Networking

Planning the physical network

Initial customer meeting

Obtain the customer requirements(could be an internal or external customer)

Examine his or her perceived objectives Listen to them without jumping to

conclusions, don’t assume…! Take notes and confirm their needs with

them

Health and Safety

H&S is VERY important at the planning stage

Deciding on the best and safest route for cables (Future Desk moves??)

Installation of Hubs in offices/meeting rooms etc (consider racking)

Server room safety H&S considerations will affect your costing

Siting of Hardware

Think about:- Security Ventilation Fire precautions Ease of access for IT personnel Central point for ease of cabling

Security of physical equipment

Need to think about:- Dedicated systems room Access

Types of locking system e.g.Identity card, Pass card, Coded locks, Retina or fingerprint scans

Cabling Infrastructure

Physical topology Logical structure (BUS, RING STAR) Switched network or flat? Cabling is the largest part of the initial

installation costs Cabling length signalling limitations

Choices of Architecture

Choice of peer to peer or Client / Server In a P2P environment users cannot just turn off their PC’s

without considering other users!!, Think NAPSTER..! Average PC’s are not designed to be left on 24X7… Danger of many (out of date) copies of same data on P2P

networks not acceptable in a business environment More difficult to backup data as it is dispersed around the

network BUT…

easier to install and configure on a small network.

C/S v P2P Continued…

Client/Server More time consuming and complex to install and configure More expensive hardware (server) and NOS

BUT… More security provided by the NOS Central store of corporate data (no “out of date” copies) Servers are designed to be available 24X7 “Easier” Centralised administration Faster access times Allows centrally “served” applications

Hardware considerations

Consider high specification server with RAID or low end server, high end servers have:-

Redundant cooling Redundant power supplies Normally RAID 5 disk storage Can use dual or quad processors More cache memory (512k) “Hot plug” drive bays Built in SCSI interface UPS

What services are required

Application server Email Server Data server Web server Mirror server(s) RAID Backup

Remote Access

Some users may wish to access the LAN remotely, how can we implement this?

Via Modem or ISDN Via a permanent LAN to Internet

connection There are obvious security issues –

Firewall considerations

Remote Access continued…

Windows NT and 2000 server provide a RAS service which can be installed, configured and used

3rd party network manufactures provide multiple line RAS “boxes” that simply plug into your network but are far more expensive than the Microsoft solution

Connecting LANS

Some larger companies may require the connection of two remote LANS to create a company “WAN”

This would almost always mean a permanent connection via the PSDN(Public Switch Data Network)

There is a need to determine how much traffic is likely to flow across the WAN link

This will determine the amount of bandwidth you need to buy (normally provided in 64k blocks) Can be very expensive…!

Providing Internet Access

Decide on the amount of Internet traffic/Downloading/Hosting the company will require.

Decide on Permanent/Dial up access Decide on the bandwidth required Dial up via Modem or ISDN Permanent via Megastream (2Mb/s) or

slower links such as 256Kb/sHardware required – Router + Firewall

Server Hard Disk Calculation

Factors Disk Size(Gb)

System disk drive (Normally C:)

A A

Applications Drive Size of each application

Number of applications being run from the server

D = B*C

B

C

DD

User Data Budgeted disk space per user

Number of users

Add 10% (“slack” space)

H = E*F*G

E

F

G (1.1)

H

H

TOTAL SYSTEM DISK SPACE REQUIREMENTS A+D+H

Implementing Internet email

Choice of several email systems:- Microsoft Exchange 5.5 (Windows NT) Pegasus (Freeware) First Class (First class server) Eudora NT Mail

Disaster Recovery Plans

As Physical security is very important so is the security of the company data

In the event of a major breakdown the customer will need a “disaster recovery plan”

Therefore, as part of this plan, regular backups of corporate data is ESSENTIAL…

You may even think about a mirror server stored off-site that could be used in the event of a total loss of service e.g. a Fire…

How much money would the business lose if the network was “down” for a day or more…?

Typical backup strategy

Aim to backup all critical data every night Have a separate DLT or DAT tape for each

night of the week so that you can “roll back” a few days if necessary

Take full weekend backups and store for a month before overwriting

Take “Off-Site” backups on a regular basis Store all “On-Site” backup tapes in a fire

proof safe every night

Checking with the customer

When you have almost finished your analysis, arrange a final meeting to:-

Make sure you have covered all your objectives from the first meetings

Outline the headings of your analysis to make sure you have included everything (this helps both YOU and the customer)

Give the customer the opportunity to ask any final questions or change any requirements

Fix a date and time when you can present or deliver your report

Writing the report

Provide a clear and uncluttered title page, include company logo etc…

Provide a “Table of Contents” Give a clear and concise introduction outlining the

aims of the report “This reports aims to….” Include the title and page number in the document

footer for ease of reference Make sure you have achieved your stated aims Conclude with your recommendations and summary

of the main points

Choices and Justification

Normally the customer will expect two configurations and a justification for each…

You will recommend one system and give your reasons for it

Remember that the customer is depending on you for advice and will compare that advice with other suppliers so if you try and “blind the customer with science” you may get found out… B.B.B. doesn’t always work…!

Presenting your report

Be confident Introduce yourself and the report Present in a logical sequence Summarise Allow time for questions

Research for next week…!

Look at various sources, Library, The Internet, Magazines etc to specify and price up current networking equipment by next week (7th Oct 2002).

Not too much detail required at this stage.

Type up and print this information out and bring it with you please