Task 1 Workstation selection (400 words)
To enable the secretary of SYHA (Scottish Youth Hosteling Association) to perform their tasks that involves use of standard office applications, SYHA should consider going for a desktop computer with the following requirements.
WINDOWS PC
APPLE MACINTOSH
EXPLANATION
Operating System
Windows 8.1 professional or higher
Macintosh OS 10.8 or higher
Manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs.
Productivity Tools
Microsoft office 2013
Microsoft office 2013
Are office packages containing word, excel, database and others, necessary for office work
Processor Type
Intel or AMD Core i3 processor
Intel Core i3 processor
Processor being the ‘brain’ of the computer will controls most of the work done. The higher the processor the faster the computer
Memory
4 GB RAM
4 GB RAM
A working memory the computer has available to do work. The more the memory the faster the computer will be but will also depend on the processor speed.
Hard Drive
500 GB
500 GB
It is the central storage area for the programs being run and the documents created. Will enable large storage of data and applications
Graphics Card
512 MB
512 MB
They determine the quality of graphics and video output by the computer.
Monitor/Display
17” LCD/TFT
17” LCD/TFT
Is an output device for display
Network Card Adapter
10/100/1000 Mbps
10/100/1000 Mbps
It allows a computer to be connected to a network. This range covers lower and higher network speed
A desktop computer with the above minimum requirements will serve the said staff purpose.
The second staff to consider is the SYHA Regional Manager whose job involves travelling around the hostels checking on their condition and management and updating where necessary the SYHA system. In this case, the kind of computer that meets this purpose is either a tablet or a smartphone. A tablet will be best in this scenario considering its portable, larger screen size for reading and typing. One can also access internet using 3G internet by using a sim card.
The following should be considered while buying the tablets.
Operating system
Screen size
Battery life
RAM
Sim Card slot
Google Android –Android OS version 4.4 or higher
IPAD IOS –IOS version 9 or higher
A minimum screen size of 7’’ will be preferable or higher
A Battery life that can go for a minimum of 7 hours or more will be preferable
At least 2GB of RAM
A sim card slot to enable accessing 3G or 4G internet remotely will be highly preferable in cases where there is no Wi-Fi
Following the above requirements it would be easier now to decide the tablets to buy whereby the budget allocated will be part of the major factor to consider whether to buy a higher end tablets using the specifications above as baseline.
Task 2 Required services (400 words)
For the SYHA staff to access SYHA office network locally the following key services must be there. First each client computer for the staff must be able to access the local network. In this case for the local network, we must be having a switch that extends the network to more than one client that must be connected to a router.
So each client computer must have a unique network IP address with subnet mask that guides the network in which a group of computers are, just in case the network may be segmented.
Then each client computer must be connected to a server that host the SYHA office System. In this case the client staff computer will be added to a domain controller which will enable centralized control of all client computer within the domain for easier management. It will now be easier for the staff to access the backend SYHA office system within the local network, so long as the staff account is in the domain. The staff can access the system either by logging again or integrating a single sign on using Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) once one logins into the domain.
With the SYHA domain, an intranet network can be developed to enable efficient accessibility of other services and documents sharing, communication and proficient collaboration of the staff within the network on any work they will be doing. This will improve productivity and reduce cost.
In cases whereby the staff cannot access services locally, especially for remote hostels, services will be accessed by using internet through an internet service provider. Access to the SOYA office network through an internet service provider will be limited in this case depending with the level of access of services. For the sake of security, the services accessible through a web services will be limited by the privilege one has, such that one may be denied deleting or cancelling information entered. However, for a case whereby, it’s a must for a staff to access his or her account without limited accessibility, a virtual private network may be used to guarantee security for a remote staff. The SYHA office network may also be connected with security devices like Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) that will safeguard unsecure accessibility of the web services remotely. A Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) services may be added to the SYHA office network to safeguard internal staff accessing unsecure internet services and also unsecure traffic coming to the SYHA network. Email services will be the only secure service for the staff to communicate with each other while using SYHA network or communicating on a public internet
Task 3 Remote connection to the SYHA NETWORK (700words)
Application layer
Presentation layer
Session layer
Transport layer
Network layer
Datalink layer
Physical layer
Remote location network SYHA network
Application layer
Presentation layer
Session layer
Transport layer
Network layer
Datalink layer
Physical layer
The above diagram is used to explain the communication from remote location by the education officer using a 3G network to the SYHA network using the OSI layer model.
First the education officer will visit the website of the SYHA office network using a tablet. In this case, the first layer of the OSI layer model will be the application layer which will provide an interface to enable the interaction of the officer with the tablet. In this case the httpprotocol which operate on port 80 will be used for web requests.
After the web requests, the layer 6 which is presentation layer takes over. Data here is presented in a way that it will be understood upon arriving on the destination. For the sake of security, data will be formatted or encrypted in this layer by use of secure shell layer protocol (SSL).
