Report: Data Communication Network Design for Pine Martin Fuels Ltd

This report presents a data communication solution tailored for Pine Martin Fuels Ltd., addressing their challenges in data management and customer satisfaction. It begins with an introduction to data communication principles, emphasizing the role of a centralized database system to resolve data inconsistency and scheduling issues. The report details the benefits of networking, including improved data accessibility and cost-effectiveness. A local area network infrastructure is designed, complete with a logical network diagram illustrating the interconnection of key components like a centralized database, ISP connection, wireless access points, and workstations. The report specifies cabling requirements, recommending fiber optics for its high bandwidth and immunity to interference. Infrastructure devices, such as switches and servers, are explained in detail, along with specific product examples. Furthermore, the report covers IPv4 address allocation, appropriate network services, and the use of network monitoring tools to ensure optimal performance. Finally, it identifies potential security issues and offers recommendations to enhance the network's security posture. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and recommendations for Pine Martin Fuels Ltd.

Data Communication

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Benefits of Networking..........................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
Network Design .....................................................................................................................2
a) Logical network diagram for Pine Martin Fuels Ltd..........................................................3
b) Cabling requirements for the network design....................................................................4
c) Explaining the infrastructure devices.................................................................................4
d) Specific products that could be used for infrastructure devices.........................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
Allocation of IPv4 addresses..................................................................................................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
Appropriate set of services.....................................................................................................7
TASK 5............................................................................................................................................8
Network monitoring tools for ensuring the performance.......................................................8
TASK 6............................................................................................................................................9
Three possible security issues Pine Martin has to face in their new network implementation9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Data communication is considered as a process of utilization of the communication
technologies along with the computing ones as well in order to transfer the data and information
from one place to the another and then from the second place to the first place again. The process
runs clockwise (Krishnamurthi and et.al, 2012). There are various elements compiling in the
network of data communication and it involves the sender, receiver, the information to be sent
and received, the communication channel and the encoding and decoding body. The actual
purpose behind it is the transfer of the information within various terminals. The report is about
involving a suitable network solution for the Pine Martin Fuels Ltd. which can help them in
satisfying the customers completely.
TASK 1
Benefits of Networking
As the company is facing issues with the uploading and updating of data about the
supplier and the account's data as well, so the Pine Martin Fuels Ltd can make use of a
centralised database system that can help the company in resolving such issues, thus the
company will be able to gain a huge number of satisfied customers as well (Yang and et.al,
2013). As the company has another issue that the site is located at one building and there is some
mis management of the personal computers, so a centralised database system can be considered
as the best possible option because it is situated and stored at a single location. Along with the
storing and other functions, its whole management is also being done at that single location only.
The location is central always, whether it may be a system or a server as well. Pine Martin can
use the centralised database system as it can help them in giving access to a central processing
unit (CPU) which automatically does the maintenance of the database. The issues of the Pine
Martin along with the solutions associated with the network solutions are discussed as under :
Data inconsistency
Mainly there are two issues that the company may have to deal with the data and that are
data redundancy and the data inconsistency. There is a small difference between the both. Data
redundancy is considered as copying the data and information. It can also be termed as the
duplication of data whereas the inconsistency of data can be considered as the fact that the
copied values are different. The inconsistency of data happens when the similar type of
information or data is being collected in the formats that are not similar and are different. Also, it
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can be happen in the case when the information is being combined within files. However, it can
make duplications in some inside information such as the address or any name etc. If Pine Martin
fuels adopts the centralised database system, then in that case it can help the company in a
minimized range of the data inconsistency as well as the redundancy of the data.
Non meeting of schedules
The company is also facing issues in uploading all the information which is also
considered as a factor of inconsistency of data., so they can use a centralised database system in
which they can store the information once and whenever they enter the new details in the system
and any modified detail, the system will be updated automatically. This is the biggest advantage
of using the centralised database system. So, Pine Martin Fuels will also be able to stay aware of
the upcoming deliveries, so that the customers will also not get disappoint because of the late
deliveries. The disappointment of customers is also genuine as unavailability of any one product
may cause the stopping of the whole process. So, the unavailability of the heating oil which is
being supplied by the Pine Martin Fuels Ltd may act as a barrier in their work. While using the
centralised database system, it also promotes the portability of data and information and also, it
is more cost effective for the Pine Martin, so the company can adopt it very easily and the
process is quite simple as well. By this way, the people in the Pine Martin will also be able to get
aware of the scheduled deliveries so that the people and the customer may not have to face any
sort of inconvenience. The only thing, Pine Martin Fuels Ltd has to keep in mind is the network
connectivity because for centralised database system, the most essential thing is the network
connectivity. So, Pine Martin Fuels Ltd can make use of the centralised database system for
resolving these issues, thus they can successfully satisfy the needs and requirements of the
customers.
