Networks Networking Project Advice

As part of my college course (BTEC ND in IT) we have a unit called 'Networking Project'. In this unit we "will be assuming the role of a network consultant who has been contracted to define a networking problem and propose a solution"

There was a list of projects to choose from and I chose the one below.

A small town leisure services deparment requires a system to integrate and manage data from its swimming pool, sports field, bowling greens, library and museum. Data will be entered at each facility and will be collated at the local council office.

As you can see, this will be a multi-site network. There were one site networks to choose from which would have been alot easier to design, but I wouldn't learn much from that, hence choosing this one.

As it is a small town leisure department, i'm assuming the greatest distance between each location will be 3 miles.

Heres what I intend so far. Each LAN in this network (6 in total - one for each facility as i'm assuming they are in different locations) will have a backup server, and use a standard Ethernet/Star network. I want the main server to be located at the council office (the main server will be for active directory).

The question is how to connect each location together? Would I be right in saying this could be done either a VPN or a leased line? And is active directory able to be used over either of these two methods, or is there a better method for doing this?

Comments or advice about any of this project would greatly be appreciated, no matter how small.

 

yeah i would say vpn over a leased line would be advisable plus as far as i can remember active directory can be used remotely you can have another server at each location that is in the active directory tree.

as for all the information it sounds like a database is goign to be needed and a big one at that so perhaps a seperate server for the database??

 

ftp?

 

Doesn't that totally destroy one of the advantages of VPN because you can use them over a public line securely because it's an encrypted, tunnelled system.

 

So your saying that having a leased line would destroy the advantage because its over a public line? :S

All a leased line includes is a fast Internet connection, its not a line just between the two sites. This advantage of a leased line is that the upload is the same as the download. IE you can upload and download at 2mbps unlike adsl which normally limits you to 256mbps which is not really any good for linking building together considering it would limit the line to 256kbps.

Another option to consider would be a satellite link of some kind, could be perfect for that kind of distance . This would require a direct visual line of site between the two though.

 

I wouldn't run AD over an area that large. Do you want the library to be down because your leased line is down? You don't have to have the entire area all on one network. Run a seperate subnet in each area that just uploads its data to the main server as needed. That will save on bandwidth over that leased line as well.

 

How would a subnet work? Is this something done over a normal internet connection?

 

A leased line is not necessarily an internet connection, in fact I'd hazard a guess that more leased lines carry voice traffic than they do IP but in general all a leased line is is a point to point connection between two locations. It doesn't have to go anywhere near the internet or IP traffic if it doesn't want to. And whilst most leased lines are indeed synchronous they don't have to be.

Krikkits point was quite valid in that installing leased lines between sites and then running a VPN over the top of them would be pointless. Whilst an ADSL line is technically a leased line it is an IP only service [if you ignore the POTS phone line bit which doesn't need to exist] I doubt this is what the OP was referring to when he said leased line.

As far as the OPs position goes there are some things that one would most likely consider for a project in the real world that may or may not be relevant to this project.

Before you even get as far as defining technologies to be used you should be asking first what kind of connectivity is required at each site - just data, or voice and data.

Is it part of your brief to define a total solution, ie including servers and the like, or do you have to provide network connectivity that will work with potential legacy systems which will dictate your traffic and protocol types.

What are the expected data volumes as this will rule out/in certain potential technology choices. Is the traffic bursty by nature, does it scale up/down and certain times.

What are the uptime requirements of the link - can you get away with no fixed response/fix time ADSL lines or are you going to have to buy lines with service levels and even possibly diverse routing.

Is cost a major/minor/key/not so important issue when compared to bandwidth and reliability.

These are just some of the questions that should be considered before diving straight into a technology choice. Whilst on the surface it looks like a straightforward choice of a VPN running over ADSL lines vs a Hub/Spoke design using leased lines there are other technology choices availible [such as radio links that gamesaregood mentioned] that might be more appropriate once you have been through the thought processes and information gathering steps.

HTH

J

 

My choice of the word "subnet" is probably incorrect. I just meant that each site needs to be it's own network.

All that Jake as said is true. You need to define the type of traffic requirements between sites to determine what type of connectivity you're going to need. Do they need to have constant connectivity, or is a burst of data at the end of the day all that is needed? These are the types of questions you need answered first.

 

Here is what I have to include:

A) Details of the network, supporting documentation, implementation methods, testing required hardware/software installation.
B) How the network is going to work to meet the users' needs
C) A full list of resources and other costs
D) Proposals to meet the financial and physical requirements of the chosen solution
E) Comparison of a range of alternative plans with reasons for selecting the most suitable for your purposes

All we have been given is the brief and told "define a networking problem and propose a solution". Everything else is left up to my imagination.

This network will only be for data connectivity, and everything will be sent to the main office once a day (Just before closing).

There isn't a budget as such, so long as I can justify it.