Final Project: Executive Summary for Network Design Project Essay Example

align="justify">To accomplish such a task, a Wide Area Network (WAN) will be used. A WAN is used to connect groups of Lana together over a distance. Wants can be used to connect over a short distance, such as connecting offices in the same city; or o connect local offices to facilities on the other side of the world. According to Cisco (n. D. ),A WAN is a data communications network that covers a relatively broad geographic errand that often uses transmission facilities provided by common carriers, such as telecommunications.

WAN technologies generally function at the lower three layers of the Circumference model: the physical layer, the data link layer, and the network layer. (Para. 2)With a WAN set up, the accountants at the headquarter office will be able to connect with any of the other four offices' Lana to monitor financial data. By doing so, his will allow the accountants the ability of exchanging data with one another much more rapidly than using the mail, or any other option out there; even email in some circumstances for that matter.

Rather, it would be as if the accountants were in the same office; or as if the offices were all in the same location. To build Cacophonic Inc. 's WAN, there are a few key factors that need to be considered; the requirements of the WAN. By understanding the requirements of the WAN, the technology to achieve them can then be more easily determined. Requirements:;All five locations need to be able to connect, or rather be connected to he WAN to allow the accountants at headquarters access to all financial data. ;Must allow for approximately 40

users at any given time on the WAN; that use the WAN for approximately an hour at a time. The amount of data being transferred and shared does not usually exceed that of 1 JOB. ;The accounting application software that Cacophonic Inc. Uses requires an encoding rate of 40 Kbps. ;Due to constant accessing of the data, a synchronous connection will need to be established between each of Cacophonic Inc. 's Lana. Bandwidth Calcareousness the requirements listed, it states that the data counting application software that is used requires an encoding rate of 40 Kbps. So to calculate the total data transfer, the following calculation is used:;First calculate the data transfer per minute. 40 Kbps multiplied by 60 seconds per minute = 2,400 kilobits per minute;Next the kilobits per minute need to be multiplied by the average time on the WAN. 02,400 kilobits per minute multiplied by 60 minutes = 144,000 kilobits;Convert the total kilobits to kilobytes. 0144000 kilobits divided by 8 bits per byte = 18,000 kilobytes;Convert the total kilobytes to megabytes. 09,000 kilobytes divided by 1 ,024 = 17. 8 Mambo, to calculate the required WAN connection bandwidth, the following calculations are used. First multiply the maximum concurrent users by the encoding rate. 040 users multiplied by 40 Kbps = 1,600 Kbps;Now convert the maximum kilobits per second to megabits per second. 0 1,600 Kbps divided by 1,024 = 1. 563 Mbps Connection Typesetter designing a WAN, one must consider what type of connection can be used with the available services. A WAN connection refers not only to the components being used, such as cables, switches, and routers on the physical level; but

also the way in which the data s transmitted on the data link layer, and the network layer.

According to Warren Wheaton (2000) there are three general types of WAN connections offered by most carriers; these are:;Circuit switched connections;Dedicated connections;packet switched or cell switched conventioneer's, along with theses three connection types, Halberd (2005) mentions Digital Subscriber Line (DSL). Circuit Switched Connection"Circuit switching transmits data streams and datagram's across dedicated physical circuits. To provide asynchronous dial-in and" Integrated Services Digital Network (KIDS) "services, the telephone companies use circuit witching" (Wheaton, 2000, Para. 3).

However, due to the low bandwidths that circuit- switched connections offer, theses would not be recommended for Cacophonic Inc. 's WAN. Dedicated Connections unlike circuit switched connections, dedicated connections use point-to-point serial connections that provide a fixed or permanent connection to a remote network. The awesome thing about dedicated connections is the fact that they offer speeds up to TO, or 44. 736 Mbps, over a public carrier's network. With fixed or permanent connections, dedicated connections allow for less overhead to be required in order to establish communication between two locations.

Now since dedicated connections offer such low overhead, as well high bandwidths, they are excellent choices for companies that require WAN connections with a high bandwidth. However, of the three connections, the dedicated connections are on the usually the highest. Packet Switched or Cell Switched Compassionately-switched or cell-switched connections, on the other hand, are point-to-point connections that allow the data to travel over a public carrier's network. Now even though packet-switched and cell- witched connections are more costly than KIDS connections and asynchronous dial- in.

Packet switched and cell switched connections are

able to provide much higher bandwidths than either circuit-switching connection; and at a much lower cost than dedicated connections. Some examples of packet-switched and cell-switched networks are:Frame Relay, which is packet switched; X. 25, which is also packet switched; and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), which is cell switched. DSSSL is a connection type that can deliver reliable, high data transfer speeds for office-to-office connectivity. Along with DSSSL high speed capabilities, the fact that it runs over traditional twisted pair copper wire makes it available in most areas.

