3. Introduction
Reliance is one of the leading trading and financial institutions in the UK today and are in need of a
new updated network. The network will be built on requirements that the company has gave me. I
understand they want a high performing and very stable network, this means allot of choice will
have to be made due to the technology available on the market today. I will be looking for the best
solution that meets every criteria, especially the TCO (The Total Cost Of Ownership).
Understanding What The Company Wants
Looking through the requirements of what the company wants, i see the following 3 aspects as the
main goals that the network must be built around:
A solution that meets our needs for the foreseeable future.
a network that will be cost effective to run and provide a lower Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO)
Higher performance & Higher availability
Before a decision is made these points will be taken into consideration, once all three aspects are
met, the final decision can be made.
4. Network Analysis
Based on the current specifications given, I see that some equipment is fine and does not need to be
changed, however some hardware and software could be upgraded. the upgrades that need to be
made will cost a fair amount for example to train staff and install new technologies, therefore i
believe The current environment will be improved, here are some of my ideas on how to improve
the technical requirements:
Currently running with Windows XP on the desktop
Currently windows XP doesn't support IPv6 which will be a big downfall if the network was to be
increased. Later on in life the network may need to implement IPv6 when it eventually makes it final
breakthrough, however with Windows XP this cannot be done. My best option would be to have
windows 7 installed onto desktop Pc’s as it has IPv6 compatibility and it is also one of the most
stable Operating Systems on the market and in my opinion one of the simplest to use.
Currently Servers are a mix of Windows and Linux
It’s not a bad idea to have some servers with windows and some with Linux, only thing to be careful
about is to keep on top of updates and look-out for improved versions of each OS. Linux has proven
itself to create a very stable OS which is unlike Microsoft as they report problems on regular
occasions. But both still provide services that the other can’t, for example.
Techtarget explains server OS authentication “Windows Active Directory is a full authentication and
authorization platform that integrated applications, users, computers and other resources. Linux
alternatives to Active Directory don't have the same support” (van Vugt and Posey, 2014). Also
another point to consider is the cost which is a major factor here. Linux software is free whereas
Microsoft always have a price, but to have a variation of the two is good. The only thing to be aware
of is to always keep them updated.
Currently Using TCP/IP – currently using IPv4
looking at the sub netting I believe IPv4 is still the answer, if expansion is needed then everything
will be setup for a quick and simple changeover to IPv6, but research shows that IPv6 won’t be
coming anytime soon. TCP/IP is one of the most common protocols used today. It’s stable, well-
established and also complete. These set of protocols can only make a network such as this much
better, and with a new network being established we can use these set of protocols to their full use.
TCP has a good failure recovery, it has the ability to add networks without interrupting existing
services, High error-rate handling and also Low data overhead. These all add up to make my mind
clear about still using TCP/IP.
Network details
Using old Layer 2 switches, and router.
Layer 3 switches I believe are essential to the new structure. A layer 3 switch supports routing. A
layer 2 switch only knows Ethernet. Installing Layer 3 switches brings the idea of VLANS to my head,
which wouldn't be an option with a layer 2 switch. However a layer 2 switch is still useful to connect
all the hosts together in one subnet but for my design here I think VLANS are essential so i think
layer 2 switches are not needed. i will have two switches at the parent subnet to connect all the
subnets together and also to connect them to the routers. I believe that with the amount of subnets
I have we should be installing two routers. This isn't a massive upgrade but it’s more than enough for
the traffic. This is also useful if one was to go down as one router can still handle all the traffic
5. OSPF or EIGRP for internal routing
I still believe that the Open Shortest Path First is still an efficient protocol to use on the network.
Even though it’s quite old and other protocols such as RIP (Routing Information Protocol) can be
used instead I still believe in OSPF is a much safer and secure protocol. Also techtarget explain that
“OSPF supports a variable network subnet mask so that a network can be subdivided” (Rouse, 2011)
which will be useful in the network.
techtarget tells us that “EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol) is a useful network
protocol that lets routers exchange information more efficiently”(Rouse, 2012).This is brilliant for
this type of scenario so that the speeds can match the speeds needed by the company as the
transactions need to be complete very very quickly. Therefor I believe these two protocols are
correct for the internal routing.
ISDN for Internet connection
ISDN is no longer as popular an option as it was formerly. In many networks DSL and cable modem
service are now the more preferred option, no longer is it a popular option, it means services are
less likely to be offered or support by it either. It’s best to have a more common option which is well
used and works well. Therefor I would choose cable modem for the Internet Connection
Performance
People have different views on what hardware is best to use and allot are due to biased reasons. If
you were to ask a Linksys employee what’s best it’s always going to be a Linksys product, therefor
you need something that is known well in the computing world and one that has proved to be the
best at its job.
