Moytura Technologies - developing a new network

Have a little read: ... Stage 1 - Planning: Analysis of the Project: Moytura Technologies is a small company based in the west of Scotland, which supplies computer consumables to local companies and clients further a field. At present the company makes use of a rudimentary computer network, which has developed in an ad-hoc fashion and which is now proving to be slow and unreliable. The managing director has decided that this should be scrapped and a new network installed from scratch to meet the company's current and future requirements. The new network must be so that it has the capabilities of supporting all the IT related demands of twelve members of staff that are divided into three significantly different groups. The groups are defined mainly by the difference in software applications that they need to accomplish their daily work tasks. Each of these groups also has to be configured with different permissions and access rights according to their position within the company and the role that they play. There are to be a number of printers installed on the network for the use of certain people or groups only and so need to be configured appropriately. Finally the network is to be secured against virus and hacker attacks from external sources and a comprehensive backup system is to be implemented. Development of an approach to deal with the project: I feel the first task to be undertaken is to quickly list all the main contributing factors to this project and develop a comprehensive plan to aid in the guidance and completion within the allotted timeframe. This list can be expanded upon although I feel a "route map" of the task is often a good guide. A rough sketch of a network diagram can be a good visual aid at this point to identify what hardware is required and to decide upon connection methods. There will need to be a lot of the planning stage devoted to research into which servers, workstations, switches, printers and cabling to use. The selection of which operating system to install on the client and server machines will have to be made as well as the most appropriate applications that will allow the staff do their jobs. Compatibility issues will need to be researched for both the hardware and software components introduced onto the network and decisions made as to which are the most effective. My first step was to compile a project plan, this plan I felt was best if it was split up into two sections. The first section deals with the planning stage of the project, emphasising each of the main research elements. The second section details the implementation of the research, in the form of the design of the network. -Section 1 of project plan- The second section of the plan for this project deals with the coming together of all the related research topics and building the network from the ideas that have emerged during the research stage. It sets out a timeframe for the selection of hardware and software for the network, and also the main areas of note for the definitions of the user and group structures required for this network. -Section 2 of project plan- The timeframes that have been allotted for each of these tasks are open to change; this is only a guide, although if the tasks are taking longer then the plan will need to be revised to allow for time to complete the project by the due date. The plan shown above shall be referred to on a daily basis, it outlines all the key elements of research and installation and configuration tasks that must also be accomplished. Moytura Technologies - Office Layout Below is shown the existing layout of the Moytura offices. The drawing details the positions of the existing peripherals on the existing network. Where possible, the exact same locations for peripherals will be used, with only minor adjustments to cabling layouts. - Drawing 1- Below is shown a scan of a rough sketch to identify all hardware required to construct this network. The drawing details the various departments that exist within the building, their locations and numbers of peripherals. It also details the Managing Directors office and the cupboard used to house the server. - Drawing 2 - From an analysis of the case study and with the aid of Drawing 2 as a guide, it can be shown that to build the desired network there are a number of hardware and software requirements that must be fulfilled. The exact type of hardware and software product / brand is as yet undecided; this list allows research to be carried out to determine which, are the most suitable components for the network. Hardware Requirements: * 12 Pentium class PC's inclusive of monitors. Systems to have at minimum 20GB HDD 256 MB RAM NIC/Ethernet card * Server unit Upgradeable Large HDD Good network capabilities Fast Access Times * 5 printers and 3 print servers ( unless printers have integrated NIC's) * Hardware firewall (or integrate with server) * 4 network switches/hubs (one for each dept) * ADSL router * The appropriate amount of cabling (to be finalised) * RJ45 wall/floor sockets and connectors * 240v sockets? The hardware components specified above are viewed as a minimum requirement and this list may be added to upon further research. It may be a good idea to purchase extra components as spares, particularly for the NIC's and switches. The 240v electric sockets will not be detailed into the network drawing; provision for this is on the assumption that two 240v sockets are recessed into a floor panel. This same floor panel links up under floor ducting that cabling can easily be fed along. Software requirements: These software requirements are taken from the information given in the initial case study; again this is not a comprehensive list. There are certain network protocols that are required for the efficient use of the network; this will be detailed later during the installation and configuration of the network. * Multi-User Network Operating System (Client and Server Installations) * Generic Office Suite -Word Processing -Database -Spreadsheet -Presentations * Contact Management * Sales Tracking * Website Development * Accounting Package -Incorporating Sales Ledger, Purchase Ledger and other standard functions. * Payroll Package * Anti-Virus Software * Firewall Software (or implement as hardware function) * Internal and External email clients * Network protocols and drivers * Printer drivers Comparison of Network Operating Systems: Before a decision is made as to which network operating system to employ, it was thought best to carry out a comparison study of the two of the market leading products available. The choice of which OS to use for a secure business network can be somewhat daunting, there are a number of efficient, reliable and secure products available. Market trends show us that many users choose a Microsoft product, but is this always the correct choice? A simple Internet search can reveal a number of network operating systems, as many as ten major distributions: with many more dedicated server operating systems. For the purposes of this report, we shall look at two of the market leading multi-user multi-tasking operating systems: * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (Enterprise Edition) * Red hat Enterprise Linux AS Clients Supported: Microsoft Server 2003 can support a large amount of client machines, the main stipulation being that they must be running a Microsoft OS from Windows 98 through to the present day versions of XP. Red hat includes support for migrating from a Windows NT 4.0 domain to a Samba domain and maintaining user, group and domain SIDs. Also included is support for client and server SMB signing to ensure compatibility