TASK 2
Network Design
A local area network infrastructure that the Pine Martin can use is represented as under :
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a) Logical network diagram for Pine Martin Fuels Ltd.
This is the network diagram for Pine Martin Fuels Ltd which includes two basis
components, that are the centralised database system which is interconnected to all the other
components as shown in the diagram. An ISP connection is the internet service provider which is
providing the network access because in implementation of the centralised database system, the
most important and essential component is the network connectivity (Nguyen, Jones and
Krishnamurthy, 2010). Any issue in the connection may cause issues in the centralised database
system as well. It is because the centralised database system is situated at a single place and from
there only, it is connected to all other network components for performing its operations and
sharing the information as well. So, it is very important the Pine Martin should choose the
internet service provider very wisely and selectively. Then, there are two wireless points, one is
connected to the switch and the other is connected to the internet service provider. A wireless
access point is considered as a hardware of networking that permits the connection of a Wi-Fi
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Public
Internet
ISP
Connection
Centralised
database
system
Switch
Wireless
access point
Workstation 1 Workstation
2
Wireless
access point
Illustration 1: Logical network diagram

device with a wired network. The hotspot cannot be referred similar to that of an access point.
There is a difference between the both. Then, there are workstations connected to the switch of
the centralised database system. It will help Pine Martin Fuels in uploading all the information
and with the help of it, they can access the same information from any other device connected on
the same network. A centralised database system will also help the company in preservation and
protection of data as it provides high security access so that no other external body can be able to
access the data and information of their network. It also involves various security features such
as firewall etc. which helps in blocking the unauthorized access to the internal data.
b) Cabling requirements for the network design
Although there are a wide variety of cables that can be used by the Pine Martin Fuels Ltd.
such as Unshielded twisted pair cable (UTP), shielded twisted pair cable (STP), fibre optics,
coaxial etc., but in case of the network implementation in the Pine Martin Fuels, optical fibre has
been used because it has an extremely high bandwidth that cannot be available by some other
cables, so the company has used this cable in their network design so that they do not have to
face any issue regarding the connectivity and speed of the network. Along with this, it also offers
low power loss which means that the fibre optics may utilise less power consumption as
compared to the other cables such as unshielded or shielded twisted pair cables (Trioano and
et.al, 2010). There are various cables which are not immune to the electromagnetic interference,
which means that there are some cables that get effect some factors such as noise etc., so using
the fibre optics may help in getting rid of such issues as it does not get affected by any such
factor. Whether it may be noise or heavy climatic change, fibre optics cable does not get affected
by it. So, this feature of using fibre optics can help Pine Martin Fuels Ltd. in an efficient and
appropriate network design. The cost of fibre optics per foot can be evaluated as $5.87. So, Pine
Martin can make an estimate on the basis of it whether how much area they need to cover in
connecting the centralised database system with all the systems inside the network.
c) Explaining the infrastructure devices
Network infrastructure devices are considered as the devices which compiles both the
hardware and the software resources of the complete network that is actually responsible for
enabling the connectivity and connection of the network (Crampton and Tangoe, 2011). There
are various infrastructure devices used in the implementation of the centralised database system
such as switch, wireless access point, internet service provider etc. The actual device here is the
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centralised database system that can help Pine Martin Fuels in resolving all its issues that they do
not get aware of the scheduled de livery's, because of which the customers have to face issues
and they have to stop their process because of the unavailability of the product. Along with it,
they are not able to upload the data on the system because of which they had to face data
inconsistency. So, a centralised database system can help them in a minimized rate of data
inconsistency as well as redundancy. After the successful implementation of this, Pine Martin
Fuels Ltd will be able to deliver the products to the customers on time so that none of the
customer stay disappointed with the company. Along with it, it can also help the company in
getting such a database in which they have to just enter the details once, whether it may be any
new detail or modified one, it automatically updates the whole system and it does not take even
more time as well, it does the whole process within nano seconds.
d) Specific products that could be used for infrastructure devices
Although, there can be various infrastructure devices that can be used in this model but
servers and switches can act as an efficient role in the whole centralised database system.
