West Consulting Network Design Summary NTC320 V32

West Consulting Network Design Summaryntc320 V32west Consulting Netwo

West Consulting is a graphic design and printing company experiencing growth in consumer base and sales volume. To support this expansion, the company plans to extend its facilities within Houston, Texas, and establish a new testing location in China. Their current network infrastructure faces significant performance issues, primarily due to bandwidth limitations affecting access to resource-intensive customer CAD software. The existing network operates in a degraded state, resulting in high latency, especially when multiple users access shared servers. This situation hampers productivity and poses a threat to operational efficiency as the company scales its operations.

The company’s headquarters currently supports approximately 1,000 users across two buildings, with plans to add another building catering to an additional 500 users. Simultaneously, the expansion into China will involve a small team of around 30 personnel. In light of these developments, West Consulting requires a comprehensive network upgrade to ensure scalability, security, reliability, and minimal downtime. As a network consultant, your role is to formulate a detailed plan that addresses several critical areas, ensuring that the network infrastructure can handle increased traffic, facilitate international communication, and remain secure against potential cyber threats.

Paper For Above instruction

The imperative for a robust network infrastructure in West Consulting stems from their need to support increased operational capacity, enhance connectivity across geographically dispersed locations, and maintain high standards of security and reliability. Addressing these requirements necessitates a multi-layered approach that incorporates advanced hardware upgrades, strategic network design, and security enhancements. This paper presents comprehensive recommendations across various domains, including WLAN expansion, IP addressing, backbone infrastructure, data center design, internet connectivity, and security protocols, to meet the company's strategic growth objectives within a 4-6 month timeline.

Expanding WLAN Infrastructure

Given the need for secure wireless access for approximately half of the users in the new building, deploying a modern WLAN solution is vital. Implementing enterprise-grade Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) access points will provide higher throughput, improved client capacity, and enhanced security features. To keep wiring costs down, the existing wired infrastructure should be upgraded by replacing or supplementing older switches with PoE (Power over Ethernet) switches that support higher bandwidth and seamless integration with new access point hardware.

Furthermore, a centralized WLAN controller or cloud-managed wireless solutions, such as Cisco Meraki or Aruba Central, can facilitate easier management, security enforcement, and scalability. These systems support WPA3 encryption, which offers stronger security than WPA2, helping protect sensitive corporate data. They also enable segmentation of wireless networks, isolating guest traffic from internal resources, which is crucial in safeguarding corporate assets from potential breaches.

Unified Communications and International Connectivity

Contemporary Unified Communications (UC) systems must support high-quality voice, video conferencing, messaging, and collaboration tools, especially given the frequency of international video calls. Implementing a cloud-based UC platform such as Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, or Zoom Business ensures scalability, minimal maintenance, and resiliency. These systems should integrate seamlessly with existing VoIP infrastructure, supporting SIP trunking for cost-effective international calls.

To minimize interruptions, Quality of Service (QoS) policies must be enforced across the network. Prioritizing video and voice traffic ensures clear and uninterrupted communication. Additionally, deploying dedicated bandwidth channels or MPLS VPNs for critical conferencing traffic enhances reliability and performance for international videoconferencing.

IP Addressing and Network Scalability

Expanding the IP address space to accommodate new users and locations requires a strategic subnetting plan. Transitioning to IPv6 is advisable for future-proofing, but if IPv4 remains necessary, implementing Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) allows flexible IP allocations. Assigning dedicated subnets for each building and department simplifies management and enhances security.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers should be configured with scopes tailored to each subnet, ensuring seamless IP address distribution. The network should incorporate IPv6 addressing plans, taking advantage of its larger address space, improved routing capabilities, and built-in security features.

Backbone Upgrades and High Availability

To support increased traffic, switch backbone connections should be upgraded to 10Gbps fiber links. Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series switches or similar devices with 10Gb uplinks are recommended to replace or augment existing backbone switches. Connecting the backbone via redundant 10Gb links ensures resilience against switch or link failures.

Connecting each server with dedicated 10Gb links improves access speed for critical applications, particularly the CAD software. Implementing link aggregation (LAG) or Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) for redundancy guarantees continuous availability, aligning with the company's requirement for high availability. Upgrading core switches to support virtualization technologies like Cisco UCS or VMware can optimize resource utilization and flexibility.

Data Center Virtualization

Investing in a virtualized data center architecture significantly reduces hardware costs and simplifies management. Technologies like VMware vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V enable server virtualization, allowing multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical host, maximizing hardware utilization. Network virtualization, through solutions like Cisco ACI or VMware NSX, enhances network flexibility and security.

Implementing a converged infrastructure—integrating storage, networking, and computing—streamlines deployment and management, reduces physical footprint, and improves disaster recovery capabilities. Cloud-based backup solutions and disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) can further enhance resilience and operational continuity.

Internet Link Speed Improvements

To accommodate increased bandwidth demands, upgrading the internet connection to a fiber broadband service, such as Gigabit Ethernet or higher, is essential. Additionally, deploying redundant internet links with automatic failover enhances reliability. Implementing Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing with multiple ISP connections ensures flexibility and load balancing, reducing latency and improving throughput for external access.

Enhancing Network Security

Security measures must be bolstered, especially for the intranet servers and DMZ, which are susceptible to cyber threats. Implementing next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) with intrusion prevention systems (IPS), deep packet inspection, and application-layer filtering will provide comprehensive threat detection and prevention.

Deploying an intrusion detection system (IDS) and establishing a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system will facilitate real-time monitoring and incident response. Segregating network zones through VLANs, implementing strict access controls, and enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) will further safeguard critical resources. Regular security audits, patch management, and employee cybersecurity awareness programs are also essential.

Project Timeline and Implementation

The proposed upgrades and implementations are designed to be executed within 4-6 months, considering procurement, configuration, testing, and deployment phases. Phase-wise implementation ensures minimal disruption. Initial efforts should focus on core infrastructure upgrades—backbone switches, server links, and security systems—followed by WLAN expansion, UC system deployment, and security reinforcement. Regular project milestones and stakeholder communications are vital to ensure timely completion and alignment with business goals.

Conclusion

By adopting these comprehensive technological upgrades, West Consulting can significantly enhance its network performance, security, and scalability to support their expanding operations and international ventures. Upgrading backbone connectivity, modernizing WLAN and security infrastructure, deploying virtualization technologies, and improving internet connectivity collectively position the company for sustainable growth. Strategic planning, phased implementation, and vendor partnerships will ensure these improvements are achieved within the targeted timeline, ultimately enabling West Consulting to maintain competitive advantage and operational excellence in a dynamic market environment.

References

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