ICT703 Network Technology and Management: CAC Infrastructure Project

This project outlines the planning and implementation of a network infrastructure for Colour Ability Corporation (CAC), an advertising and marketing firm relocating to a new four-story building. The project addresses the lack of existing network infrastructure and aims to establish a reliable and secure network within a three-month timeframe. It details the requirements gathering process, system specifications for various departments, and recommendations for hardware components like computers, printers, switches (Cisco 200 series), routers (Cisco 4000 series), and wireless access points (Cisco 100 series). The project also proposes Vodafone as the internet service provider (ISP), compares it with Foxtel, and discusses essential network services like DHCP, email, and file sharing. The document follows a waterfall methodology, covering design, implementation, testing, and documentation phases. The project schedule, budget summary, future plans, and subnet calculations are also included to provide a comprehensive overview of the network implementation process for CAC.

Network Technology and Management
Student Name
Course
Date
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Executive Summary
Computer network is a critical business requirement and thus it is the responsibility of each and every
organization or enterprise to take extreme care while planning and implementing it to make sure that
the business will be able to take advantage of the benefits that comes with proper network
implementation. When selecting any computing or networking devices it is important to focus on the
current and future needs of the users. This demand that the business carries a feasibility study and
collect all the current and future requirements before recommending a device. In this project,
requirements gathering process was conducted to ensure that the project will not only serve the current
needs but also the future and emerging requirements. Reliability, security, availability, performance, and
scalability are the key characteristics that any enterprise network should have. Network security is very
important to any enterprise and that’s why they are investing heavily in it to ensure that their digital
resources and sensitive data and information are protected from external attacks. Based on the finding
and recommendations made in this document, Colour Ability Corporation should adopt this proposal.
This paper will discuss the various components and infrastructure that needs to be set up in order to
facilitate and implement a network infrastructure in the new building before CAC moves in.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................5
Problem Statement.................................................................................................................................5
Project Objectives....................................................................................................................................5
Methodology...........................................................................................................................................6
Project Schedule......................................................................................................................................6
Activity 1......................................................................................................................................................6
Activity 2....................................................................................................................................................10
Activity 3....................................................................................................................................................12
Activity 4....................................................................................................................................................13
Recommended ISP.................................................................................................................................14
Activity 5....................................................................................................................................................14
Activity 6....................................................................................................................................................15
Activity 7....................................................................................................................................................16
Activity 8....................................................................................................................................................18
Budget Summary.......................................................................................................................................18
Future Plans...............................................................................................................................................19
Recommendations and Conclusion...........................................................................................................19
References.................................................................................................................................................20
Appendix: Subnet Calculations..................................................................................................................21
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Table of Figures and Table
Figure 1:HP-LaserJet Enterprise M553dn..................................................................................................11
Figure 2: Xerox Phaser 7400 DXF...............................................................................................................11
Figure 3: Cisco 200 series..........................................................................................................................12
Figure 4: Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers...........................................................................12
Figure 5: Cisco 100 Series..........................................................................................................................13
Y
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Introduction
One of the fundamental parts of any business or organization is the computer network. A computer
network is an interconnection of different computing devices such as computers laptops, routers, access
points, servers, switches, and other components for the purpose of communication and sharing of
resources such as data, applications, and files (Zhuravlev, 2016). Since the network is a critical business
requirement of the business it is important to take extreme care while planning and implementing it to
make sure that the business will be able to take advantage of the benefits that comes with proper
network implementation. Salim and Abdala (2018) says that designing the network properly will
increase employee efficiency and performance which is directly converted to increased productivity and
revenue within the company. In their article, they further argue that any network should ensure that the
following properties are met: scalability, security, reliability, easy management, effectiveness, and
efficiency to ensure smooth running of the business operations.
Colour Ability Corporation (CAC) is an advertising and marketing company located in Brisbane CBD and
have its operations based in X-Tower (level 10 and 11). The company has expanded and the current
space does not meet the increasing needs of the business, therefore, the company has purchased a new
4-story building on one of the suburbs in Brisbane and is planning to move to the new building in three
months. This paper will discuss the various components and infrastructure that needs to be set up in
order to facilitate and implement a network infrastructure in the new building before CAC moves in.
Problem Statement
The new building that the company has acquired has no network infrastructure and thus there is need
to set up a network before the business moves in. CAC wants to move in in three months’ time and thus
the network should be setup within this timeline.
Project Objectives
This project seeks to accomplish the following objectives:
 Recommend computers for the different purposes within the company
 Recommend printers for individual managers and one to be share by the rest of the employees.
