9-1 Final Project Submission Network Analysis and Architecture Evaluation Tiffany McLean IT 640 December 2, 2018 Corley Hughes Running head: 9-1 FINAL PROJECT SUBMISSION NETWORK ANALYSIS AND 1 9-1 FINAL PROJECT SUBMISSION NETWORK ANALYSIS AND 2 9-1 Final Project Submission Network Analysis and Architecture Evaluation Introduction SNHUEnergy is an organization which operates in the US, it is a medium sized organization with 110 employees and operates in Memphis and Dallas. The organization is looking forward to expanding its communication reach. This paper will analyze the current network architecture to determine the important changes which ought to be done to prepare the organization for future growth. This paper will also evaluate the traffic patterns to determine the critical aspects of the organization. Network Applications As seen from physical design diagram, Memphis location is the smallest location with only 30 employees, Memphis Local Area Connection deals with operations and billing. In addition to this, the Memphis location has two servers only; one for operation and one billing. Two work-stations are also available which are for video conferencing, and VOIP Phone system. Also, in this workstation, there is one router and one switch. The router is used to connect to the Dallas office remotely. The Dallas office is the largest location with 90+ employees. The location handles four applications which are Payroll, HR, Accounting, and Email. There is a total of three workstations with four servers. The first server is an email server, the second server hosts payroll, accounting, and HR applications, and the other two are one for Video conferencing and another one for VOIP system. Lastly, Dallas location is equipped with one router, two switches, and one firewall. Key Components with the appropriate OSI Network Layer The table below identifies the key components with the appropriate OSI network layer: Table 1: Key components with the appropriate OSI network layer Email SMTP Application Layer of the OSI model Stand Alone Applications such as HR/Payroll/ Accounting SET, SSL Session Layer/Network layer/ Application Layer/ Transport Layer VOIP TCP/IP Network layer/ Transport Layer File Transfer TCP/IP Network layer/ Transport Layer Video conferencing TCP/IP Network Layer/ Transport Layer (Kenyon, 2016) Role and Functions of the Key Components There three components that have been utilized and are described below: · Router: Router is one of the networking devices which is used to forward data packets in a computer network. A router is used to perform traffic directing functions. The Dallas router is used to connect the whole organization to the wide area network. The two routers are dynamic routers which are designed to discover routes automatically. · Firewall: One firewall has been utilized in this scenario. The major role of the firewall is to protect the organization from threats and Denial of Service type of attac.

1. 9-1 Final Project Submission Network Analysis and
Architecture Evaluation
Tiffany McLean
IT 640
December 2, 2018
Corley Hughes
Running head: 9-1 FINAL PROJECT SUBMISSION NETWORK
ANALYSIS AND
1
9-1 FINAL PROJECT SUBMISSION NETWORK ANALYSIS
AND
2
9-1 Final Project Submission Network Analysis and
Architecture Evaluation
Introduction
SNHUEnergy is an organization which operates in the US, it is
a medium sized organization with 110 employees and operates
in Memphis and Dallas. The organization is looking forward to
expanding its communication reach. This paper will analyze the

2. current network architecture to determine the important changes
which ought to be done to prepare the organization for future
growth. This paper will also evaluate the traffic patterns to
determine the critical aspects of the organization.
Network Applications
As seen from physical design diagram, Memphis location is the
smallest location with only 30 employees, Memphis Local Area
Connection deals with operations and billing. In addition to
this, the Memphis location has two servers only; one for
operation and one billing. Two work-stations are also available
which are for video conferencing, and VOIP Phone system.
Also, in this workstation, there is one router and one switch.
The router is used to connect to the Dallas office remotely.
The Dallas office is the largest location with 90+ employees.
The location handles four applications which are Payroll, HR,
Accounting, and Email. There is a total of three workstations
with four servers. The first server is an email server, the second
server hosts payroll, accounting, and HR applications, and the
other two are one for Video conferencing and another one for
VOIP system. Lastly, Dallas location is equipped with one
router, two switches, and one firewall.
Key Components with the appropriate OSI Network Layer
The table below identifies the key components with the
appropriate OSI network layer:
Table 1: Key components with the appropriate OSI network
layer
Email
SMTP
Application Layer of the OSI model
Stand Alone Applications such as HR/Payroll/ Accounting
SET, SSL
Session Layer/Network layer/ Application Layer/ Transport
Layer
VOIP
TCP/IP
Network layer/ Transport Layer

