1. Continuous Case Study Final Project 6 Group A Presented by : Steven Aretz, Matthew Berry, Tommie Chaney, Wyndle Collinsworth II, David Fines, Gregory Goines and Gene Arch

2. Executive Summary Group A Technologies, Inc. is an industry leader in technology solutions for any size business. The network solution proposed in this document will help to move Continuous Corporation into the next generation of technology excellence. Our comprehensive solution addresses the pressing needs of Continuous Corp., linking your supply chain with your marketing and customer service, logistics, finance, and senior management. You will have a strong overview of the daily operations of your company through the distributed network technologies we will provide. Your manufacturing and distribution centers will be able to keep in close contact with your sales and marketing, notifying them immediately of inventory availability. Finance and Accounting will have up-to-the-minute information on the financial health of your division. Logistics will have updates on the availability of trucking resources for fulfilling customer orders. With all this information at your fingertips, you will be better equipped to make the crucial business decisions you make every day.

3. Solution Overview At each of your geographically dispersed locations through the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, we will need to install a Local Area Network (LAN) to facilitate the sharing of information at that location. Then, to link all of these locations to the central division headquarters (which will have its own LAN), we will use Virtual Private Networking (VPN) technology for a secure connection and a method of sharing information across the internet. Each of these solutions is described in detail below.

4. Advantages of using LAN Technology The advantages of independent LANs are: Files can be stored on a central computer (the file server) allowing data to be shared throughout the organization. Files can be backed up more easily when they are all on a central fileserver rather than when they are scattered across a number of independent workstations. Networks also allow security to be established, ensuring that the network users may only have access to certain files and applications. Software and resources can be centrally managed. Network versions of software often allow for their speedy installation on workstations from the file server. Expensive devices such as laser printers or scanners can be shared. Users can access their files from any workstation(Comer, 2009)

5. Topology Set-up we are recommending a hybrid topology – a physical Star topology, with a logical Bus topology each computer will be physically connected to a central router that passes the information along the network this network will really work like a Bus network, because the router the computers connect to would simply be forwarding information to the destination, much like a shared wire in a Bus network.

6. IP Address Assignment To allow for future growth we will deploy a technique called Classless addressing within the class C IP addressing scheme. Will allow company to expand 1024 hosts on the network. This should handle the growth of company for the next 10 years or more.

7. Connection between sites In order to facilitate a connection between your various sites, several technologies will need to be used. First, we will want to use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for your telephone system, as this is the most commonly used in the industry today. Second, we will need to connect your various LANs using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which will allow your company to connect through the Internet with the various sites. Used for economic purpose of routers being cheaper than switches and because sending both data and voice in IP datagrams lowers cost because the underlying network infrastructure is shared- a single set of equipment, wiring, and network connections suffices for all communication including telephone calls.(Comer,2009)

8. Network Connectivity All of the computer equipment needed by the end users can be wired with a common, cheap, and easy to use twisted pair (CAT5 or CAT6). For any equipment that needs a connection to the network that is unable to be physically connected by a cable, there could be an internal wireless network. The connection to the internet and networks beyond the company’s network could be accomplished with the speed and capacity of a fiber optic connection provided by an outside vendor. We believe that using a wireless local network at each location, as well as a VPN connection between locations will allow for the greatest flexibility and opportunity for growth.

9. Wireless LAN Implementation Benefits Reduced Cost-of-Ownership: The initial equipment investment required for wireless LAN can be higher than the equipment cost of wired LAN. Life-cycle costs can be significantly lower, and long term cost benefits are greatest in dynamic environments requiring frequent moves and changes. Network managers in dynamic environments minimize the overhead caused by moves, extensions to networks, and other changes with wireless LANs. Network managers installing networked computers in older buildings find that wireless LANs are a cost-effective network infrastructure solution. Network managers implement wireless LANs to provide backup for mission-critical applications running on wired networks. (Comer, 2009)

10. Components Needed IP telephone - offers traditional telephone interface that allows a user to place or receive calls. Media Gateway controller- provides control and coordination between a pair of IP telephones allowing a caller to locate callee or access services such as call forwarding, call waiting, voice mail, conference calls, caller ID. Media gateway- provides translation of audio as a call passes across the boundary between an IP network and the PSTN or the boundary between two IP networks that use different encodings. Signaling gateway- spans the boundary between a pair of disparate networks, and provides translation of signaling operations, allowing either side to initiate a call. This could be very useful for business network setup especially since there are both people in the central offices as well as people on the go needing access wirelessly. This would allow for video conferencing and other communications across long distances to keep everyone on the same page and the business at top performance. (Comer, 2009)

11. Security Security is not an expense, instead it is an investment. Firewalls control the network packets that pass between two networks or a network and a node, and can keep unwanted external data out and sensitive internal data in. A firewall acts as a protective barrier because it is the single point through which both incoming and outgoing communications pass.

12. Network Diagram

13. Equipment Expense Report PriceTotal Price Servers $3,299.00$32,990.00 Desktops $1,040.38$156,057.00 Laptops $1,122.95$67,377.00 Routers $4,494.00$17,976.00 Switches$2,495.00$29,940.00 Printers$8,375.00$67,000.00 $371,340.00

14. Future Investments For Business Growth The business will evaluate current and new technologies every three years. Workstations and laptops will be refreshed during this time. Software upgrades are done yearly.

15. References Comer, D. E. (2009). Computer Networks and Internets. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education. Hansen, G. (1997, January 20). Quality of Service. Retrieved February 18, 2011, from Object Services and Consulting: http://www.objs.com/survey/QoS.htm Sullivan, J. (2000, August 21). What is client/server? Retrieved 01 31, 2011, from Tech Target: http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/client-server What is WiMAX Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved 01 31, 2011, from Free WiMAX Info: http://www.freewimaxinfo.com/ WiMAX Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved 01 31, 2011, from Intel: http://www.intel.com/technology/wimax/ Wireless LAN. (n.d.). Retrieved 01 31, 2011, from University of California Chico: http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~pc/What%20is%20a%20Wireless%20LAN. htm