Enhancing Network Infrastructure and Security

This report deliberated the analysis of the Network Architecture along with evaluation of the Network Infrastructure for the corporation called Architectural Stone. This report went on to explain in detail the server administration and network security issues involved including denial of service attacks and misalignment with Ethernet. Similarly, it also explains the challenges and configuration of the network architecture like fault tolerance plan, power outage, hardware failure and cable management and breakdowns along with their cost and benefit analysis. At the end of the report certain suggestion under the heading of recommendations were put forth to protect and improve the network of the Stone Architecture.

Introduction

Architectural stone is a private owned company their head office located in Glenfield, Auckland. Architectural Stone believes the best service starts with the right people. We have an expertly skilled team of stone men who, between them, have decades of experience in the stone industry, including a family history of natural stone workmanship. (Architectural Stone)

We have some expertise in every single stone surface giving the most stretched out scope of item and assembling choices to our customers. Just as holding a wide scope of different granites, marbles, and engineered stone, we can source and work with explicit materials to fulfill your necessities. (Architectural Stone)

By utilizing present day innovation and the most elevated standard of customary aptitudes we can create the strong stone piece into benchtops and vanity highest points of refinement just as flame hearths and mantles (counting outside chimneys), shower encompasses, flooring, divider cladding and uniquely crafted furniture. (Architectural Stone)

Analysis of the Network Architecture

Architectural Stone occupies a vital position. The office structure is joined to a storeroom where the goods are transported. The 10 stations, which are used will use of Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. Microsoft Office is exploited for major everyday processes. Outlook is exploited for email messages. Excel is exploited to trail stocks. Excel inventory tables are uploaded to the online system of inventory system utilising the outfits constructed into the hosted inventory application.

In client-server architectures the application program functions are divided up between clients and servers, listing of the servers are given below:

1. Web server
2. File server
3. Mail server
4. Print server
5. Database server

Operator entree to PCs is accomplished by a colleague, an office manager, who usually provides read-only entrance to workers at all Architectural Stone, including three managers with administrative-level access, as well as an accountant. Operator entrance is controlled by the permissions from Microsoft Windows. User access of no employee monitors the use of the Internet or determines if paramount procedures are being charted for management of file. Written policies prescribe the appropriate exploitation of the Internet and file management, comprising downloading documents for business dedications.

The existing topology is a logical star / bus. There is a vital pivot to which all workstations are associated via a Cat5 Ethernet. The cables are associated to a router and then to the Internet. The corporation's router was delivered to the corporation by their Internet service supplier, Comcast.

Evaluation of the Network Infrastructure

Architectural Stone is not a big corporation and networking requirements are not important inside. There is confidence for future development, but as it stands, a Class C network is apposite. There is one router, 3 24-port rack-mounted switches, 2 rack-mounted servers, 4 virtual servers, 10 workstations, and 3 printer devices installed. In total, 30 unique IP addresses are in one place. The 1st IP address on the system is 200.168.1.0. A Class C network allows 254 exclusive hosts per network. This often covers the current address network needs of the corporate network. (Doe, n.d.)

A subnet mask is exploited to split an IP address in 2 portions. The host fit in to a part and the network it fits to is the additional portion of the address if it is hidden on a subnet. Subnets are used to separate devices into workgroups, which can be subdivided by admission and utility. The subnet mask exploited for the network is the default subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. This is the default subnet mask for Class C networks. (Doe, n.d.)

IP addresses between 200.168.1.0 and 200.168.1.24 are set aside for network hardware. Servers, switches, and routers are allocated a static IP address in DHCP. The figure is greater than the essential to permit fault tolerance and virtualization. VPN networks are also routed using these IP addresses. For terminals, IP addresses from 200.168.1.25 to 200.168.1.50 are used. These IP addresses are allocated by the DHCP server as needed. Finally, the devices vary from 200.168.1.51 to 200.168.1.75. Fax / Printers are allocated to this collection of IP addresses. (Doe, n.d.)

When constructing the novel schema, you must update the changes to the local subnets, address pools, and default gateways on the servers. Devices and devices will not receive an IP address if changes have been completed to the network and DHCP servers have not been modernised to mirror these alterations.

Reason for the address scheme

A class C network is currently the selection of Stone Architecture, merely since the magnitude of the network does not have to be very large. As already mentioned, the corporation only needs simultaneous circulation of up to 30 IP addresses and much less with normal use. The organization of the IP address varieties in the technique defined above allows improved management and better troubleshooting. Setting subnets and IP addresses for non-functional devices helps to better manage network resources because traffic is uniform for specific IP addresses in groups.