Selecting hardware that is essential for networking these days needs to have current standards and
also newer standards, this is to keep the network compatible and also ready for faster technologies
in the future. for example layer 2 switches are still available on the market even though layer 3 is
todays best available switch on the market, people sometimes go for a layer 2 switch as a cheaper
option or for simple connections.
Cabling is also another material that can improve performance. As fibre optics is gradually being
distributed, it’s still one method of cabling to not frown upon when building a network, but these
days shielded twisted pair is currently the most common and successful method of cabling with Cat6
being the best option but not the cheapest. Also using such cabling will allow for good bandwidth
which means transaction to be complete instantly.
As shown nothing major needs to be changed on the network, most of it is replacing minor problems
with newer solutions that can withstand much more than the requirements Reliance want. The
other enhancement I explained above makes me believe i can make this networks meet the needs of
what reliance want and also give them the best network experience possible. And for this I can see
nothing going wrong with the performance
Availability
Availability on a network has to be at its best especially a business network, imagine the customer
satisfaction dropping or even the financial earnings of the company dropping for something such as
system downtime. However availability on a network is always high in the pecking order when
building such high quality structures and this is to be no different.
6. For a company that deals with financial services for a wide range of British businesses very high
security and monitoring needs to be implemented, tools such as packet detectors which will look for
odd looking data or data from an unknown source and alert the management team. Also security
suites are necessary for high quality protection against hackers.
However it’s not all about security issues here. The network is going to need switches and as I’ve
already brought up I believe Layer 3 is the best solution i also believe to create a stacking situation to
the network, which looks a little like a mesh topology, is the best idea. Also I’m going to have layer 3
switches in each subnet and also two in the parent subnet to connect each subnet together,
therefore if one is to go down. There is no downtime as the network will still be setup to still work.
Security
Allot of top businesses, especially ones that deal with finances spend allot of money on security
measure without proper research or getting a network solutionist to give them solutions for their
needs. allot of money could be saved by knowing a lot of about computers for example allot of open
source programs can do the same as an well-known company that charge unbelievable prices . After
looking at what Reliance want, here are my ideas:
Secure external link to the internet
creating a secure link to the internet is easy with basic feature used today, things such as
firewalls can make the link secure by opening certain ports which can only be accessed by
the host. Everyone else will be blocked.
Secure connection for remote workers
people who work off-site can easily access their desktop with full confidentiality and
extremely secure. VLAN used here is a great as it creates a secure connection using the
power of encryption so nobody can access any data being passed. This again backs my idea
for Layer 3 switches.
Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) are a good additions to a network. They both
monitor network traffic and/or system activities for malicious activity. Intrusion prevention systems
are able to block intrusions that are detected.it can take such actions as sending an alarm, dropping
the malicious packets, resetting the connection and also blocking the traffic from the offending IP
address.
Cost
when creating a network there are going to be many costs involved, costs such as purchasing,
repairs, maintenance, upgrades, security, user training, and software licensing. i believe that this
shouldn't be a financial struggle for such a high calibre company. But also I cannot guarantee that
the overall TCO is going to be a lot cheaper, however I can guarantee that it will be cheaper. One of
the major areas that Reliance will save money is power usage,
When i mentioned Open source programs earlier they are such small programs they hardly use
power they can just be lightly running in the background until they find something. Layer 3 switches
will be implemented for VLANS and also to meet future demands.
i can see that the running costs of the network are definitely not going to be as big as the
implementation costs, this then makes the network a great investment for the company by
introduction new standards and new networking techniques.
7. Subnetting ideas
The network I plan to build will have eight subnets. The subnets are not complete assigned to one
area of the network. Some of the subnets will cover one area for example subnets 1, 2, 3 and 4 all
cover the traders. The idea I have is to have two powerful routers which will be connected to 2 Layer
3 switches which will then connect to each subnet, this lowers the risk of network availability
dropping, and they can also be configured so that one uses less power when both are online. The
company want 200 customer IP address so my idea is to split them equally into 4 subnets. I thought
this might be a slightly wasteful idea as many IP address go unused, after much researched I realised
that there is nothing wrong with an idea such as this, the spare IPs could be used for expansion later
on.
8. Network Design
After looking at the documentation from Reliance I’ve created a design that I believe will give them
the best performance and availability possible. Once I had thought about which way I would
approach the design I finally came up with a very strong a stable one. I then put my ideas into action
and created a brief overlook of the network (Figure 1).
