Assignment: Maggie's Electronics - Network Design

Maggie's Electronics is a manufacturing firm that has recently undergone some expansion. Originally, they had one location with 2 buildings: 1 office building and a manufacturing plant but since have added another location. The original location of the company is in Dallas with 150 computers in the office building and 50 computers in the plant. The new location is in Phoenix with one office building that will house 75 computers. Currently, Dallas is running 10BaseT within each building. The networks at this location are heavily overloaded. In Phoenix, there is no network installed at this time; the building is an older structure and did not come with any network infrastructure. There is currently no network connection between the buildings in Dallas, but this is one objective in building the new network. There is also no WAN connection between Dallas and Phoenix, but this is another objective of the company.

Describe the wired network you would recommend by providing answers to the following questions. Make sure to number your responses to coincide with the questions presented by design section. You must document all assumptions and explain why you have designed the network in this way.

Access Layer Design

1. What is the speed and specification of the network recommended for each location?

2. What cabling would be required to create the LANs? Provide the price per foot and place to purchase (website link) the cable. You do not need to specify the amount of cable to buy.

3. What network devices do you recommend the company use to create the LANs?

4. How many devices will be needed? You will need to consider the number of ports on the devices you are recommending to answer this question. Provide price and place to purchase the specific equipment you recommend (website link).

5. If the organization needs a data center or e-commerce solution, where would they be located?

6. What assumptions did you make in analyzing the needs of the company and designing the access layer of the network?

Distribution Layer Design

1. What network devices do you recommend the company use to connect the LANs within the buildings? Provide price and place to purchase the specific equipment you recommend (website link).

2. What cabling would be recommended to connect the LANs? Provide the price per foot and place to purchase (website link) the cable. You do not need to specify the amount of cable to buy.

3. What assumptions did you make in analyzing the needs of the distribution layer?

Core Layer Design

1. What network devices would be required to create the core network? Provide price and place to purchase the specific equipment you recommend (website link).

2. What cabling is required for creating the recommended core network? Provide the price per foot and place to purchase (website link) the cable. You do not need to specify the amount of cable to buy.

3. What assumptions did you make in analyzing the needs of the core layer?

WAN Design

1. What type of WAN connection (be specific to the type of technology and speed) should the company use to connect its two locations?
2. What assumptions did you make in designing the WAN?

Belmont State Bank

Read the mini case for Belmont State Bank on page 334 of your textbook. You are to then perform a risk assessment. The steps of the risk assessment include:

1. Develop risk measurement criteria
2. Inventory IT assets
3. Identify threats
4. Document existing controls
5. Identify improvements

Make sure your answers are numbered based on the question presented.

I. Belmont State Bank Belmont State Bank is a large bank with hundreds of branches that are connected to a central computer system. Some branches are connected over dedicated circuits and others use Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS). Each branch has a variety of client computers and ATMs connected to a server. The server stores the branch's daily transaction data and transmits it several times during the day to the central computer system. Tellers at each branch use a four-digit numeric password, and each teller's computer is transaction-coded to accept only its authorized transactions. Perform a risk assessment.