Case Study : Design Scenario - A

Read the Harriet's Fruit and Chocolate Company case study found in Chapter 2 of the textbook. Then, answer the questions below. Each response should be one (1) paragraph in length submitted in MS Word and the submission is not to exceed two (2) pages. Write a one to two (1-2) page paper that addresses:

1. Determine the investigation you will do with regard to the physical infrastructure of the orchards, orchard shacks, and the cold storage building.

2. Make a list of business goals for Harriet's Fruit and Chocolate Company and determine the constraints that will affect these goals.

3. Make a list of technical goals for Harriet's Fruit and Chocolate Company and determine the tradeoffs you might need to make to meet these goals.

4. Determine if a wireless solution will support the low delay that will be needed to meet the needs of the applications. Defend your answer.

5. Determine the security concerns you should bring up as you design the network upgrade.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

•Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

•Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

Design Scenario

Harriet's Fruit and Chocolate Company was established in 1935 in the Pacific Northwest of the United States to ship gift baskets of locally grown peaches and pears to customers in the United States. The company also makes chocolates and baked goods to include in the gift baskets. It has grown extensively over the years and is currently one of the biggest companies in the Pacific Northwest.

Recently, Harriet's descendants, who still run the company, have identified a need to immediately report when fruit is starting to ripen and should be picked and placed in cold storage. Employees in the marketing department have identified a need to access inventory data for the fruit in the orchards and in cold storage. With this data, they can design and sell gift-basket products that take advantage of the ripe fruit.

This data must also be fed into e-commerce applications so that web orders can correctly specify product availability.

In addition, the company recently hired an ambitious programmer who is anxious to use her knowledge of SAS programming, SQL, and DB2 to design reporting applications for senior management. She calls you every day with new ideas on what she could accomplish if the network were upgraded so that she could reach up-to-date data from the orchards and cold storage buildings.

As the network designer for this company, you have been charged with selecting network technologies to reach the orchards and cold storage buildings.

Each of the six orchards has a shack with one or two standalone PCs and a printer. The three cold storage buildings are huge warehouses that include a few standalone PCs and printers. The local telephone company has suggested that you lease fractional T1 links, but these links are expensive and possibly beyond your budget.

Wireless technologies are also possible, but you have heard that fruit trees, especially full-grown trees that are tall and leafy, can absorb a wireless radio frequency (RF) signal. You have also heard that the cold storage buildings have ice hazards, making it hard to install equipment. But you will not let these challenges faze you.

1. What investigation will you do with regard to the physical infrastructure of the orchards, the orchard shacks, and the cold storage buildings?

2. Make a list of business goals for Harriet's Fruit and Chocolate Company. What are some constraints that will affect these goals?

3. Make a list of technical goals for Harriet's Fruit and Chocolate Company. What tradeoffs might you need to make to meet these goals?

4. Will a wireless solution support the low delay that will be needed to meet the needs of the applications? Defend your answer.

5. What security concerns should you bring up as you design the network upgrade?