DSL is more expensive than standard dialup; but, it is affordable for most small businesses. However, according to Halberd (2005), there are at least six different choices to choose from when choosing a DSL connection. These include:;Asymmetric DSL (ADDS), which allows for up to 8 Mbps of data to be received and up to 1 Mbps of data to be sent. ;High-speed DSL (HEADS), this allows between 768 Kbps and 2. 048 Mbps connections between two sites. Rate-adaptive DSL (RAIDS) allows for 600 Kbps to Mbps of data to be received and 128 Kbps to 1 Mbps of data to be sent. Symmetric DSL (SODS) allows bidirectional rates varying from 160 Kbps to 2. 048 Mbps. ;Very-high-speed DSL (BEDS) allows up to 26 Mbps of bandwidth. ;KIDS-based DSL (SOIL) speed is about the same as KIDS, but SOIL is used for data almost exclusively, because it is an always-on connection to a single destination, as opposed to KIDS, which can be used to place calls to other KIDS connections. (p. 86)Connection to be Pseudo the six DSL choices, the SODS would be an excellent inactivity choice for Cacophonic

Inc. 's WAN.

The main reasoning behind this is that SODS offers the efficient data transfer speeds that meet the requirements. Now since DSL run over existing telephone-lines, a SODS connection will also be the most cost- effective way for Cacophonic Inc to build their WAN. As well, the SODS also allows the WAN to be an on, or open connection always. DSL Hardware use of a DSL connection over a LANA will require the installation of a DSL router provided by the ISP at each Cacophonic Inc. Location. However, in order to connect multiple Lana, access routers are used.

The access router is connected to each Élan's hub or switch, to serve as a gateway to the WAN. Along with an access router at each location, Cacophonic Inc will also need to establish an enterprise-wide account with an ISP. In turn, the Stall's constant connection will then also allow for the accountants at headquarters to be able to monitor the daily financial data at each location. Conclusion conclusion, the connection that will be used for Cacophonic Inc. 's WAN will be a SODS connection. The reasoning for this choice is simply because it not only is the most cost-effective for Cacophonic Inc. UT the SODS also offers the desired bandwidths to meet the network requirements. Network Remote Access"Remote access is a set of technologies that transparently connects a computer, typically located in an off-site or remote location, to a network" (Microsoft, 2002, '1 2). Simply put, remote access refers to methods used to connect one device to another that are usually on different networks. One way to view it would be that remote access

is a computer program installed on a computer that allows one the ability to access his or her computer from another computer over the Internet, LANA, or phone connection.

This access would then allow him or her to access the organization's network on the computer as if it were the one he or she was at the location. However, to accomplish such a task, there are two different methods to choose from: Dial-Up; and Virtual Private Networks, or VPN. "With dial-up remote access, a remote access client uses the telecommunications infrastructure to create a temporary physical or virtual circuit to a port on a remote access server, which is typically attached to a corporate network" (Microsoft, 2003, Para. 2). However, to make this connection the dial-up method requires the use of wow modems.

The client uses one modem, which is connected to his or her computer, to connect to a telephone-line to dial into an Sip's node. Once connected, he or she can then establish a modem-to-modem link with the remote server's modem in the other location. This modem-to-modem link then allows for a secure connection through an authentication or authorization process involving LANA and operating system protocols. VPN, on the other hand, "provide a more active form of security by either encrypting or encapsulating data for transmission through an unsecured network" (Cisco, n. . , Para. ) through the use of protocols installed on both the remote access client's device, and the organization's remote access server. So when using the VPN method, a VPN client would be able to use any IP network to create a virtual point-to-point connection with a remote access server

at the other location (Microsoft, 2002). One way to look at it would be that a VPN is an encrypted communications network tunneled through another network that is assigned to a specific network through protocols that are put into place.

Now, while even though both methods provide a secure connection over an unsecured outwork; the manner in that this security is reached is completely different. A VPN does not require explicit security features such as authentication or authorization; as with a dial-up remote access. Instead VPN use a set of tunneling protocols to establish a secured tunneled network that is encrypted. Because of this, it has been decided that Cacophonic Inc. Will implement a VPN to allow for private connections over the Internet to its network.

VPN Remote Accession as stated previously, the Cacophonic Inc. Network will use a VPN to establish remote access to the network. However, a closer look at the VPN remote access it needed. VPN connections can be used in two different manners. The first is to use VPN technology to form WAN connections between two networks that have access to the Internet; this is known as a WAN VPN connection. As well, VPN can be used to form remote access connections that enable remote access clients the ability to access an organization's LANA via the Internet.

The main difference between a WAN VPN connection and a VPN remote access connection is that a WAN VPN connects two networks together, rather than a remote client and a LANA. A remote access connection is usually formed when needed and uses less expensive hardware on the remote side (Halberd, 2006), such as Cacophonic

Inc. 's SODS modem. The makeup of a VPN remote access connection consists of the remote access client, the organization's remote access server, and a shared or public network; which is typically the Internet.

However, the manner in which the VPN is established can be varied by the choices of hardware and software that will be used. As such, the following factors were considered when deciding on the remote access solution to be used:;Cost actors;Network hardware and connections;performance factories Factories plays one of the most important roles in determining anything on a company's network. As such, this is no different with the network remote access; and according to Halberd (2006), "VPN connections cost much less than dedicated connections" (p. 135).

As well, the protocols that are used to establish the security offered by VPN come standard on Windows based servers; which also make it more cost efficient than other options. Network Hardware and Connectional Cacophonic Inc. 's offices use Windows 2000 and Geiger based operating systems (SO) on their servers and work station computers. So because of this, the use of the use of the VPN remote access is that much more appealing since all Windows 2000 and higher based JOSS can be used to establish this remote connection through the use of various protocols.