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Network Project Plan - 1-
Phase 3: Systems for Telecommunications
Adam Rennhack
IT302-1403B, Computer Networks & Communications
Instructor: Brian Rodgers
August 25, 2014
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Executive Summary
Tech Central now needs a recommendation for upgrading their network infrastructure to
meet the growing number of employees they are adding. The existing phone network is limited
to 50 lines and many of the switches used for the data network are now outdated relative to the
need to have 1Gbps internet instead of the 10Base T network they bought when the company
started.
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Table of ContentsTable of Contents.............................................................................................................................3
Section 1: The Organization & It’s Network Requirements..........................................................4
Section 2: Current Setup and Issues...............................................................................................5
Section 3: Project Goals for the Organization................................................................................6
Section 4: Recommendations for New Infrastructure.....................................................................7
Section 5: Diagrams and Images....................................................................................................9
Section 6: Advantages & Disadvantages......................................................................................11
Section 7: Productivity Impact.....................................................................................................13
Section 8: Network Upgrade Issues...............................................................................................15
Section 9: Security Concerns for the New Network......................................................................16
Section 10: Ability to Support New Technologies........................................................................17
Section 12: PowerPoint Presentation............................................................................................19
References......................................................................................................................................20
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Section 1: The Organization & It’s Network Requirements
Tech Central is a technical support and custom web design company based in Milwaukee.
The organization has experienced significant growth and as a result the company is looking for
ways to improve their overall network infrastructure to handle both voice and data more reliably
and to provide the organization with a significant increase in both bandwidth and functionality.
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Section 2: Current Setup and Issues
Due to the nature of the business being a startup the organization purchased a used PBX
that supported 50 lines when they originally opened. As the company expanded and started to
outsource their technical support personnel as well as provide services to local companies they
had a need to grow. The company is now nearing 50 employees and as such must find some way
to build out a better infrastructure that supports their voice and data needs to scale the
organization to a much larger number of employees. The network switches currently in place
coupled with the minimum bandwidth that exist will result in performance problems in the near
future that must be addressed in order for the organization to grow. Failure to do so will result in
slower performance and the inability to add additional personnel.
One of the challenges currently faced is the need to allow remote employees to access the
corporate network. Tech Central can hire additional remote employees outside the Milwaukee
area based on the needed areas of expertise to grow the organization. When doing so those
individuals need access to internal information that is stored on the corporate network in addition
to having a phone system that will support IP based telephony via the company’s corporate VPN.
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Section 3: Project Goals for the Organization
Goal 1: New firewall, router and 8 32 port managed switches to support an increased number of
employees in the short term of at least 200. A VPN server will also be included.
Goal 2: Upgrade the PBX to provide a hardware or software based solution that will support up
to 500 lines as well as provide management of call management for their inbound tech support
service as well as corporate needs.
Goal 3: Upgrade their physical phones that will be IP based to save cost and to provide users
with additional functionality.
Goal 4: Upgrade the corporate external bandwidth capacity to 100Mbps service form the existing
25Mbps.
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Section 4: Recommendations for New Infrastructure
Equipment Use Justification
Cisco ASA 550
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/adaptive-security-appliance-asa-software/index.html
Firewall
Port Forwarding
Port Blocking
VPN Service
Necessary for basic operation of the network and security
Cisco 1900 Router
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/routers/1900-series-integrated-services-routers-isr/index.html
Routing Network Traffic Required
Cisco ME 3400
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/me-3400e-series-ethernet-access-switches/index.html
Switches (Requires 8)
Used to connect PCs/Laptops to the LAN
Advanced switches supporting 1Gbps speed with enough connections to more than double current capacity.
3CX Software based PBX
http://www.3cx.com/phone-system/
Serve as the private branch exchange for all phone systems.
Is software based but located on sight.
Will allow for almost unlimited expansion. Easily managed remotely. Integrates with CRM for helpdesk use.
Cisco 7900 Phones
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collaboration-endpoints/unified-ip-phone-7900-series/index.html
Physical phones IP based, easily integrated with 3CX phone system.
New PCs/Laptops As needed Nice to have but existing machines will
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work, can upgrade as needed, expected cost $1500-2000 each.
Software Use Justification
MS Office Word Processing, Spreadsheets
Required
Symantec Antivirus Needed for servers as well as laptops and desktops.
Required for security
Windows Server 2008 New servers as needed
3CX Upgrades Upgrade PBX software as needed
Base included, upgrades are part of the ongoing cost.
Cisco Software Maintenance All of the network hardware appliances.
Must continually upgrade to maintain adequate protection/best possible use.
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Section 5: Diagrams and Images
The diagram shown below shows four of the 8 switches as well as the four existing servers that
will exist. They are based on Windows 2008 as recommended. Printer upgrades are not
included as part of this but they will be connected to the new switches that will be available
providing for faster more reliable service. The layout follows standard methodologies.
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The below is an example provided by 3CX of the implementation of the 3CX
phone system and supported capabilities.
