Network Infrastructure for South African Business   Term Paper ID:31787 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Describes a network infrastructure for a business in South Africa with four remote locations ...... More...

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Paper Abstract: Describes a network infrastructure for a business in South Africa with four remote locations; also briefly compares and contrasts IPv4 and IPv6. Security issues. Paper Introduction: Network Infrastructure for South African Business Introduction Johnson Engineering is a South African company with four locations andas many as PCs at each location Each location also has at least oneprinter and as many as six There is no e-mail program at this time noris there any type of formal network in place It is not clear how old thecurrent PCs are nor what type of budget exists for replacing these PCs orinstalling new servers life cycle structure The task facing the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Norton will be the primary firewall, and will be used in combination withvirus detecting and protecting software. The increased use of broadbandand third-generation technologies, however, have made the deficiencies ofIPv4 more obvious in recent years, however. Continued work on IPv6 since the 199 s has improved it to the pointwhere it is expected that trillions of addresses will be possible under thenew protocol, eliminating concern that the Internet will run out ofaddresses in the near future. wireless networking options Wireless networking offers an attractive option to Johnson Engineeringwithin each office. High-end servers shouldalso be implemented at the Johannesburg office, which will serve as thenetwork hub since it has the most PCs and printers and is presumed to havethe greatest on-site staff and IT resource requirements. Thenetwork should be phased in over a 6-month period, with the entire networkoperational at the end of that time and with pieces-such as the e-mailsystem-operational before the end of that time. Inaddition, the IT manager can determine which drives or partitions are madeavailable for sharing, and which remain invisible to the network. However, given the size of drawings and other engineeringdocuments that are likely to be transmitted over the network, having abroadband connection makes the most sense in this situation. Continued enhancements to IPv6 have made it possible to-in mostsituations-avoid having to rework existing Internet code. This makes itpossible for new Internet applications to take advantage of the features ofIPv6, including broadband applications, while legacy applications are ableto run successfully on IPv4. Security will be a primary concernand can be provided through smart cards that enable/disable laptopconnectivity as well as through biometric access and software tools such asfirewalls. Microsoft Outlook will be used asthe e-mail system; this is available as part of the Microsoft Officeproduct suite and will provide the company with industry-wide standards interms of word processing and spreadsheet capabilities that will enhance theability of employees to work remotely. Network Infrastructure for South African Business Introduction Johnson Engineering is a South African company with four locations andas many as 5 PCs at each location. All laptops and PCs will also have firewalls installed designed toprotect against attacks originating from the Internet, and to preventinfected machines from spreading their infections to others on the network. Overall connectivity will be provided through a T1 or E1 service sothat broadband capabilities and speed can be realized. Wirelessnetworking also has the benefit of being easily transported so that whenusers go from one office to another, they can easily access the network inthe new office. A VPN can help bring about rapid implementation of the networkthrough a T1 or E1 Internet connection, and all employees will need to bemade aware of the company's new IT policy through a formal writtenstatement and appropriate training in the use of the Internet and the useof the new e-mail program, Microsoft Outlook. TheIT policy should also be used to explain the role of the network in thecompany's success strategy, including using the network to improve supplychain management, customer service, and employee productivity by making itpossible to share information quickly and securely. Conclusion Networking four offices together that are currently operating onstandalone PCs will not be an easy task, but it should greatly enhance theproductivity and effectiveness of the operation. The most obvioustemporary solution is to have IPv4 and IPv6 run in parallel withoutactually migrating legacy applications that function well on IPv4. Certainly some ofthe resistance to moving to IPv6 from IPv4 was the expectation thatconsiderable change would be necessary in order to migrate from the earlierto the later version. Hyperthreading allows an operating system to think that it isrunning on two separate processors by making use of otherwise idleresources and ensuring that the operating system sees all resources. At the same time, many employees nowexpect that Internet access is one of the perquisites of working attechnologically-advanced companies, and there may be some resistance to notbeing able to use the Internet for personal use. In addition, work by the task force hashelped alleviate fears that the Internet itself would have to undergofundamental changes in order to adopt the new protocol. All new employeesshould be given a copy of the IT policy and should go over the key pointswith their supervisors in order to ensure that everyone understands therole of the network in the organization. IPv6 Internet Protocol version 4 is the de facto standard in use today.However, it is estimated that approximately two-thirds of the possible 4.3billion Internet addresses are already in use under IPv4, and that theaddress limit will be reached by 2 1 at the latest. In the future, the company may want to put one or two discarded PCs onthe Internet for employee use in each office. life cycle/structure The task facing the new IT manager is how to link the employeesthroughout the organization together without compromising security andwithout heavy new development costs. All e-mail and network access will becontrolled through the Johannesburg office through a single gateway. This is an ideal situationfor this environment where the PCs are of varying ages. Whilethis will cause some slowdown in service, it will provide greater security. Security measures, including encryption, should beimplemented