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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


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to 50 lines and many of the switches used for the data network are now outdated relative to the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.


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


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.


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.


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.


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










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.


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.


The below is an example provided by 3CX of the implementation of the 3CX

phone system and supported capabilities.


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.


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.


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


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.


Section 8: Network Upgrade Issues


Section 9: Security Concerns for the New Network


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.


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.


Section 12: PowerPoint Presentation


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

https://www.anixter.com/content/dam/Suppliers/CommScope/Documents/10GbE_TCO_whitepaper.pdf

https://www.anixter.com/content/dam/Suppliers/CommScope/Documents/10GbE_TCO_whitepaper.pdf

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc786900(v=ws.10).aspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/103884