(Figure 1)
First thing you will see is that I haven’t yet thought about the back-up site and I think it would be
best to make that decision when implementing the network. This way I can see the volume of traffic
and then base the backup design around them results.
When building the design I had the TCO as the top achievement had had to meet, this was a struggle
when deciding what edge network devices to include, I came to the conclusion that one router
would be good enough to handle the onsite network and two switches to connect all the subnets
together. The reason for two is to keep the network running if one was too fail. The router would be
connected to the ISP and that’s why I’ve implemented a firewall before anything from the internet
can be passed onto the private network.
After describing my ideas for the subnet my final decision was to have 8 subnets. 4 for the
Traders/Customers, 1 for the Printers, Managers and Support staff and finally a separate subnet for
the servers, this for me is a better way so that the servers are only used when needed. The offsite
servers will also be included in the server subnet but not situated inside.
I believe this design with tick all the boxes for Reliance and will also deliver the speeds necessary.
When implementing the network however I believe I will make some slight changes to get the best
speeds possible and also last the 5 years wanted by the company before anything needs to be
replaced again.
Rout
er
Fire
wall
9. Subnetting
Figure 2
Subnet Address Subnet
mask
1st
useable host Last usable host Broadcast add
1 192.168.10.0 /26 192.168.10.1 192.168.10.62 192.168.10.63
2 192.168.10.64 /26 192.168.10.65 192.168.10.126 192.168.10.127
3 192.168.10.128 /26 192.168.10.129 192.168.10.190 192.168.10.191
4 192.168.10.192 /26 192.168.10.193 192.168.10.254 192.168.10.255
5 192.168.11.0 /27 192.168.11.1 192.168.11.30 192.168.11.31
6 192.168.11.32 /27 192.168.11.33 192.168.11.62 192.168.11.63
7 192.168.11.64 /28 192.168.11.65 192.168.11.78 192.168.11.79
8 192.168.11.80 /29 192.168.11.81 192.168.11.86 192.168.11.87
I believe using Class C addressing was the best option for this network as it had a sufficient number
of hosts. Using Class A or B would be stupid as 65,000 users (which is what a class b IP address can
assign) aren’t really necessary for a network that’s needs less than 300. So for me this was an easy
choice and it didn’t take much time to make my final decision
As you can see in figure 2 I finally came to the decision that I would use 8 subnets. As you can see at
the bottom of Figure 3 I have split the users as efficient as I thought possible. At first my idea was to
only have 5 subnets, which meant that the majority of the traders were all going into one subnet.
This would be a bad decision as there is the possibility of that subnet going offline, and being part of
a bank this could mean a major drop in finances. This idea was to save unused ports on the network
but after research I realised this isn’t such a bad idea.
Other than customers. Users such as Support staff, management staff and also printers were quite
easy subnet. Each of them would fit perfectly into the range of hosts available without many unused
IP addresses leftover.
Figure 3
10. Network Implementation
I’ve used my design and now implemented it into simulation software called OPNET; the program
now runs the network and looks at multiple statistics. Results such as delay and server traffic will
become very useful when picking the right technology to install on the network. When using the
software more decisions need to be made such as cable types and what type of server to use and
I’ve picked the best for the situation. This is the model I eventually created:
As shown the model has extra facilities installed such as the backup sites, these are defiantly needed
just in case the worst did happen. All links are connected using 1000BaseX cabling except the
connection between the ISP and routers as this required PPP DS3 in my opinion I knew that these
methods would ensure the fastest speeds possible.
Each subnet is the same as I initially designed and here are them implemented into the software:
This is the design for the first 4 subnets; it includes 50
workstations that are all connected to the layer 3
switch in the middle of configuration. The switch is
then connected to the 2 base layer switches. All
connection here are again made using 1000BaseX
These four subnets make sure all the customers are
accommodated for on the network. Not shown in the
diagram I have also created a VLAN which makes a
secure connection for remote works which I will talk
about later in the report
Subnet Design for Subnets
1,2,3,4
11. Similarly to previous subnets this is virtually the
same design however the nodes are now printers.
Again they are connected to a layer 3 switch, which
connects to the base level switches. On the
simulation we can collect information of traffic
received by users.
For Subnet 6 we can now how each node is
connected to the switch, as it is clearer to see.
This works in the same condition as the first 4
subnets just less users. However the Profile
settings are different. As support staff they will be
able to access each server and have the
equivalent rights as an administrator would have
Subnet 7 also has the same priorities as subnet 6.