3. File Transfer
TCP/IP
Network layer/ Transport Layer
Video conferencing
TCP/IP
Network Layer/ Transport Layer (Kenyon, 2016)
Role and Functions of the Key Components
There three components that have been utilized and are
described below:
· Router: Router is one of the networking devices which is used
to forward data packets in a computer network. A router is used
to perform traffic directing functions. The Dallas router is used
to connect the whole organization to the wide area network. The
two routers are dynamic routers which are designed to discover
routes automatically.
· Firewall: One firewall has been utilized in this scenario. The
major role of the firewall is to protect the organization from
threats and Denial of Service type of attacks. In addition, the
firewall is used to look for patterns in traffic to identify any
anomalies
· Switches: Switches operates at the Data Link Layer and are
used to receive incoming data packets. In addition, switches are
used to redirect packets to their destination on a LAN. In this
case switches are used like traffic cops (Held, 2014).
Summary of the Current Network Configurations
From the physical design diagram, it is evident that the two
routers i.e. the Dallas and Memphis one is connected remotely.
To connect to the internet, the Memphis router depends on
Dallas Router, this means that if a connection is lost, Memphis
location will not have access to the internet. In addition, to this,
the Memphis one depends on Dallas location to send emails.
Hence if the connection is lost then Memphis will not be able to
send or receive emails. Other applications such the HR and

4. accounting applications will remain unavailable if the two
routers losses connection.
If the router in Memphis fails it means that the whole location
stops its operation. This is a huge risk of just having one router
in the location. Second, all the workstation in Memphis location
depends on one switch for connection to the location LAN. If
the switch fails, then the whole location fails to perform its
daily operations.
The current firewall prevents the organization only from attacks
and unauthorized access inside the organization. In addition,
firewalls are said to 60 percent effective. This means that
firewalls allow 40% unknown attacks. This means that the
SNHUEnegry Company need to invest in advanced ways of
dealing with malware. In addition, the organization need to
audit their firewall on monthly basis.
Project Requirements and Deliverables
The current SNHUEnergy Inc requires to upgrade; the current
network utilizes client-server architecture. According to the
scenario, the company is headquartered in Dallas with a total of
120 employees. The current network infrastructure needs
changes to ensure optimal network performance. For future
network, this paper will recommend implementation of a WAN
network to connect to the present two locations. This also
recommend implementation of Software as a service cloud
(SaaS). This would provide a cost-effective scalability which in
turn creating a hybrid network infrastructure which is
interconnected via a virtual private network. Hence WAN will
consist of SaaS cloud services using the TCP/IP protocol and
LAN networks (Easttom, 2017).
Current Network Architecture
I analyzed about SNHUEnergy company where, the current
network infrastructure was outlined and the important changes
on the network proposed. In addition, I also evaluated the
network traffic patterns which led to the determination of the
critical aspects of the organization. In this paper, I will provide
a high-level assumption for the design network.

5. Types of Physical Network Devices
In any organization network, there must be the physical network
devices which are used to link other devices on the network. In
SNHUEngery Company these physical devices are physical
servers, PCs, switches, routers, and firewalls. Each of the five
components has their own functions.
1. Personal Computers: The PCs in SNHUEnergy Inc. are used
to execute the organization applications. In addition, the
computers are used by the organization employees to access the
internet
1. Physical servers: The servers in the organization network are
used to provide services to personal computers. In addition,
servers provide access to some of the applications such as
accounting, email, payroll information, and HR.
1. Switches: As shown in figure one, switches act as a hub, they
provide that linkage to the Ethernet network. Switches, in this
case, operate in what one would refer to as full-duplex mode;
this means that devices can receive and send data
simultaneously.
1. Routers: Routers, in this case, are used to route protocols by
determining the destination address of a certain information. In
addition, they are used to process logical addressing
information like IP addresses in an organization network like IP
address.
1. Firewalls: It is used to control the outgoing and the incoming
traffic of the organization network (Vacca, 2014).
The critical Traffic Patterns which are currently used by the
Organization
By understanding network traffic patterns, it helps in
understanding high-level of network traffic via the main
visualization, while at the same time allowing multiple levels of
exploration of network packets. It is important to note that
diverse kinds of traffic have different signatures in a
visualization such as TNV. For example, in SNHUEnergy case
web traffic is obviously displayed as sporadic bursts of what I
would refer to as high activity as client requests pages. The

6. login traffic will tend to show up just like telnet or shell.
Example of TCP patterns captured using Wireshark is as shown
by figure two below.
Figure 1: Critical TCP traffic patterns captured using Wireshark
Figure 2 below shows an analysis of figure one above
Figure 2: Analysis of figure one
Traffic Patterns that the Organization’s critical Applications
take across the Infrastructure
Traffic patterns across an organization network are the
understanding and design of where the organization network
goes to, circulates, and comes from within a company to create
smooth travel and communication through the organization. The
example in this case the email traffic between the organization
server and SNHUEnergy workstation is transferred via the
server using TCP/IP protocol. An application query is
transferred using MySQL protocol. Data traffic is generated by
network applications and those devices that are running on the
organization network. Examples of these applications at the
SNHUEngery Company include email, HR, accounting, and
email are said to require low bandwidth but video conferencing
is said to require more bandwidth. This raises the concern of
understanding the nature of traffic generated on the network
(Laet & Schauwers, 2015).
Potential Performance Issues which may occur within the
Current Network
There are several potential network performance issues, one of
them is poor network configurations. This issue can degrade
network performance which in turn can lead to unnecessary
network traffic. Another issue is an outage, the organization
network services or the applications can become unavailable to
some of the users at a certain given point in time. The third
issue is hardware failure; at times a cable might get a defect on
the server-end or the client-end or cable default. In addition, a
cable can disconnect reducing the network performance.

