Introduction

Using the case study below, develop a 3 - 5 page paper that is well organized and provides specific answers to each part of the assignment.  Your answer is to be complete and is to demonstrate your understanding of ALL of this semester's lessons. 

Case Study

You are an outsourced Network Management Specialist working for an intellectual property rights law firm that has just merged another law firm that specializes in filing and defending patents.  The original office housed 10 attorneys, seven support staff, and one receptionist in one location.  With the merger, there are now two (2) offices located in different parts of a large metropolitan city within the United States. There are eight attorneys, four support staff, and one receptionist at each of the two offices.  All of the attorneys work in the offices, but also are mobile in that they provide onsite legal services to businesses and must often travel to government Patent Offices to file and defend patents.  The attorneys need to be able to send and receive legal and patent documents and update client records while they are out of the office in addition to making and receiving phone calls.  All the attorneys and support staff must have real-time access to all documents, client records and daily schedules.  The Managing Partner reminds you that they are required by law to secure and control client company and personal identifiable information. 

You, as a Network Management Specialist, have been asked to design the telecommunications network to support this new multi-location practice.  Others on the team will develop the applications and databases.  Your task is to identify the requirements and design a network solution that will meet those requirements (including security and privacy requirements).

The Deliverable

Define the requirements and then design an appropriate network that would support this merged law firm.  Your paper should:

1. Analyze the given case and provide a clear set of requirements for the network solution

2. Identify the information that is to be protected and the related security requirements

3. Identify the types of network(s), components, devices and equipment that would be involved in meeting the needs of the stationary offices and the mobile attorneys

4. Provide a network design diagram that clearly shows an appropriate network configuration to meet the requirements, with components properly labeled

5. Explain the benefits of the proposed network solution

Your deliverable will be a 3 - 5 page paper. The page requirement includes illustrations or diagrams, but does not count the cover page and references page.

The paper is to be prepared using the APA format and to include at least three (3) academically credible references beyond the assigned readings and other course materials.  Information from your research should be appropriately incorporated into your written work in your own words and properly cited.  Extensive use of direct quotes is not permitted.  Use the Scoring Rubric below to ensure all aspects of the assignment have been adequately covered.  The bolded attributes in the Scoring Rubric must be used as the major section headings in the document.