in order to prevent unauthorized "eavesdropping" on thewireless network. It is not clear how old thecurrent PCs are, nor what type of budget exists for replacing these PCs orinstalling new servers. Bots and spiders will bedisallowed throughout the network. An IT policy will need to be developed and implemented if the companyis to be successful not only at protecting its data, but also providing aproductive work environment for employees. This should improve theinternal as well as the external communication of the company since e-mail-for example-will make it possible for employees to communicate with eachother as well as with customers and vendors. Using hyperthreading andterminal services will be helpful, but will also require the eventualimplementation of Windows XP machines, most likely through laptops that canbe used both at home and in the office. However, opening the company up in this way will also make itvulnerable to attacks, whether by sniffers or by competitors who areinterested in industrial espionage. In addition, although many recognized the limitations of IPv4, therewas little need to migrate to the newer version since the older version wasworking fine with existing technologies. By the end of the firstyear, plans should be in place to acquire new laptops to replace the oldestof the PCs-laptops can be easily transported to allow individuals to workfrom home or on the road; all PCs should be replaced by the end of thethird year, depending on budgetary restrictions. In the meantime, the task force has developed a number of transitiontechniques designed to have IPv4 and IPv6 networks co-exist. Each location also has at least oneprinter, and as many as six. Despite this, IPv6 has yet tobecome as entrenched as IPv4, and concerns about the addressing limitationwere as dire in the late 199 s as they continue to be now. Windows XP supports hyperthreading,which can have as much as a 3 percent performance improvement across asystem. These PCs would not beconnected to the remainder of the network, and their sole purpose would beto provide personal Internet access. Specifically, the IT policywill need to describe the uses which are allowed-and those which are not-for those computers connected to the network. Within each office, wireless networks will provide access to theprinters; a virtual private network (VPN) will make use of the Internet forlinking the various offices together. The IT policy should clearly state the purposes for which the networkcan be used as well as limitations on e-mail and personal use. Through wireless networking such as8 2.11b or 8 2.11g, the company avoids the expense of physically connectingthe computers, and implementation can occur relatively quickly. There is no e-mail program at this time, noris there any type of formal network in place. hyperthreading and terminal service Hyperthreading is a process by which a single chip is able to appearto be multiple logical processors. security issues Security will be key to the success of the network implementation.The new laptops will require special cards to be inserted in order for themto be able to access the network, and biometric security will beimplemented as well to ensure that the users are authenticated. Thusfloating-point calculations can be done on one "processor" while the"second" processor works on integer calculations. Long-term, IPv6 will most likely become the new standard for theInternet, but it will be a long period of transition since there is suchwidespread acceptance of IPv4. This will enhancethe company's productivity, but may also make it vulnerable to Internetattack since the network will be always connected to the Internet, unlikein dial-up settings where the network would be connected for short periodsof time. IPv4 v. Filters andrelated Internet blocking tools will be used to prevent employees fromaccessing unauthorized sites. Wireless networking using a router, for example, is aninexpensive way to connect the various PCs together so that they can shareinformation as well as share printers. Terminal service enables a single powerful server to support clientsregardless of how old the client PCs might be. However, security will be a primaryconcern since Outlook is particularly vulnerable to various maliciousattacks found on the Internet. It is the addressinglimitation, primarily, which prompted the investigation of a new Internetprotocol as early as the late 199 s, and the Internet Engineering TaskForce announced IPv6 as early as 1998. Thesenetworks would exist on top of the company-wide VPN and would be usedprimarily in order to share key data and access printers. This would require strict monitoringboth in terms of content and productivity, and would require review byhuman resources to ensure that this is a benefit that the company wants tooffer its employees. In implementing the network,the goal is to make the company more productive by making it easier toshare information across geographic distances. It shouldclearly indicate which employees will have personal laptops and which willnot, and the penalties for using laptops to conduct personal business. With billions of Web sites already on-line, suchintense migration efforts were daunting. At this point, it is assumed that theIT manager is limited to using as much existing hardware as possible. It maybe a decade or longer before such migration can take place seamlessly orwithout considerable expense. In addition, new commercial networks arealready running on IPv6 and hardware and software vendors are beginning tobuild IPv6 support into their products. While all processing is performed by theserver, the client is able to see a reproduction of the server screen.This has strong potential for a network with four remote locations andostensibly a single powerful server located at the Johannesburg office onlyby the time the network is fully implemented. It is likely that the two versions will co-exist for many years while the market develops applications that will makethe migration as seamless as possible, and while new applications make itpossible for the two protocols to co-exist without difficulty, thuslessening the need to migrate older applications. Using terminalservice, any one of the client PCs-or those specifically designated-canview the activity of the server remotely, but not in the same way as in aremote-controlled environment. All newemployees will be required to undergo training in the use of networksecurity issues, and no private Internet use will be allowed. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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