After data is encrypted, the third step is layer 5 that tries to establish a session connection with the server side. It will start by initiating a network connection which takes us to the 4th layer which is the Transport layer. It is this layer, segmentation of data is done and assignment of the right port numbers to enable the packet to reach the intended application on the other side. For example, assume the education officer was sending an email to SYHA network, the port number 25 will be assigned for the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) that is used in sending of emails.
It is at this stage that flow control of exchanged data will be maintained when the session between the client and server is fully established.
After data segmentation, the next layer is layer 3 which is network layer. At this layer the website address is translated to a logical IP address which is then attached to the segmented data received from transport layer to form a datagram. It is at this stage that routing is done to identify the destination of the intended client requests. After this stage the requests are sent to the webserver on the SYHA network. At this stage the logical IP address that was translated to public IP address of the website address to locate the server on its hosting environment at the SYHA office network.
The first interface on the destination side of the hosting environment is the physical layer of the ISP on the SYHA network which is the first layer of the OSI model. At this stage, the signals are sent to the gateway and then the router that locates the webserver that contain the webpages requested by the education officer on the remote 3G network. After the first stage, the second stage which is the datalink layer interprets the frame to locate the MAC address of the destined device. The next stage is the network layer that decapsulate the frame to get the destination IP address which will direct to the location of the webserver that contain the server services. Upon reaching the destined location which is the webserver, the three way handshake is initiated between the webservices and the source of traffic. After establishing a session with the client the requests is interpreted in a way that it can be understood and then the webserver presents the date in a form the source will be able to understand the response. This communication continues between the education officer tablet with the SYHA network, whereby the officer initiates communication by requesting webpages from the server on the SYHA network which interprets the requests and delivers the requested webpages to the education officer tablet application.
When the education officer is done he can stop the services from the server side by terminating the session either by disconnecting the 3G internet, logging out of the system, shutting down his application or quitting from it.
TASK 4 : Evaluation (400 words)
Questionnaire
Instructions
· Tick within the box where appropriate.
· On the spaces provided elaborate more on your answer
1. Which role do you play in the region manager office?
· Managerial
· Junior
· Other (explain) _____________________________________
Explanation:The question help to identify the access level of the staff to the SYHA office location, and the service one can access.
2. What device do you use to access the SYHA OFFICE network while at remote location?
· A smartphone
· Android tablet
· An IPAD
· Other (explain) ______________________________________
Explanation: This question will help in coming up with an asset register of the most common devices used by many staff
3. What is the feel while interacting with the SYHA application while on remote location?
· Good
· Bad( Please explain your answer) ____________________________________________________________
· Not sure
Explanation: The question will help in knowing the user experience while interacting with the application and help to decide whether to improve the application depending on user responses.
4. Does the speed of the 3G network enable you to access the SYHA services efficiently?
· Yes
· No
· I don’t know
Explanation: The question will help to understand whether the speed of the 3G internet is adequate or not to offers the services efficiently.
5. Any challenges while accessing the services remotely as compared to accessing the same services locally.
· Yes (Please explain your answer) _______________________________________________________________________________
· No
Explanation: The question will help in improving the accessibility of the services either remotely or locally from the user feedback.
6. Has there been any downtime while accessing the SYHA services remotely. If so explain for how long.
· Yes
· Once per week
· Several times a week
· No
Explanation: The question will help in knowing how stable is the remote network, either the Wi-Fi or the 3G internet and in response decide on the right course of action to improve.
7. Should the SYHA services remote accessibility be improved?
Yes (Please explain and be a bit specific which area) _____________________________________________________________________________________
No (Please explain your answer)
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Explanation: The question will help in knowing how comfortable are the staff with accessing the services remotely and getting their open-ended feedback as way of knowing the specific area to concentrate on in improving remote accessibility of the service.
Task 5: System Setup Screen shots (300 words plus screen shots)
Setting an IP address on a windows PC
For the computer to be able access network resources it must have an IP address that uniquely identify it in the network. While assigning the IP address, the computer must be connected to an Ethernet cable or a Wi-Fi network. Upon successfully connecting the computer to an Ethernet cable or to a working Wi-Fi signal, the next step is to assign an IP address to enable the computer to access network and internet.
The screenshot above shows the setting up of an IP address. First one is supposed to set a unique IP address, which in this case is 192.168.8.110, then setting up the subnet mask which is 255.255.255.0. Subnet mask defines the class that the network is in and also segmenting the network into more than one network, such that a computer with a different subnet mask such as 255.255.252.0 cannot be able to share local network resources like shared printer with the computer with a different subnet mask like the one above.
Next we set the default gateway, which is an interface that connect the local network to the internet provided by our Internet Service Provider. In this case our gateway is 192.168.8.1. The last thing to set is the Domain Name server (DNS) address, which resolves domain names into IP addressand vice versa.
Results of pinging www.rdi.co.uk
Explanation:
“Pinging 82.223.111.133” –The ping command only knows how to communicate with IP addresses, such that the first thing it did when requested to ping www.rdi.co.uk was to look up the corresponding IP address.
