Assignment: Windows Network ServicesProposal

Overview

Each student will create a detailed, organized, unified technical solution given the scenario described below. The submission will be in a written format, with at least one diagram to show the network sites layout with associated AD domain names and a table for each site's server listing.It may include additional diagrams, charts or tables. The assignment is meant for students to enhance their mastery of the material and to provide a creative and realistic way in which to apply knowledge from this course.

Scenario

Global Advertising, Inc. (referred to as "GAI") has hired you as an IT consultant for their Windows network services infrastructure. GAI is a new advertising firm, and they have hired staff, are established in all three locations, and have a need to get their internal IT services configured. They have an IT staff, but they do not have the in-house expertise to address their current infrastructure needs.

You are required to supply GAI with a solution which addresses the integration and configuration of their Active Directory updates. Cost is not a significant concern - GAI wishes to implement the "right" solution to address their acquisition of a new company (Media Guru Group)and its Active Directory forest which is comprised of a single domain. More specifically, GAI is based out of Texas and has two locations at Houston, TX and Austin TX.They have a Windows Server 2012 domain that is operating at the Windows Server 2012 R2 functional level. They recently acquired Media Guru Group which is based out of RockvilleMD, which has a domain (running Windows Server 2008 domain controllers) operating at the Windows Server 2003 functional level.

There are several details about GAI which will have an impact on your proposal:

• GAI has restructured their organization they have a total of 110 employees in their Houston, Austin, and Rockville sites. Each location the following departments:

• GAI will have three sites, one in Houston, TX, one in Austin, TX, and one in Rockville, MD.

• Executives (9 total with 4 in Houston, 1 in Austin,4 in Rockville) - manage and run the company

• Accounts and Sales Department (30 employees with 16 in Houston,2 in Austin, and 12 in Rockville) - perform market research and maintain accounts

• Creative, Media and Production Department (39 employees in Houston, 10 in Rockville) - Advertising

• Human Resources and Finances (7 employees in Houston, 1 in Austin, 4 in Rockville) - perform HR and financial duties

• IT (10 employees with 6 in Houston and 4 in Rockville) - manage IT for the company

• Networking equipment is already in place for both sites, which are separate Active Directory Domains.

• Security mechanisms (e.g., firewalls, intrusion detection) will be handled separately, and there is no need to describe them.

• Some departments will want their data to remain private from other departments (e.g., Finances personnel will not want Production staff to see the company's financial details). Your team may make assumptions about how data should be shared or kept private.

• Assumptions can be made regarding any information not included here; all assumptions should be identified, however.

Assignment Requirements

There are specific requirements for the assignment: The final submission should contain at least 8 pages' worth of text written by the student (not counting title page, images, diagrams, tables, or quotations), but may be longer, not to exceed approximately 12 pages' worth of student-supplied text. (With the required diagram, and other images, title page, etc., the final submission may end up being more than 12 pages in length.). It must be double-spaced, have 1-inch margins, and use 12-point Times New Roman or 10-point Arial/Helvetica font. A title page is required.

• At least one diagrammust be included (not counted towards the minimum length described above) to show the network sites layout with associated AD domain names; You can add more diagram for describing Active Directory components, DHCP/DNS design, or anything else that is worth displaying graphically to enhance the reader's understanding of the proposal. Additional diagrams, images, or tables are welcomed.

• Tables for listing of serverson each site with their roles,FQDN, Physical/Virtual. You can add more columns if you need to; for example:

Site Server Name FQDN Roles P/V

Houston DC1 DC1.GAI.com Domain Controller Physical
Austin FS1 FS1.GAI.com File/Print Physical
Rockville DC2 DC2.GAI.com DC/DNS/DJHCP Virtual

• The submission must cover all of the major topics outlined in the Topics to by sections. Each choice should be explained with technical and business reasoning. The solution should be reasonably detailed. Additional topics may be covered as desired.

• The structure of the final submission is flexible; however, it should be organized logically and represent a single, unified solution. The format will include separate sections for each of the topics required, as well as a summary.

• At least three non-textbook, non-LabSim, non-Wikipedia references are required; preferably, this would be a "best practice" guide or similar content from Microsoft or an experienced provider of Microsoft solutions.

• Be sure to properly quote or cite any sources used. APA format is requiredfor in-text citations and the list of works cited at the end. It is expected that you are already familiar with UMUC's "Policy on Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism." It is available in the Academic Policies section of the Syllabus; there are also links in the Webliography. In its simplest form, if you are using text from a source, you must cite and/or quote it. Do not just Cut/Paste. If plagiarism is found, then there will be a penalty to the grade.

Topics to Cover

Your document should cover the content presented in the course. The outline below contains recommended points to cover. You are free to add other related information.

Describe the technical and business reasons for each choice, citing other resources as appropriate. The Windows Server 2012 R2 Operating System should be used for all aspects of the solution.

The topics include:

Active Directory Infrastructure

• Describe features of Windows Server 2012 that will allow GAI to integrate the newly acquired company's domain into their existing forest..Do not include the features that will not be used in the design.

• How will Forest Functional Levels be implemented?
• How will cross-forest trusts be implemented?
• How will replication be handled?
• Read-Only Domain Controllers - how and where will they be used?

File and Storage Solutions

• Will BranchCache be used? Why/Why not?
• How can Dynamic Access Control benefit the organization?
• What about storage optimization?

Disaster Recovery

• How can Windows Server Backup be utilized?
• Will the organization use Volume Shadow Copies? Why/Why not?

DNS and DHCP

• How had DHCP installation and authorization been implemented?
• DHCP scope design (e.g., lease times, number of scopes, address range)
• Will a form of DHCP fault tolerance be implemented?
• Will DHCP reservations be used for servers?
• Will IPv6 be utilized?Why/Why not?
• How will DNS be implemented?
• DNS Security

High Availability

• What implementation of Hyper-V would benefit GAI?
• Will Network Load Balancing be used? Why/Why not?
• Will Failover Clustering be used? Why/Why not?

Active Directory Certificate Services

• Will AD Certificate Services used in both domains need to be modified?

Active Directory Rights Management Services

• What use of AD Rights Management Services can be implemented?

Active Directory Federation Services

• Will AD Federation Services be implemented? Why/Why not?