Assignment 2: The Wild Frontier Part 2 Due Week 6 And Worth

Assignment 2 The Wild Frontier Part 2due Week 6 and worth 70 points

Imagine you are the leader of the IT team at the national headquarters for a company supplying western wear to an international market. The owner, Sam Yosemite, instructs your IT team to support four new satellite offices with vague and incoherent guidance. Each office will have about 20 staff members who need to be self-sufficient, mirroring applications used at headquarters, but on minimal budgets. These offices will operate independently for a total of 24 hours daily, each based on its own local business hours, which do not overlap with other offices.

Your IT team is solely responsible for supporting the satellite offices, with a focus on low costs for licensing and support to avoid cutting into IT staff salaries. Some remote staff will be managers requiring access to sensitive HR files. They must also manage disk space used by their staff efficiently. All staff must be able to access the company intranet specific to their departments, but restricted from other sites. Only half of the staff require internet access for business purposes.

Paper For Above instruction

This proposal discusses the deployment of Terminal Services as a strategic solution to support the remote satellite offices efficiently, securely, and cost-effectively. It also addresses the configuration, security, application pooling, server planning, and deployment strategies needed to meet the unique operational requirements detailed in the scenario.

Utilizing Terminal Services for Remote Application Support

Terminal Services, now known as Remote Desktop Services (RDS), offers a centralized approach to delivering applications and desktop environments to remote offices. By utilizing Terminal Services, the organization can avoid the high costs associated with deploying and maintaining individual application instances across multiple locations (Cappelli, 2020). Instead, applications are hosted centrally on terminal servers, and users access these via remote sessions, significantly reducing licensing costs and simplifying administration. Terminal Services also adheres to the scenario's requirement for minimal support costs by allowing administrators to update and manage applications centrally rather than on individual devices.

This approach enhances security, as data remains stored on the central servers rather than across dispersed endpoints, minimizing the risk of data leakage or unauthorized access—particularly relevant as managers will access sensitive HR files (Microsoft, 2019). Moreover, Terminal Services can support multiple concurrent sessions, making efficient use of hardware resources and allowing users to access their applications regardless of varying local business hours, fulfilling the operational timing needs.

Deployment, Configuration, and Security of Terminal Services

Deploying Terminal Services involves establishing dedicated terminal servers optimized for application delivery. This can be achieved through Windows Server environments, which facilitate easy deployment, administration, and security configurations. To meet security requirements, implementing Network Level Authentication (NLA) enhances session security, preventing unauthorized access (Slade, 2021). Additionally, enabling encryption protocols such as TLS and configuring role-based access controls ensures managers can access sensitive HR data securely, while restricted access is granted to other staff.

Security measures should include strong authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), and the segmentation of network traffic through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to provide secure, encrypted connectivity for remote offices. Furthermore, implementing policies for session timeouts and account lockouts can limit potential breaches. Regular application and security patches are vital to mitigate vulnerabilities (Microsoft, 2019).

Application Pools and Licensing Cost Reduction

Application pools are a feature of Internet Information Services (IIS) that allow multiple applications to run within isolated environments on a single server. Proper configuration of application pools can lead to significant cost savings by maximizing server utilization and reducing the need for multiple licenses per application. As applications are shared across offices through centralized hosting, the number of licenses required decreases, leading to cost efficiency (TechNet, 2020).

For instance, instead of deploying individual copies of enterprise applications at each satellite, a centralized server with application pools can serve multiple offices, with each session encapsulated within a separate pool to ensure stability. This reduces licensing overhead because fewer application instances are needed, and licensing agreements often limit the number of servers or users, not the number of application pools.

Planning, Deployment, and Configuration of Application Servers

Effective planning involves analyzing the workload to determine hardware specifications suitable for hosting multiple applications concurrently. Virtualization can be employed to create flexible deployment architectures, enabling logical separation and resource allocation per office or application (Hutchinson, 2022). Application servers should be configured with adequate CPU, RAM, and storage capacity to prevent bottlenecks while maintaining minimal hardware costs.

Security procedures include applying the latest patches, configuring firewalls, and implementing role-based access controls. Regular backups and disaster recovery plans should be established. Load balancing mechanisms can distribute user requests evenly across servers, optimizing performance and availability. Use of virtualization also facilitates easy scaling and maintenance (Microsoft, 2019).

File Server Planning, Deployment, and Configuration

The file servers must support secure storage and access control over sensitive HR information and departmental data. A centralized file server architecture with strict permissions and encryption is ideal. Utilizing Windows Server with Distributed File System (DFS) enables logical separation of departmental data, simplifying access management (TechNet, 2020).

To ensure cost efficiency and scalability, deploying storage area networks (SANs) or network-attached storage (NAS) can provide scalable storage solutions that grow with the satellite offices' needs. Implementing multi-factor authentication for access and encrypting data at rest and in transit will protect sensitive information. Regular audits and monitoring ensure compliance and security (Microsoft, 2019).

Deploying and Configuring Intranet and Web Applications

Intranet applications should be hosted on dedicated web servers, utilizing IIS, with proper segmentation from Web applications accessible externally. Web applications require SSL certificates for secure communication, especially since some staff will be accessing sensitive information. Utilizing load balancers ensures high availability and scalability for the intranet services (Cappelli, 2020).

Development and deployment should adhere to Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL) practices to minimize vulnerabilities. Proper user authentication—such as integrated Windows authentication or OAuth—should be employed, and role-based access controls should restrict access according to staff roles. Regular updates and patches keep these applications secure.

Graphical Layout of the Deployment

A comprehensive network diagram should be created using Visio or an equivalent tool, depicting the physical layout of servers, workstations, and network devices interconnected across the headquarters and satellite offices. The logical layout should illustrate network segments, security zones, and access points, providing a visual overview of the deployment architecture. While this diagram is not included in the page limit, it is vital for implementation planning.

Conclusion

Implementing Terminal Services provides a scalable, secure, and cost-effective method to deliver applications and support remote satellite offices. Proper deployment, configuration, and security measures are essential to meet operational requirements, protect sensitive data, and optimize costs. Application pooling reduces licensing expenses, and careful planning of application, file, and web servers ensures efficiency and scalability. A well-implemented network architecture guarantees reliable, secure, and manageable remote operations aligned with the company's strategic goals.

References

• Cappelli, D. (2020). Implementing Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server. TechPress.
• Hutchinson, N. (2022). Virtualization Strategies for IT Infrastructure. Journal of Network Administration, 30(2), 147-165.
• Microsoft. (2019). Windows Server Remote Desktop Services Deployment and Security Guide. Microsoft Documentation.
• Slade, Z. (2021). Security best practices for Remote Desktop Services. SecureIT Journal, 15(4), 202-209.
• TechNet. (2020). Configuring Application Pools in IIS for Cost Efficiency. Microsoft TechNet.