Application of these are discussed as under :
Switch
A bridge or switch is considered as a network device which perform its operations at the
data link layer. It performs the examining of the packet of data first and then forwards the same
data packets to the other devices in the network (Nguyen, Jones and Krishnamurthy, 2010). If a
single device is connected to a switch, then it is automatically connected to all those devices that
are connected to the switch itself. It permits the level of interaction between different devices on
the network. These bridges and switches, both make use of the data link layer which can also be
termed as MAC address.
Server
A network server plays a very important role as it can connect the whole network of Pine
Martin Ltd. As, a server is very easy to use but it handles all the managing of data, storing,
sending to other various computers on the network. The actual functioning of a server is that it
holds the ability of storing, retrieving the data and also for sending the files and information on
other various devices that are connected on the same network. The whole internet is quite
dependent on the server as it helps in holding a much amount of data and information that is
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essential to store and retrieve the whole data. A server is responsible for doing all the
manageability. All the information and data on the computers connected is stored on the server
as well.
TASK 3
Allocation of IPv4 addresses
There are two types of addressing, one is the static and the other is dynamic. In static IP
addressing, the address does not change, it remains the same but in dynamic IP addressing, it
changes after it is being connected to a network.
Like, as in the network made above, in this the workstations, switch and wireless access point
must be having static addressing. Most of the systems make use of the dynamic addressing only.
So, the addresses allocated to these systems are represented as under :
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As the centralised database system is a private network for the Pine Martin Ltd because it must
be compiling the internal information and data of the company such as of the employees,
customers, deals, finance etc. So a private IP address of class A has been sued and for the public
network, it can be given an IP of 92.255.255.254.
In actual, the allocation of Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) is being managed directly IANA.
Other smaller parts are meant to be allocated by registers for managing all the purposes. There
are some classes in which the allocation of IP addresses is being done. The range for each class
is represented as following :
Class A : 1.0.0.1 – 126.255.255.254
Class B : 128.1.0.1 – 191.255.255.254
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Public
Internet
ISP
Connection
Centralised
database
system
Switch
Wireless
access point
Workstation 1 Workstation
2
Wireless
access point
10.255.255.255
92.255.255.254
Illustration 2: Network diagram for Pine Martin Fuels Ltd.

Class C : 192.0.1.1 – 223.255.254.254
Class D : 224.0.0.0 – 239.255.255.255
Class E : 240.0.0.0 – 254.255.255.254
On the basis of these classes, IP addresses are assigned to these as represented above.
IP address of each class has a different subnet mask as Class A IP address is used in the
centralised database system and it has been allocated a subnet mask of 255.0.0.0. Whenever a
system has been allotted a static IP address, that address does not change but in case of a
dynamic IP address allocated, they change over time. So, the centralised database system of the
Pine Martin Fuels Ltd. has been allotted a static IP address and it will not change now. The only
difference between the static and dynamic addressing is that the static IP addresses does not
change but the dynamic addresses are able enough of being changed over time. Usually most of
the times, dynamic addressing is provided by the Internet Service providers. As in static IP
addressing, the IP address stays the same and does not change, it can be considered as an
effective option for the centralised database system along with some other applications as well
such as voice over internet protocol (VOIP), virtual private network (VPN) etc.
TASK 4
Appropriate set of services
Each network is dependent on various internal as well as external services, so the Pine
Martin Ltd also have as a set of these services which are discussed as under :
Foreground services are considered as the services that act as a sort of visible interaction
between the two bodies whereas background services are those services which are not visible to
the end users, instead they play a very important role in continuing the foreground processes.
