SYNTAX SOLUTIONS is a privately owned, well-known Software company located in Colombo.

The
Management of SYNTAX SOLUTIONS has purchased a 3-storey building in the heart of Matara. They are
planning to make it one of the state-of-the-art companies in Matara with the latest facilities.

It is expected to have nearly 150 employees in Matara branch.

Department Number of Users

Customer Care 10
Sales and Marketing 20
Finance 25
Legal 5
HR 10
Developers 55
Network Team 5
Server Room Servers + ISP connections

Following requirements are given by the Management.

 All the departments must be separated with unique subnet and should not communicate with
each other unless there is a special requirement.
 192.168.10.0/24 is given and should be used for all the departments except the server room. Ips
should assign using DHCP.
 ERP and CRM Systems need to be implemented in Matara branch in local servers.
 Number of servers required for the Server room need to be decided by the Network designer
and should be assigned with 10.254.1.0/24 subnet. (Uses static Ips)
 High level of redundancy is expected in network design to eliminate single point of failures and
traffic bottle necks.
 Sales and Marketing Team need to access Network resources using WIFI connectivity.
 Proper methods for networking monitoring and troubleshooting need to be established.
 All possible network security mechanisms should be implemented.

Assume you have been appointed as the new network consultant of SYNTAX SOLUTIONS. Prepare a
network architectural design and implement it with your suggestions and recommendations to meet the
company requirements.

(Note: clearly state your assumption. You are allowed to design the network according to your
assumptions, but main requirements should not be violated)

Activity 01
  Discuss the benefits and constraints of different network system types that can be implemented
in the Matara branch and the main IEEEE Ethernet standards that can be used in above LAN and
WLAN design.
 Discuss the importance and impact of network topologies and network protocol suites while
comparing the main network topologies and network protocol suites that are used in network
design using examples. Recommend suitable network topologies and network protocol suites
for above scenario and justify your answer with valid points.

Activity 02

 Discuss the operating principles of network devices (Ex: Router, Switch, Etc.) and server
types that can be used for above scenario while exploring different servers that are available
in today’s market with their specifications. Recommend server/servers for the above
scenario and justify your selection with valid points.
 Discuss the inter-dependence of workstation hardware with networking software and
provide examples for networking software that can be used in above network desing.

Activity 03

 Prepare a written network design plan to meet the above-mentioned user requirements
including a blueprint drawn using a modeling tool. (Ex: Microsoft Visio, EdrawMax).
Support you answer by providing the VLAN and IP subnetting scheme for the above scenario
and the list of devices, network components and software used to design the network for
above scenario and while justifying your selections.

 Test and evaluate the proposed design to meet the requirements and analyse user feedback
by using a user feedback form.
 Install and configure Network services, devices and applicatons (Ex: VLAN, DHCP, DNS,
Proxy, Web, Etc.) according to the proposed design to accomplish the user requirements
and design a detailed Maintenance schedule for above Network.

*Note: - Screen shots of Configuration scripts should be presented.

Activity 04

 Implement a networked system based on your prepared design with valid evidences and
recommend potential future enhancements for the networked system with valid
justifications to your recommendations. Use critical reflection to critically evaluate the
design, plan, configuration, and testing of your network while justifying with valid
conclusions.
  Develop test cases and conduct verification (Ex: Ping, extended ping, trace route, telnet,
SSH, etc.) to rest the above Network and analyse the test results against the expected
results.

Activity 01

Department Department Code Users of each department

Customer Care CC 10
Sales and Marketing SM 20
Finance F 25
Legal L 5
HR HR 10
Developers DV 55
Network Team NT 5
Server Room SR Servers + ISP Connections

NT

SR

CC L HR

SM F

DV
When we consider about theories of networking, network system types were divided in different
ways based on their logical structure, purpose and size and also nowadays based on the use of the
networks. Based on the logical structure of the network system, we can divide network system
into Peer-to-Peer model and Client Server model.

Figure 1 Peet to Peer Network Model

Peer to Peer network model is a decentralized network approach where all the nodes of the
network, communicate with each other equally. There is no centralized device to manage the
network. In peer-to-peer network, all the devices are responsible for managing its resources
available to other devices on the network and also maintaining the security of its resources.
When considering about security while accessing to the network resources, each computer is
responsible to handle its security and also responsible for knowing about the resources’ location
while accessing to the resources of other peer to peer computers. [ CITATION Bru09 \l 1033 ]

Figure 2 Client Server Network Model

When compared to the peer-to-peer network model, the Client-Server network model is designed
through the centralized approach. In the client-server network model, all the available resources
are existing in a central device of the network and devices of the network can only be able to
access those resources. There is no ability to share the resources of client computers with other
client computers and with the server. In the client-server network model, the central device is
responsible for managing and making available the resources with an appropriate shared method.
The central device is also responsible for the provide the required security for those resources.
[ CITATION Bru09 \l 1033 ]

If we consider about peer to peer and client-server models, there are some similarities we can
find from these two models. Both models require a physically connected network between the
computers. Also, they are using the same network protocols and require certain network layers.
The difference only happens when we are planning the network. If we want to share the network
resources around all the computers in the network, we have to use peer to peer network model or
if we want to implement centralized shared resources, we have to use a client-server network.
[CITATION Bru09 \l 1033 ]1

According to scale of a network, we can divide network systems as Local Area Network, Wide
Area Network, Virtual Private Network and Storage Area Network. If we consider about the
Local Area Network or LAN in short term, it is the most widely using network system type that
are used to connect personal computers or workstations in a company, in an office or in a factory
to share resources withing a room, a building or a building complex. Most LANs have private
owners. LAN is a network with collections of devices which are connected together within one
physical location. [ CITATION And02 \l 1033 ]2
1
Hallberg, B., 2009. Networking: A Begginer's Guide. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
2
Tanenbaum, A. S., 2002. Computer Networks. 4th ed. s.l.:Pearson .

Cisco, 2021. What is a LAN. [Online]

Available at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/what-is-a-lan-local-area-network.html
[Accessed 22 10 2021].

Cisco, 2021. What Is a VPN? - Virtual Private Network. [Online]

Available at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/security/vpn-endpoint-security-clients/what-is-
vpn.html
[Accessed 22 10 2021].

vmware, 2021. Storage Area Network (SAN). [Online]

Available at: https://www.vmware.com/topics/glossary/content/storage-area-network-san
[Accessed 22 10 2021].