Individual West Consulting IP Addressing Schema Week 3
Individual West Consulting Ip Addressing Schema Week 3
Develop an IP addressing schema for West Consulting organization, considering network design, IPv4 and IPv6 configurations, routing protocols, and infrastructural expansion to support growth in existing and new locations. Include recommendations for subnetting, address assignment, dual-stack implementation, routing protocols like OSPF, and plans for network security and scalability, with a focus on supporting approximately 1,500 users across multiple sites including Houston, Texas and China, and integrating IPv4 and IPv6 protocols efficiently.
Paper For Above instruction
Introduction
Effective IP addressing is critical for establishing a scalable, efficient, and secure network infrastructure, especially for a growing organization like West Consulting with multiple locations and increasing user demands. This paper proposes a comprehensive IP addressing schema, incorporating both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols, hierarchical subnetting, and suitable routing strategies. It considers the organization’s expansion plans, including new sites and upgraded connectivity, while ensuring future growth, security, and ease of management. These recommendations aim to facilitate seamless communication across sites, support network security, and incorporate best practices for dual-stack implementation, making the network resilient and adaptable to technological advancements.
IP Addressing Strategy and Subnet Design
Given West Consulting's distributed locations—Houston, Texas, and China—the network design must effectively utilize IP address space to accommodate current and future requirements. For IPv4 addressing, a class C address scheme is suitable for the China site, which expects approximately 30 users. The chosen network is 197.100.1.0/24, with subnetting to accommodate servers and user segments. The servers VLAN can be assigned 197.100.1.0/31, providing 2 IP addresses suitable for point-to-point links, while the users VLAN can be segmented using 197.100.1.32/27, providing 30 usable addresses for user devices, allowing room for growth.
For the Houston site, which hosts over 1,000 users across multiple buildings, a larger subnet such as 194.100.0.0/22 ensures sufficient IP space, offering 1022 usable addresses per subnet. Suite subnets, such as 194.100.1.0/24 through 194.100.5.0/24, can be designated for individual buildings or floors. The Texas site with similar user requirements can follow a comparable scheme, e.g., 195.100.0.0/22, with subnetting aligned to organizational units.
Additionally, to support numerous subnets and ease management, Variable Length Subnet Masking (VLSM) can be employed to efficiently allocate IP space based on each segment's specific size, minimizing waste and maximizing usability.
IPv6 Planning and Implementation
As IPv4 addresses near exhaustion, transitioning to IPv6 becomes imperative. West Consulting’s IPv6 schema should incorporate a hierarchical structure aligned with its geographic and organizational structure. For example, prefix assignments such as 2001:db8:xxxxx::/48 enable efficient routing and management. The China site (approximately 30 users) can be assigned a /64 subnet, e.g., 2001:db8:1:1::/64, while larger sites receive /64 subnets proportionally, such as 2001:db8:2:0::/64 for Houston.
Dual-stack configuration allows simultaneous operation of IPv4 and IPv6, facilitating a seamless transition without disrupting existing services. Tunneling and translation mechanisms, like NAT64 and DNS64, can bridge IPv4 and IPv6 networks, ensuring interoperability amidst gradual adoption.
Routing Protocol Selection
For enterprise-level networks, link-state routing protocols like OSPFv3 for IPv6 and OSPFv2 for IPv4 are suitable, offering scalability, fast convergence, and hierarchical design capabilities. OSPF provides a detailed view of the network topology, simplifying management and troubleshooting. In a network with multiple sites and redundant links, implementing OSPF with multiple area design ensures efficient routing and fault tolerance.
In such environments, point-to-point links within and between sites can be managed efficiently, and OSPF's support for virtual links and route summarization enhances network stability and simplicity.
Network Security and Redundancy
Security measures should include implementing WPA3 encryption for wireless LANs, configuring VLANs for segmentation, and deploying firewalls at multiple layers, particularly for the DMZ and intranet servers. VPN tunnels should secure remote access, and intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) should monitor malicious activity.
Redundancy can be achieved through multiple physical paths, redundant switches, and dual routers with protocols like HSRP or VRRP for high availability. Upgrading uplinks to 10Gbps fiber optic connections enhances bandwidth capacity and provides resilience against link failures.
Future Scalability and Expansion
Anticipating future growth, the network architecture incorporates scalable IP addressing, flexible routing schemes, and virtualization technologies in data centers. Server and network virtualization reduce hardware costs and improve disaster recovery capabilities. Implementing a centralized management system simplifies ongoing monitoring and configuration.
The timeline for these enhancements should be within 4 to 6 months, including planning, procurement, implementation, and testing phases, ensuring minimal downtime and optimal performance.
Conclusion
By adopting structured IPv4 and IPv6 addressing schemes, implementing hierarchical routing, and deploying secure, redundant infrastructure, West Consulting can support its growth trajectory effectively. The dual-stack approach ensures future readiness, while optimized subnetting and scalable technologies secure continued operational excellence across all locations.
References
- Cisco Systems Inc. (2017). Understanding OSPF Routing Protocol. Cisco Press.