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Section 6: Advantages & Disadvantages
The first components to upgrade are going to be the overall network infrastructure that
will be needed to support the additional bandwidth consumed by individuals and those consumed
by the new VOIP PBX phone system. The primary appliance that will face the Internet is the
Cisco ASA 550 which is the flagship product from Cisco related to overall network security.
The updates for additional threats are managed by Cisco allowing the company to focus on what
they do best. It will serve as the firewall into the organization as well as the VPN server that will
be used to allow remote employees to login to the system. In addition routers are required as
well as new switches to support the additional internal bandwidth.
One of problems posed when someone upgrades their data and telephony network is the
advantages and disadvantages of doing so. In most cases companies are seeking a competitive
advantage when they decide to make a significant investment in the communications
infrastructure of the organization.
In the case of Tech Central there are a number of advantages including the required
advantage of being able to provide adequate bandwidth and infrastructure that is necessary to
serve the employees of the organization. Other advantages would include the increased
productivity from the new infrastructure including the fact that calls can be made directly from
one’s computer screen as well as access caller information live without the need to gather the
information manually.
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There will be cost savings in terms of the telephone system as calls transmitted via voice
over Internet protocol or VOIP will have a much lower cost structure due to the reduced cost
versus dedicated lines. The updated technology will also provide the organization the needed
competitive advantage that some of their other customers may not have.
While there are a number of advantages there are also disadvantages and potential
disadvantages that may present themselves. While everything should work seamlessly anytime
a significant upgrade takes place there is a chance that something could go wrong or not work as
accepted. For this reason the risk inherent in the upgrade is something that must be taken into
account.
There is also significant cost but in this case that should be seen as a complete
disadvantage as the existing system was unable to support the organization and therefore an
upgrade was absolutely required.
While the company expects employees to become much more productive there is also the
risk that they will have trouble using the new system resulting in slower response time to
customers which would be counter productive. While the tools also provide the competitive
advantage in some cases it will require resources to manage the overhead of having a complex
yet efficient system in place.
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Section 7: Productivity Impact
Capacity
The increased capacity provided by the system will allow the organization to grow.
Currently the company is limited in terms of the information and services they can provide.
Allowing employees to become more productive will result in increased revenue and decreased
cost. Having the additional data storage capacity will benefit the organization by providing them
access to additional information that wasn’t there before.
Reliability
The new system is one that is highly reliable with many of the components expected to
perform at five 9’s or 99.999% perfect uptime. Downtime is a driver of lost revenue and
therefore having near 100% uptime is critical to the organization. If servers or telephones are
down customers can be supported and people can’t sell products and services.
Connectivity
In terms of connectivity the systems that are used to run the organization are the lifeblood
of the company. Connectivity must exist in terms of both telephone and data. In addition, with
many remote associates having access to the system is absolutely critical, as poor connectivity
will mean slower response times to customers and lower productivity for employees. The
network must be able to perform well.
Capability for Growth
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As presented previously the hardware components that are being purchased may be
upgraded via software and as such the hardware should support growth over the next five years.
Based on the current evaluation upgrades in terms of significant cost should be limited.
OSI and TCP/IP
Having both the OSI and TCP/IP models in place within an organization is critical as the
TCP/IP components are actually part of the overall seven layer model that is widely accepted.
The additional layers such as the physical layer are important aspects that are required in order
for data communications to take place in an efficient manner. Another components of the OSI
that is required is the session layer which allows systems to “talk” to each other or perform
handshakes such that the components are aware of the other components in the system. Finally,
the presentation layer is required unless one expects all data communications to occur without
human involvement in terms of being able to view the information. For that reason the
presentation layer is a critical component of any data-networking model.
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Section 8: Network Upgrade Issues
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Section 9: Security Concerns for the New Network
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Section 10: Ability to Support New Technologies
Any new technologies that are developed during the first six years of operation should be
upgradeable via a software update and no additional hardware is to be expected to be needed
during that time.
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Section 11: Maintenance of the New Solution
Based on the cost and significance of the upgrade there should be no need to make any
additional upgrades for 3 years. Following the three-year period upgrades will be required for
most of the software. This would include updating the server based operating systems as well as
Microsoft Office suite for the employees. Upgrades for the PBX and phone systems will be
included with service contracts and the cost is fixed. Starting in year 6 the organization should
prepare a plan to evaluate the current infrastructure relative to industry peers and the current
overall industry required security requirements to ensure the network is still meeting the
demands of the organization. If the company continues to grow then additional hardware may be
needed.
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Section 12: PowerPoint Presentation
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References
The OSI Model’s Seven Layers Defined and Functions Explained. (n.d.). Microsoft.com. Retrieved September 7th, 2014 from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/103884
The TCP/IP Model. January 21, 2005. TechNet. Retrieved September 7th, 2014 from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc786900(v=ws.10).aspx
A Comparison of Total Costs of Ownership of 10 Gigabit Network Deployments in the Data Center. November 2009. Commscope. Retrieved September 7th, 2014 from https://www.anixter.com/content/dam/Suppliers/CommScope/Documents/10GbE_TCO_whitepaper.pdf