This is now the management staff that should be
able to control things on the network and access
everything related to the network. Again all the
connections are the same
Subnet Design for Subnet 5
Subnet Design for Subnet 6
Subnet Design for Subnet 7
12. This in my opinion is recognised as the main subnet,
this includes each server that specifically deliver
different services.
Each of them are extremely important to the
network, without these the business would not run
correctly or would run with main features missing.
Back-up Site
The back-up site is very important to have in case anything was to happen, the structure is needed
to comply with the disaster recovery plan. I plan these to still be connected to the network so not to
far away from the site but not in the same building. This arrangement has more than one back-up to
make 99.9% sure that there is always something in place to recover the network. Later on the
company could possibly thing about make the back-ups wireless or even cloud based.
Subnet Design for Subnet 8
(Servers)
13. Results of Simulation
After the network was finally constructed it was then time to run the simulations. It would then be
possible to receive the data and use it to our advantage to change things and improve them if
required. This is what I received in my findings
Ethernet Delay
Firstly I thought it would be good to check the Ethernet delay on the network so it meets the
performance speeds required on the network.
Here we see that the delay over 30mins is extremely good. I believe that Reliance wanted a
transactions completed in less than 1milliecond and shown in the graph above the longest delay on
the network is 0.00033seconds which calculates to 0.32milliseconds this is 2x quicker than what
Reliance wanted and this was a great way to start.
14. Packet loss
On a network you want your packet loss to be as low as possible. But it’s very hard to not loose any
packets at all and I believed this was going to be the case on this network until I seen the results.
I believe that the first 5mins was the network simulating for the first time and also many servers
sending data at the same time, however after this period the results are perfect. 0 packet loss is
what any financial company would dream for in there network and I’ve been able to establish this on
the network.
Data Sent & Received on the Servers
Its always important to see if you have correctly assigned and configured your servers properly and
this is what this test was for. Each server was assigned different attributes, which were to
communicate with different subnets, and this was the result.
15. This graph shows us that the servers were correctly configured and also show us the amount of data
they are sending. In my opinion each server did its job correctly and they seem to been in good
working order.
Protocol Traffic
This test will show us how the data on the network is traveling to and from each server, here I
wanted to see the traffic sent and traffic received from each protocol to see if they matched up with
each other. The following protocols were tested: (HTTP, FTP, E-MAIL, PRINT, DATABASE).
We can see here these protocols and servers are working perfectly however, I did occur a problem.
However the database server wasn’t configured correctly as no one on the network was assigned to
use it. I had correctly went over each user and reassigned profiles, I tested again and finally the
database server responded as shown below.
16. VLAN
For the customer subnets I created a VLAN from the switch so that remote users could connect
safely to the network from the outside. I thought it would be a good idea to check the stats on this
as well to see if it was what the company were looking for. At first I thought each subnet was going
to have layer 2 switches but I decided that installing layer3 switches would be an investment to the 5
year plan Reliance had and by doing this VLANs could be created. So I ran the tests and here is what I
got.
This graph shows that the VLAN will now work and can be implemented into all subnets where
reliance may want this technology
17. Costing Table
Equipment Price Description
10 x 32 port switches
(2 each for the first 4
Subnets, then 1 each for
subnet 5 & 6)
£250 - £2,000 Its Much cheaper to stack two 32-port switches than it is to
actually buy one 64-port switch. This will add to the
networks redundancy to make sure its running 99.9% of
the time.
3 x 16 port switch £50 - £250 This type of switch is not as common as a 32 or 64 port
one; this is probably why the price isn’t as expensive. It
also comes down to the wider range available on the
market.
1 x 8 port switch £30 - £200 8 port switches are possibly the cheapest ones available.
People even use these in small offices and they work very
well. I would say that a mid-priced switch would be the
best choice here.
7 servers £200 - £700 The Servers are essential on the network; we need to think
which one is the most important on the network. I would
say the HTTP server is going to have to be a high-quality
server to manage with all the traffic.
2 routers £100 2 routers are the main feature of this network that
basically makes it run. One router will control the onsite
traffic and the other will be connected to the back-up sites.
The backup sites will be accessible to the onsite network
through the ISP. A gigabit router with at least 4 ports will
be acceptable for this network.
220 workstations
(Number of workstations
represents each node on the
network and not exactly how
many Reliance need to buy).
£100 - If Reliance finds that some of the workstation they
currently have are not efficient enough or up to standard I
found that good Workstations can be bought for about the
£100 mark.
