Your task for this test is to create a robust network plan for:
A small coffee shop chain with an original location, 2 satellite stores, and one kiosk/bar type store in an office building.
Make sure that for this network plan you are investigating, researching, and brainstorming stakeholder needs, identifying and addressing data access issues, identifying and planning for security concerns, considering disaster recovery and maintenance issues, and including a researched but estimated consideration of costs related to the network. This task is like our Initial Network Plan/Proposal except more in-depth and concerning a contextualized network. Make sure you robustly address the following topics/areas:
• network topology (physical and logical/functional) – be sure to include both textual descriptions as well as visual diagrams with captions.
• hardware considerations (routers, gateways, switches, cabling, wireless access points, physical servers/nodes, etc.) – be sure to discuss both physical hardware as well as any virtualized hardware (IAAS).
• software servers/services (web, database, file, source control, patient portals, training intranet resources, etc.)- be sure to consider the needs of stakeholders and what servers/services, clients, and security or maintenance utilities should be considered.
• security policies/procedures and network systems/services (firewalls, IDS/IPS, spam/virus filtering, network monitoring/scanning, chokepoints, guest networks, DMZ’s VPNs, encryption, BYOD policies, etc.)
• disaster recovery/continuity of service/maintenance needs (backup hardware/software, storage locations, communication policies/procedures, recovery policies/procedures, etc.)
You may use your Initial Network Plans and Disaster Recovery Plan assignments as building blocks/references for this task. Do not just copy in your previous plans – these are starting points only. Exams submitted with existing Initial network plans or disaster recovery plans copied directly from the previous assignment(s) will receive a 50% penalty.
Make your arguments as to why your solutions make sense for your chosen organization’s network. Don’t just say, “you need a wireless mesh network”, explain, discuss, and schematize why that makes sense for your context and stakeholder needs.
Submission of your Network Plan should be at least 10 pages in length, using no larger than 11point Times New Roman Font, single spaced, with 1in margins (top, bottom, left, and right). Excessive sized images will cost 10% of your grade per image, so consider size and layout your visualizations effectively.
Sample Solution
