Introduction to Networking: Scenario and Client Expectations

1. Greenfield Properties: The Scenario

Two small property management companies, Bluegrass Rentals (BR) and Redstone Property Management (RPM), will soon be merging into a new company to be called Greenfield Properties (GP). Each company has been using peer-to-peer LANs up until now, but they now want to move up to client/server networking. Greenfield Properties will be operating out of a single, one-story building in a suburban office park.

You have been asked to create a proposal for the new company's IT network. The client has sent you the information in the table below about the employee job roles and duties planned for Greenfield Properties.

A company representative has provided the information in the table below about some of the job roles.

2. Additional Information Related to the Client’s Expectations

When asked about their overall goals and priorities for the network, the representative from Greenfield Properties offered the expectations in the section below.

2a. All Touchstone Tasks

Use the following client expectations to help answer the questions in all the Touchstone Tasks.

• While the budget is not unlimited, the top executives feel that it is more important to have good-quality, reliable, easy-to-use hardware and software than to keep costs as low as possible.
• Ease of administration is important because the company’s IT staff has limited experience with network administration.
• The following capabilities are required:
  • The network must authenticate users and authorize them for the privileges they need to do their work.
  • All employees must be able to access shared resources, including files and printers, from anywhere.
  • All employees must be able to access the company’s custom-built property management app from anywhere.
  • Certain employees need access to specific secure databases.
• The network must be very secure. Top executives are especially concerned about ransomware and breaches of private information such as credit card data.
• The company is open to either hosting servers on-site or on the cloud, or a combination of the two.
• Some of these roles are already filled by existing workers from the two companies; other positions will be filled by new hires.
• In addition to the client hosts, there are about a dozen network-capable multifunction printers that the merging companies are bringing with them. Each of them currently uses a static IPv4 address and is part of a workgroup. Given that you are replacing the workgroups with a client/server network, consider how you will deploy those printers.

2b. Planning Network Printer Connectivity Touchstone Task

Use the additional client expectations to help answer the questions in Touchstone Task 2.1: Planning Network Printer Connectivity.

There are two ways to connect printers to a network: using a print server or using direct IP printing. In preparation for this touchstone, research the pros and cons of each. Here are some articles you may find helpful:

• Print Servers or Direct IP Printing: Which Is Right for My Business?
• Direct IP Printing or Print Servers – Which one is better?

2c. Planning IP Address Assignments Touchstone Task

Use the additional client expectations to help answer the questions in Touchstone Task 2.2: Planning IP Address Assignments.

For this scenario, assume that you’ll be using the IP address range 10.1.1.0/24 for the internal network. The following are different ways to consider what subnets you want to create, depending on how you think you will be managing them.

• Based on geographic factors: In a multi-office company, you might create a separate subnet for each location. Or in a multistory building, each floor might be a subnet.
• By departments: You might create a separate subnet for each department, especially if certain departments have access to specific applications or databases that other departments don’t have.
• By functions or permissions: It can be easier to assign resources and permissions to an entire subnet than to individual users or groups. You might have one subnet for all PCs that connect to the network via cables, another for user devices connected through Wi-Fi, a third one for network-connected equipment such as printers, and so on.

hint

Although it can be tempting to create subnets that are exactly the right size for the pool of users it will be supporting, that is short-sighted. As a general rule, when defining subnets, you should plan for a future expansion of at least 50%. For example, suppose a certain subnet must initially support 10 host IP addresses. Rather than using a subnet mask of 255.255.255.240, resulting in 14 available host IP addresses, you would be better served to go up one level, to a subnet mask of 255.255.255.224, which supports up to 30 host IP addresses.

2d. Planning a Wireless Infrastructure Touchstone Task

Use the additional client expectations to help answer the questions in Touchstone Task 3: Planning a Wireless Infrastructure.

Now, it’s time to start thinking about adding Wi-Fi access to the network. As you learned in the scenario, over half of the devices users employ are tablets and smartphones. These do not usually have ports for connecting to a wired network, so it is critical to provide Wi-Fi access.

You will need to recommend a strategy for blanketing the office with Wi-Fi coverage so a user can get a strong Wi-Fi signal anywhere in the building. You will also need to be concerned with choosing the appropriate channels and service set identifiers (SSIDs) to use on the Wireless Application Protocols (WAPs) and where to install them.

The following are some things to remember about Wi-Fi that may come in handy for this activity.

• In general, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi signals can extend for about 150 feet if there are no impediments, such as thick walls. 5 GHz Wi-Fi signals can extend for about 50 feet. Those are maximums, though; as a host gets further away from the WAP, performance decreases. Therefore, you should plan on placing WAPs about 30–70 ft apart. This is close enough to prevent dead spots.
• Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) runs only on the 5 GHz band; Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) can use both the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands.
• Channels 1, 6, and 11 are typically used because they do not overlap with each other. You should try to alternate channel selections among adjacent WAPs.
• WAPs can be installed in the ceiling. This is a good way to keep them out of users’ way, as well as to add an extra measure of physical security for them.
• For WAPs that are not located near a power outlet, you can either run power cords through the ceiling or you can use Power over Ethernet (PoE), a technology that allows electricity to be supplied on the Ethernet data cable.