20 printers £40- £200 I believe all printers on today’s market have network
compatibility so it just goes by what variation of printers
the company wants. I would say that a laser printer is the
best but these are also quite expensive printers. So its up
to what the company really wants
Cat6 twisted pair £80
Bulk ordering will
reduce Price
Its best to buy a few big reels full of cable so that when
building the network, the builders can cut the cable to size
and this is better than buying millions of individual cables
18. Policies
Disaster Recovery
A Disaster Recovery plan describes how an organization is to deal with potential disasters. Ivy
Wigmore from TechTarget goes on to say ‘Just as a disaster is an event that makes it impossible to
continue working as normal, a disaster recovery plan consists of the precautions taken so that the
effects of a disaster will be minimized and the organization will be able to either maintain or quickly
resume normal functions. Typically, disaster recovery planning involves analysing the processes the
business continuity needs’. (Wigmore, 2011)
A Disaster recovery plan is needed in every network and in this one I have it covered. The two-offsite
servers will have all data saved onto them on a daily basis and are always ready to be re-uploaded
onto the network once things have been fixed.
Ethical
on a network ethical issues cannot be frowned upon, I have decided to implement some tools to
make sure that everyone follows the legal legislations. I believe the management staff should be
able to look at what everyone seems to be doing on the network. This way they can make sure
polices are being followed. They should be able to monitor e-mail traffic, Internet browsing. By them
checking these it makes the network a safer place. Also the management staff need to put policies in
place for example a password change policies so that its changed on a regular occasions just in case
someone has been able to crack your password.
Backup
making backups is essential to make sure the networks backup sites are always updated and polices
are in place so the network will make backups to these sites every so often. Near enough every
network should have one of these in place so everything can be restored within a certain timeframe.
The timeframe will have been negotiated with companies associated with Reliance.
Seven Tiers of recovery
Depending on what tier of recovery an organisation adopts (the higher the better), this method of
recovery can prove to be the most sophisticated compared to the above two. Below I will speak
about the seven tiers of recover:
Hddrecovering.com covers the 7 tiers of the recovery and I’ve summarised into these bullet points:
Tier 0 – No data or systems backup; disaster recovery has not been considered
Tier 1 – Backs are transported to an off-site storage location, takes time for recovery
Tier 2 – Back ups are sent to an offsite location, which acts as a recovery centre
Tier 3 – Backups are transmitted to electronic tape or disk vaults
Tier 4 – Uses disk technology to make more frequent ‘snapshot’ copies of data
Tier 5 – Critical data is kept synchronised between business and it recovery centre
Tier 6 – Data is mirrored in real-time using various forms of disk technology
Tier 7 – Building on Tier 6, but recovery procedures are automated to reduce delays.
(7 Tiers of Data Recovery, 2011)
I believe I put this network onto a Tier 6 recovery, which is a good choice in my opinion and will have
the network back online in no time.
19. Conclusion
As I’ve now tested the network I have built I believe I’ve created the perfect network that meets all
the requirements that reliance wanted. The network should last longer than the 5 years reliance
wanted and also is very flexible to changes. The only thing I would say to Reliance is always kept on
top of their updates and nothing should go wrong.
After looking over the cost of the network I believe that the total running costs will be significantly
lower due to. Overall I am happy with the structure and that Reliance will accept my ideas and use
them on the network.
20. References
7 Tiers of Data Recovery (2011) HDDRecovering. Navigate to: Available at:
http://hddrecovering.com/2011/7-tiers-of-data-recovery-software-aspects/ (Accessed: 23 January
2015).
Microsoft (no date)TCP/IP settings. windows.microsoft.com. Available at:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/change-tcp-ip-settings#1TC=windows-7 (Accessed: 8
January 2015).
Rouse, M. (2011)OSPF (Open Shortest Path First),TechTarget. OSPF (Open Shortest Path First).
Available at: http://searchenterprisewan.techtarget.com/definition/OSPF (Accessed: 21 January
2015).
Rouse, M. (2012)EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol),TechTarget. EIGRP (Enhanced
Interior Gateway Routing Protocol). Available at:
http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/EIGRP (Accessed: 21 January 2015).
Van Vugt, S. and Posey, B. (2014)Choosing the best server OS: Linux vs. Windows
comparisons,TechTarget. Choosing the best server OS: Linux vs. Windows comparisons. Available at:
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/tip/Choosing-the-best-server-OS-Linux-vs-Windows-
comparisons (Accessed: 8 January 2015).
Wigmore, I. (2011)disaster recovery,TechTargetRecovery. disaster recovery. Available at:
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/disaster-recovery (Accessed: 23 January 2015).