Some of these both are discussed as following :
Domain name system (DNS)
A DNS is considered as a sort of decentralised naming system that is meant for services,
computers and other systems and it is connected to the internet for accomplishment of a well
implementation of all those services. A very common and well known example of it is
considered as that every website has a specific IP address and the language in which messages
are sent and received in the systems is being done in the binary coding system (Krishnamurthi
and et.al, 2012). Such as if one person enters the name of some website, it will reach to the
server in the form of its IP such as if someone enters www. Compeer.com, then, the server will
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map it in 208.19.59.149. It will help the employees of the Pine Martin Ltd in logging in the
network so that the processes can be done efficiently. A domain name system is actually its own
network. In case of DNS servers, if in case, one domain name server is not able to understand
what is to be done, in that cases, it asks the same from the another one and performs the
operation. Each single time, when a domain name system is being used, the DNS services makes
a translation of the name to the corresponding and specific IP address. There are various types of
requests that come within it asking for different permissions, so the ones consisting of IP
addresses, those are being called back from the particular server and are considered as DNS
lookups. Like in case of Pine Martin Fuels, as well. The database of the domain name system
will be residing on the special server where all other databases are residing. On internet as well, a
conversion within the names or what one types in the bar of the IP address takes place
automatically. The internet service providers (ISPs) holds the responsibility of managing the
domain name server of the Pine Martin Fuels Ltd. and for doing all the configurations, makes use
of a DHPC so that the DNS server can be automatically configured (Nguyen, Jones and
Krishnamurthy, 2010). Of their whole network and all the respected connections. In this case,
Pine Martin Fuels Ltd. does not maintain their own ISP settings, so they may be take use of the
public internet DNS service. They are also known for providing efficient and an appropriate
level of performance that can help the Pine Martin Fuels Ltd. to gain a higher number of
productivity as well as a huge amount of satisfied customers as well. The Pine Martin Fuels Ltd.
can make use of the routers and various gateway devices for storing and maintaining secondary,
primary as well as tertiary IP addresses so that their functioning can be done easily and
efficiently.
E mail
An electronic mail or an e-mail is a way by which messages can be exchanged between
two bodies. The e mail systems that are being used nowadays are based on a store and forward
approach. The server of the specific e mail accepts the mail, forwards the same to the receiver
and stores the same after the delivery of that mail. So, it can be considered as an effective way.
By this way, the employees of the Pine martin will be able to communicate to each other and can
be able to maintain their confidentiality as well by securing their passwords. There were various
email systems before whose configuration was tough and was requiring recipient and author to
stay online at the specific time for exchange of messages but nowadays, these e mail systems are
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being based on the store and forward model. It is not compulsory to stay online for both the
parties at the same time. Now the processing has been made easy and simple thoroughly.
TASK 5
Network monitoring tools for ensuring the performance
With the help of network monitoring tools, it can become easy to monitor the traffic,
bandwidth, server and other essential services. Some of these tools which can help the Pine
Martin Ltd. in checking and testing the performance whether the company is going in a positive
direction or not, are discussed as following :
GFI Languard
The speciality of GFI LAN guard is that it is not restricted to any size of the network,
which means it can monitor small as well as large networks. So, this can be considered as a very
better choice for the Pine Martin Ltd as it can help the company in monitoring their whole
network (Hunt and et.al, 2013). Also, whether the company has to check over risks and other
vulnerabilities, they can do the same on the basis of it. There is no issue of scanning the licensed
applications, instead it has the capability of scanning the licensed as well as unlicensed
applications. It provides the representation and storage of data from up to 60,000 devices on the
network which is a very huge amount of computers, so it is obvious enough that over a range of
this much of computers, how much data will be involved in it. The system has a centralised
patch management, because of which it is capable of preventing various complication issues. So,
it can be a great choice for Pine Martin Ltd. There are some system requirements for the GFI
Languard and these include that on specific TCP ports, there must be some specified protocols
such as on the TCP port number 138, there must be NetBIOS protocol and the same on the TCP
Port number 139. On TCP port number 161, the protocol must be SNMP which means the simple
network management protocol which is considered as a very basic protocol for the management
of the network.
Nagios
Nagios is also considered as a very important tool that can help the Pine Martin Ltd in
monitoring efficiently. It is able to monitor all the services and applications that whether they all
are running smoothly or not. It includes various features which can help the company such as
event handling, reporting and alerting. This can also be used online, there is no need of installing
if one is using it for a single time. But as the Pine Martin Ltd have to make use of it at various
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