basis of the network diagram, IP addressing, active directory installation, DNS forward and
reverse look up, OU creation and other stuff mentioned in the file. All the tasks have been
recorded and presented in the form of screenshot also.
Design of Network Diagram
This is a logical network diagram which displays the flow of data through various devices. Router is kept
at the top as it routes the whole traffic to the internal and external environment. This is the reason that
router has internal IP address as well as external IP address. It uses its internal IP to communicate with
the switches and routers inside the infra and external IP to communicate with the devices kept outside the
infra. Router connects with the switches inside which further provides or allocates IP to the peripheral
machines for communication. Peripheral devices include computers, laptops, printers, IP phones, etc.
Switch connects the devices kept in same network. For connecting two different networks, routers are
used. To ease the management of IPs for different departments, concept of VLAN is used so that it avoids
the risk of IP conflict.

Below diagram is a flowchart for the devices that are integral to the proper functioning of the network in
any infra. These include router, switch, firewall and peripheral devices. Router is kept at the top as it
routes the whole traffic to the internal and external environment. This is the reason that router has internal
IP address as well as external IP address. It uses its internal IP to communicate with the switches and
routers inside the infra and external IP to communicate with the devices kept outside the infra. Router
connects with the switches inside which further provides or allocates IP to the peripheral machines for
communication. Peripheral devices include computers, laptops, printers, IP phones, etc. Switch connects
the devices kept in same network. Firewall is the security device that filters the data that is being traveled
inside the premises. There are different firewall rules that are applied in the devices that restricts and
allows only certain IP addresses to be there. Restricted ones are not allowed to enter the infra and are
dropped before entering. This is the reason that ports are blocked so that not all data is transferred from
outside world to the infra. This makes the whole environment secure.

Configuration of whole project
a. Active Directory Installation
Active directory is the centralized tool that is used by Microsoft to manage the servers
from single point. Active Directory stores data as objects. An object is a single element,
such as a user, group, application or device, such as a printer. Objects are normally
defined any entity in the in the active directory is treated as an object. Every object has
some attributes through which it is defined. DNS is the name server that resolves the IP
to hostname and hostname to IP. Forward and reverse look up has been set and this helps
in the resolution of the IP addresses of the devices or the sites. Same is the case with
every device or the server kept in the infra. This is done to ease the management of the
resources and make every possible way to reach the server.

This is very helpful in the infra, this can be explained by an example. If we have 1000 servers
and we want to change the password of 10 users in each server, it will be very difficult to do the
job. To combat with this, AD is is there which can centrally manage all tasks from one
centralized location.
Active Directory categorizes objects by name and attributes. OU or the organizational units are
the sub groups under a forest that lets the management of various departments done easily. We
have created 5 OUs in this project namely, operations, finance, sales, HR and market. Each OU
has two users each having specific roles. For example, the name of a user might include the
name string, along with information associated with the user, such as passwords and Secure Shell
(SSH) keys.
The main service in Active Directory is Domain Services (AD DS), which stores directory
information and handles the interaction of the user with the domain. AD DS verifies access when
a user signs into a device or attempts to connect to a server over a network. AD DS controls
which users have access to each resource. For example, an administrator typically has a different
level of access to data than an end user.

This is very helpful in the infra, this can be explained by an example. If we have 1000 servers
and we want to change the password of 10 users in each server, it will be very difficult to do the
job. To combat with this, AD is is there which can centrally manage all tasks from one
centralized location.

b. DNS Configuration and installation
DNS is the name server that resolves the IP to hostname and hostname to IP. Forward and reverse
look up has been set and this helps in the resolution of the IP addresses of the devices or the sites.
When we have to go to google, we never specify its IP, we just type google, and it resolves to the
IP and we get the desired results. Same is the case with every device or the server kept in the
infra. This is done to ease the management of the resources and make every possible way to reach
the server.

It asks for the credentials at every step that requires authentication as these re the critical changes
that are being done to the server. Only administrator has the right or privilege to attempt this task.
He is the super user of this machine.

c. OU , user and folder creation
OU or the organizational units are the sub groups under a forest that lets the management of
various departments done easily. We have created 5 OUs in this project namely, operations,
finance, sales, HR and market. Each OU has two users each having specific roles.