“Reply from 82.223.111.133” – This tells that the remote server at that IP address replied. That is, the entire route from my PC across the internet through routers, switches and networking equipment worked as did the return path carrying the server’s reply
“time= 525 ms” – This is the round trip time: the time between sending and receiving of the sent packets
“sent = 4, Received = 4” – this means that out all the four packets sent, all were successful in reaching the destination with no packet loss.
“TTL = 52” – TTL refers to time to live which is the time before the packets dies as it travels from source to destination.
Results of an internet connection speed
The testing of the speed of the internet was done using speedtest.net which is a web service that provide analysis of internet speed. From the snapshot above, the ping test took 78ms while the download speed was 1.51 Mbps and upload speed was 0.50 Mbps. The download speed was higher than the upload speed.
Task 6: Maintenance schedule (400 words)
SYHA network data backup schedule
Before providing the data backup schedule, the following must be considered:
· The staff responsible for the backup
There must be dedicated staff who will be responsible for carrying out the backup process
· The type of data for backup
Ideally everything on the system should be included in the backup but due to issues of cost of storage space, convenience and time sometimes it become impractical. Therefore in this case, SYHA office should only backup data that is created by the staffs and users accessing the system and avoid the system files and filesystem
· The backup up method to be used
There are three types of backups; full backup, incremental and differential backup. In this case we are going to use full backup and incremental backup in our schedule. Full back up is a backup of everything while incremental backup is a backup of what changes from previous backup. Due to time and storage inconveniency with full backup, it will only be done once per month.
SYHA network actual schedule
Monday
Full backup
Tuesday
Incremental backup
Wednesday
Incremental backup
Thursday
Incremental backup
Friday
Incremental backup
NB: The backup should be done before close of business on each day whereby there should be an off-site storage and an on-site storage.
Routine auditing and security check schedule
To ensure that, set organization regulations are maintained, regular auditing and security check should be done. Auditing can be done internally or by a hired external contractor. Security check will guide in ensuring the system are kept updated with new system patches to protect the SYHA network from any network vulnerabilities that may be taken advantage by hackers.
For auditing of the SYHA network, there should be a network policy for the organization that guide on the use of SYHA network resources by staff, and other stakeholders that must depend on the network.
Internal auditing can be done on monthly basis while external auditing can be done after three months. In this case our schedule will cover only the monthly internal auditing.
The auditing must be assigned to either a department, especially the risk department or a staff, and will be done on the last week of the month.
Actual routine auditing schedule
The following is an auditing checklists from an established SYHA network policies and procedures
· Router audit – checking on the router software, configuration files and settings whether they meet set baseline standards
· Routing audit – checking on the routing settings, router table and settings whether they meet set baseline standards
· Syslog Audit – checking on the syslog server settings whether they meet set baseline standards
· Lan switching audit – checking on the switch settings as per set baseline standards
More auditing will be guided on the baseline standards sets as per network policies and standards. From the auditing, a report should be made, that will enable the management to strengthen their network to meets its expected standard.
Task 7: Remote connection of Networks (400 words)
The best technology to connect SYHA office network to the headquarter office at Matlock, Derbyshire is to use a Wide Area Network (WAN) technology.
The type of WAN to connect SYHA office network to its central site will be required to optimize the WAN bandwidth, minimize the cost, and maximize the effective service to the end users. Therefore, the following will be considered:
Multiple access connections – a WAN that will allow users to connect to the central site using different media options and simultaneous access for multiple users.
Cost – the cost should be kept low while maintaining a satisfactory level of service. For example, some WAN charges are based on usage, such as ISDN, and therefore it is important to implement a solution that will optimize bandwidth and minimize costs.
Access control – Since SYHA information must be restricted, allowing users access only to areas in the network for which they are authorized. For example, access lists can filter out unauthorized data flow between offices.
Quality of Service (QoS) -It is important to prioritize traffic over the link and manage traffic flow so that bursty traffic does not slow mission-critical traffic.
Redundancy and backup – Because a link can fail or high link utilization can occur at certain peak usage times during the day, it is important to back up the connection to the headquarter office.
Scalability – Build a network that can grow with the company.
Typical WAN solutions that can be used in this perspective are:
· Leased line
· Frame Relay
· ISDN
· Broadband services (cable or DSL)
From our scenario from the google maps and considering the geographical distance between the two offices, frame relay technology will be the best WAN technology to use.
Frame relay is a packet-switching telecommunication service designed for cost-efficient data transmission for intermittent traffic between local area networks and endpoints in wide area networks. Originally designed for transport across integrated services digital network (ISDN) infrastructure, it can be used in the context of many other network interfaces.
Reference
· Jeffry, V 2015, ‘Tablet buying guide: everything to know before you buy a tablet’, viewed 11 April 2016, http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-pick-a-tablet/
· Nick, M 2016, ‘Tablet Buying Guide: 8 Essential Tips’, viewed 11 April 2016, http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/tablet-buying-guide
· Joanne W, ‘WAN Technologies’, viewed 14 April 2016,
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb962087.aspx