 Design a network that will facilitate employees to work remotely and share project files.
 Recommend network components that should be used while implementing the network
infrastructure.
 Propose a local internet service provider that will provide reliable internet connection for the
company.
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Methodology
This project will employ the waterfall methodology to where the project is broken down into different
phases: requirements gathering and planning, designing, implementation, testing, documentation, and
maintenance. In the requirements gathering and planning stage, the project team will be responsible for
collecting all the business requirements of every department by using the different data collection
techniques such as interviews and questionnaires. In the design phase, the project team will simulate
the network design using the different network simulation tools such as GNS3 in order to have a bigger
picture on how the various components will communicate. Implementation phase is where the logical
design is converted to physical design and the actual network installation and configuration is done.
Testing is done to make sure that all the business requirements and objectives have been captured. All
the steps carried out from requirements gathering to network testing will be documented for future
reference.
Project Schedule
Activity Time (days) Start End
Requirements gathering
and planning
5 October 15, 2018 October 19, 2018
Designing 10 October 20, 2018 October 29, 2018
Implementation 50 October 30, 2018 November 17, 2018
Testing 5 November 18, 2018 November 22, 2018
Documentation 70 October 15, 2018 November 22, 2018
Table 1: Project Schedule
Activity 1
The following tables give system specifications for the various departments within CAC. Table 1 gives
system specifications for general use computers, table 2 provides specifications for graphics production,
table 3 gives specifications for film production, and table 4 gives requirements for email/ftp server.
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Table 2: Specification for General Use Computers
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Table 3: Specification for Graphic Production Computers
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Table 4: Specifications for Film Production Computers
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Table 5: Specifications for Email/FTP Server
Activity 2
Being an advertising and marketing company, Colour Ability Corporation will be doing a lot of printing.
As such, the need to have a printer that will be able to print professional, high-quality printouts. The
company requires two types of printers one for sharing and another type to be used by managers in
their respective departments.
HP LaserJet Enterprise M553dn is the recommended printer for managers. This is because it is a small
but very reliable and is lightweight to effectively handle the printing needs of the managers.
Additionally, it has the capacity scan, print, and copy both sides of the printing paper. It is an energy
efficient printer thus will not consume a lot of energy, high speed of printing, and is easy to manage.
Furthermore, it facilitates printing even in sleep mode.
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Figure 1:HP-LaserJet Enterprise M553dn
(Source: Harrel, 2016)
The managers require their own personal printers because they will be printing very sensitive
information and thus this printer has the functionality to add secure printing ensures that managers are
able to print their work securely.
Xerox Phaser 7400 DFX is the recommended printer to be used and shared by the CAC employees. This
is a very powerful and reliable printer that will be able to handle the heavy printing require by the
employees. It can hold up to 3000 sheets of printing papers, ability to print A3/4/5/6, and has a printing
speed of up to 40ppm.
Figure 2: Xerox Phaser 7400 DXF
(source: Xerox.com, 2018)
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The printer has a sensor such that when the printing papers get exhausted in one trey it will
automatically start using the papers in another trey. It has a processing speed of 800MHz, 8GB RAM, and
20GB hard disk volume.
Activity 3
Security, reliability, and performance of a network is dependent on the choice of network devices used.
As such, it is essential for Colour Ability Corporation to make sure that the components used are capable
of enforcing and maintaining these critical network attributes comments Lee (2014).
Switch: Cisco 200 series is the recommended switch to be used for setting up the network because it is
reliable, affordable, and can be managed and administered remotely. Additionally, it ensures high
availability and performance.
Figure 3: Cisco 200 series
(Source: Cisco, 2018)
Cisco 200 series switch supports IPv6 and power over ethernet. According to Lin, Hamdi and Muppala
(2012, p. 1188) this switch is easy to setup, manage, and is energy efficient. It supports PoE models to
power up IP phones, cameras, and wireless access points.
Router: Cisco 4000 series is the proposed router to be used by Colour Ability Corporation because of its
ability to identify any malicious and suspicious traffic on the network and filter it to prevent it from
getting into the network. Additionally, by using the Cisco DNA center, this router can automate the
network to make sure that the network is configured and monitored to enhance network performance
(Cisco 2018). Moreover, its virtualization feature makes sure that the network resources anytime when
needed.
Figure 4: Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers
(Source: Cisco: 2018)
Advantages of this router model include application optimization, software-defined WAN, unified
communication, WAN connection, and intelligent caching. According to Hohlfeld, Zinner, Benson and
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