7. Potential Security Issues
To start with, the current network architecture is on client-
server architecture, it means that attackers can do all they can to
bring about a DoS attack. This is a security issue which brings
the organization network to its knees by flooding unnecessary
traffic. This is done by exploiting the limitations of TCP/IP
protocols. Attacks use this type of attack to prevent the
organization from using its computer network and application
services. Other security issues are data loss; this is a security
issue which results to loss of critical organization data. Another
security issue is malicious attack such as viruses, and worms.
Viruses can find their way via the internet while worms can find
their ways via flash-disk. Worms and viruses can lead to
reduced network performance; the organizational computers can
become slower over time. This can also lead to unusual browser
activity (Scott & Carrington, 2015).
Future Network Architecture
It is evident that SNHUEnergy network infrastructure needs
changes. Some of the very essential changes about the
organization network were outlined. IT Milestone two provided
a high-level assumption of SNHUEnergy network infrastructure.
This milestone will provide a detailed recommendation of the
components which are able to meet the future needs of the
organization. This design will support the ultimate growth of
the organization and put into consideration efficiency,
communication needs, effectiveness, and security to ensure that
SNHUEnergy business operation runs smoothly.
The Future Communication Needs of SNHUEnergy
IT Milestone one shows that the current organization structure
comprises of Memphis and Dallas office. In addition, to this it
has various divisions which are IT, accounting, payroll,

8. operations, and human resources. The organization also has
critical applications which are to be accessed over the
organization network such as the VOIP, email, and human
resources. Some of the current devices which are used by the
organization are switches, servers, firewall, and servers. These
components allow video, data, and voice connectivity both
externally and internally to users using the Transfer Control
Protocol/IP traffic. From the scenario, there are five
communication needs which ought to be addressed;
· First is incorporating the Wide Area Network (WAN) which
will allow multiple SNHUEnergy offices to communicate
effectively. This will obviously require a secure communication
channel SSL via the internet.
· The second need is ensuring that the organization network
security. This is because of the organization’s data and voice
travel over the network. This also ought to be the same as the
organization opens more locations
· Third need is accesses to the network applications example HR
application and VOIP
· Forth, is ensuring that the organization network performance
i.e. network speed and bandwidth operate at optimal, always.
· Lastly, is the need for maintaining an uninterrupted flow of
data traffic between the various SNHUEnergy’s offices i.e.
Dallas and Memphis. (Scott & Carrington, 2015)
Network Architecture which would be appropriate for
SNHUEnergy
Network design varies depending on the requirements and the
size of the organization. There are lots of variables to consider
when designing a network. For this scenario, this paper I will
propose a hierarchical network architecture. This is because,
this type of network architecture is efficient, logical and offers
high speed. The network has the capability of forwarding data
and voice data while at the same time minimizing cost of
connecting multiple components at the organization network
endpoints. In addition, according to CISCO, this type of
architecture can adapt well to the five describes communication

9. needs described above. Second, this type of architecture can
adapt on the various network security models by segregating the
organization Local Area Network into logical parts which
correspond to the organization needs (Laet, 2015).
Other advantages associated with Hierarchical network design
are the ease of design, traffic multiplexing, cost of savings, and
security. According to CISCO, hierarchical is the easiest among
other network architecture to design. Cables flow in a logical
structure starting from a single point of traffic via the switches
and routers to the final end-user thus able to separate
boundaries to separate segments of the organization network
which in turn allows straightforward initial setup and the
logical modifications if need be. With the advantage of traffic
multiple multiplexing, it allows the organization to save time on
its Internet Service Provider. On security, the hierarchical
network allows a fined-tuned access control lists, traffic
blocking and shaping of the unwanted traffic. With the various
layers of a hierarchical network architecture, the organization
can support future network growth. Besides the access layer
supporting scalability, the layer supports port security and high
availability of the network (Held, 2000).
Physical network design of SNHUEnergy

10. References
Easttom, C. (2012). Computer Security Fundamentals (2nd ed.).
M, MI: Pearson.
Held, G. (2000). Network Design: Principles and Applications.
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Held, G., & Hundley, K. (2014). Cisco Security Architectures.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Kenyon, T. (2016). Data Networks: Routing, Security, and
Performance. New York, NY: Digital Press.
Laet, G. D., & Schauwers, G. (2015). Network Security
Fundamentals. Indianapolis, IN: Cisco Press.
Scott, J., & Carrington, P. J. (2015). The SAGE Handbook of
Social Network Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Vacca, J. (2014). Network and System Security (2nd ed.).
Boston, MA: Syngress.
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sical Network design for SNHUEnergy Company
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11. HR SERVER
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/24192.168.1.5/24SNHUEnergy Inc. Figure 1: Logical Network
Design
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12. 192.168.1.2/24
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SNHUEnergy Inc.
Figure 1: Logical Network Design
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WKS_001DALLAS_WKS_003EMAIL
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