with default Windows 2003 security settings. Internetworking Support: With Windows Server 2003, Microsoft has significantly enhanced networking components. The inclusion of Internet Protocol version 6(IPv6), Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE), and Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) over Network Address Translation (NAT) helps to extend the versatility, manageability and dependability of the network infrastructure. Microsoft Server software is compatible with a vast array of software. Applications built to run on Windows platforms are available from almost every software vendor. If unsure about compatibility issues, system administrators can test them using the Application Verifier Tool. Samba supports sharing of files and printers across different operating systems using the Session Message Block (SMB) protocol. Many Linux environments use Samba to share resources with Windows. Services Provided: Microsoft has unified its server platforms with the inclusion of common directory, security and application programming models. Their Dynamic Systems initiative (DSI) is an industry effort to enhance the platform and deliver a coordinated set of solutions distributed systems. Red Hat has greatly improved interoperability with Microsoft Active Directory. Samba 3.0 is able to join an ADS realm as a member server and authenticate users using LDAP/Kerberos. They have also enhanced Windows 2000/XP/2003 printing support including publishing printer attributes in active directory. Security Features: For the inexperienced, the modern Internet is wrought with danger at every turn. For the business user network attacks of any kind can mean a vast loss in revenues and possibly even a major threat to the company if important records are corrupted. The largest threat to online security comes from worms and viruses. Running on Windows platforms can leave you susceptible to over 60,000 different worms and viruses, Linux is threatened by 40. This by no means states that Windows is an insecure system; Microsoft has an extensive amount of programmers constantly updating the system and plugging any gaps that appear. Microsoft has improved on the security features of previous versions with components such as the enhanced Windows Firewall. The Common Language Runtime software engine is a key element of Windows Server 2003 that improves reliability and helps ensure a safe computing environment. It reduces the number of bugs and security holes caused by common programming mistakes; as a result, there is less vulnerability for attackers to exploit. Scalability: Scalability is the capability to increase resources to yield a linear increase in service capacity. The key characteristic of a scalable application is that additional load only requires additional resources rather than extensive modification of the application itself. Although raw performance makes a difference in determining the number of users that an application can support, scalability and performance are two separate entities. In fact, performance efforts can sometimes be opposed to scalability efforts. Some of the key scalability and reliability features of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 that benefit IT professionals in an application environment are components such as Asynchronous Support, Web Farm Session State, IIS 6.0 fault resilient process architecture and ADO.NET. Red Hat on the other hand boasts the Red Hat Global File System - for highly scalable, high performance data sharing in multi-system configurations. Red Hat's support for larger symmetric multi-processing (SMP), memory and I/O systems allows version 3 to support servers approximately twice the size of version 2.1. Hardware Requirements Compared: Minimum CPU speed Recommended CPU speed Minimum RAM Recommended RAM Maximum RAM Disk Space for Installation Windows Server 2003 (Enterprise Edition) 133 MHz 733 MHz 128 MB 256 MB 32 GB 1.5 GB Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 300 MHz 600 MHz 256 MB 512 MB 64 GB 2 GB Costs: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS £1068.50 inc. vat. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition £2299.99 inc. vat Decision: The decision on which network operating system to use is not an easy one, both are market leaders in their own right, at the forefront of software technology, but there must be a decision made as to which is the most suitable to this network. The decision has been made to use Microsoft's Windows Server 2003. The reasons for this are plentiful, although that is not to say that Red Hat Linux didn't come up to the standards of Microsoft's product. Microsoft Server 2003 was chosen as the optimum network operating system for use in the server attached to this network for the following reasons: * Easy to Deploy, Manage, and Use New streamlined wizards simplify the setup of specific server roles and routine server management tasks so that even servers without a dedicated administrator are easy to manage. * Secure Connected Infrastructure Efficient and secure networked computing is more important than ever for a business to remain competitive. Identity management in Active Directory spans the entire network, helping ensure security throughout the enterprise. * Enterprise-Class Reliability, Availability, Scalability, and Performance Reliability is enhanced through a range of new and improved features including memory mirroring, Hot Add Memory, and health detection in Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0. Overall, Windows Server 2003 is faster with up to 140 percent better file-system performance as well as significantly faster performance for Active Directory, XML Web services, Terminal Services, and networking. * Increase Document Protection and Availability via Intelligent File Storage With the new shadow copy restore feature, users can retrieve previous versions of files instantly, without requiring costly assistance from a support professional. Identification of the resources required to carry out the project: To carry out this project effectively and using my own strengths and knowledge to get to the best end result there are a number of essential resources that are required. * Access to a personal computer and the internet Computers at college and at home will be used for all aspects of research and the compilation of this report. A text file will be complied containing web addresses of relevant information. * Word processing package Microsoft Word will be used for all word processing tasks. It contains the ability to paste in all required pictures, graphs and tables. * Project planning application Microsoft Project will be used for all time management planning functions required * Application to aid the design of a network diagram Microsoft Visio will be used for all network drawings, diagrams and file structure diagrams * Application to facilitate the taking of screenshots to demonstrate configuration VMWare 4 virtual machine will be used for all screenshots. The guest operating system will be running from within the virtual machine and relevant screenshots exported. * Access to relevant books and magazines for research The college library will be used when it is required, there are a number of books and magazines that I own that I shall read to extract relevant information. * Printer The college has printers available for printing out copies at different stages to check on the progress of the report. Sadly there is no access to a colour printer, hence the report will be in monochrome. Stage 2 - Developing: Through an analysis of the case study and with the aid of drawings 1 and 2, the design of the network shown below came about. Drawing