Server Management

Architectural Stone is utilising four types of servers. The File Server, Print Server, Mail server and Web Server are based in-house the company and the Database server is based offshore. (Guides, 2017)

• Web server: The fundamental usefulness of web server is to have the website pages. It makes in internet accessible. The site is utilizing static network. In this way, client just can see the substance of the page can't ask for or reaction to it. (Guides, 2017)
• File server: most significant information should be put away into the record like client data, staff data, deals and buys data. It is likewise use for sharing records and envelopes over the inner system. (Guides, 2017)
• Print server: This server is utilizing just for printing purposes. At whatever point more solicitation is originating from staff for printing then the server will deal with the outstanding burden and will do the assignment by the organizing it. It can get to more printer to do the assignment. (Guides, 2017)
• Mail server: This is utilizing the organization's space name and make the email id for each staff to impart. (Guides, 2017)
• Database server: This server is cloud based. Its primary capacity is to store and access the information from the cloud. It is profoundly accessible. (Guides, 2017)

The DNS server exploits services (DDNS services) that deliver involuntary updates to the DHCP server. When the DHCP server enhances or issues IP addresses from the arranged extended leases, the DDNS services routinely create, delete, and modify the host entries that correspond to the purpose of the DHCP server. Microsoft Network Monitor can assist to troubleshoot DNS and DHCP servers. With Network Monitor, an IT administrator can monitor hosts, ports, protocols, and services and use the network traffic to be captured and analysed. (Guides, 2017)

Alerts are sent to the IT administrator if the pool of available IP addresses falls below 20% of the total. At this point, he would have to decide if additional extension is needed. When devices are further enhanced, a static IP address is assigned to the network hardware and additional to the appropriate subnet. Devices and terminals are also attached and, if necessary, detached from IP ranges. In conclusion, the traffic on the IP addresses of the network is monitored by an IT administrator using MNM (Microsoft Network Manager).

The utilized server is client server architecture:

https://www.toolsqa.com/client-server/client-server-architecture-and-http-protocol/

Network Security Management:

In terms of security, Architectural Stone has a Firewall introduced inside the Network which has the capacity of shielding the entrance to the system from unapproved clients and potential dangers.

Security Threats

Some security dangers in the system that were recognized are:

• Risk of phishing and download of infections when staff not mindful of those dangers.
• Risk of vindictive malware downloaded when not expected.
• Password-Based Attacks.

Denial of service attacks

About the Front-End Website and the Online Store: A denial of service attack on the website or store can essentially origin a network outage for the corporation. A DOS attack will close the corporation. There are methods to plan a denial of service attack. First, the Bandwidth congestion can cause few spasms to run without stopping the activity. A DOS spasm mechanism exists because there is not adequate bandwidth to switch all incoming traffic. One method of prevention is to have much more bandwidth than. Automation tools can reduce noisy traffic and transfer unencrypted traffic to the network. A third-party Internet service provider may be utilised to remove burden of traffic in the occurrence of a major attack. If you have additional source of Internet connection, the problem can be solved until the end of the spasm. (Sanchez, 2010)

Misalignment

Each full Ethernet cable must have a divisible length of eight to avoid this problem. Nodes that convey Ethernet frames depend on an FCS (File-Certification-sequence) figure. This figure allows to accept gadget to define on arrival if the package is accurate. Network noise can make these figures inconsistent with the source and can lead to an error of FCS. (Sanchez, 2010)

Adware and spyware

It is a software that is designed to track data of your browsing websites. Moreover, it is a legitimate source of income for organizations that allow users to try their software for free, but with advertisements showing while using software. The presence of adware is only noticeable due to these pop-ups and advertisements. As a result, it slow down overall system which further effects to operation of Stone Architecture. (Sanchez, 2010)

Spyware

Spyware is a kind of malware that secretly gathers information about Stone Architecture and relays this data to other competitive organizations, which is major risk for Stone Architecture because this software can share all personal information of Stone Architecture with other parties. (Sanchez, 2010)

These are some of the given threats that Architectural Stone can and will most probably face in the near future.

Challenges: Functions and Configuration

Fault Tolerance Plan

No network is fool proof. The Stone Architecture network will experience network failures or compromises at one time. It is possible to identify potential network problems and plan their response. Five zones have been selected for consideration in fault tolerance planning, which are given below. (Knowledge, 2018 )

Power Outage

Without power, the network will not work independently of other problems. Therefore, the power supply should be deliberated for fault tolerance reasons, as power failures, no matter how short, can cause significant problems for the hardware. To uphold an endless supply, an uninterruptible power supply must be used. An inverter is a hardware based answer for power failures at the convenience level. The inverter is on spot and pledgees the power delivery in case of power failure. (Knowledge, 2018 )

The inverter is constructed with an automatic relocation switch that controls when the inverter becomes operational. A generator should be deliberated as a permanent answer because an inverter is unable to cope with the power burden of the entire computer system over a long period of time (Burke, 2016). The automatic relocation switch switches to the plant generator while the inverter processes the load in the meantime. Again, a UPS is not a permanent explanation for the Power plant in the case of a Power outage. But an inverter is present to maintain an uninterruptible power supply, because even a failure in a split second can lead to major computer problems. (Knowledge, 2018 )

Cost / benefit of planning the power outage

The purchase and installation of the inverter and the involuntary relocation switch to the generator are associated with an initial expense. The price of an inverter for the entire system can be relatively great. The danger of misplacing or damaging data due to a power failure can also be significant. The price of a simple data loss is measured in man-hours spent recovering or recovering this information, and the price of any loss of revenue due to data loss instigated by power outage. (Knowledge, 2018 )

Hardware Failure

Installing new hardware such as servers, switches, and routers carries a probable danger of hardware failure. Hardware errors can occur for a variety of reasons, like overheating, water injury or personal injury. Several stages can be taken to solve these problems. First, the virtualization of few servers helps battle physical server failures. However, the server with virtual servers must be served. A server room must be sufficiently cooled and ventilated. Switches and Routers must be kept in low traffic areas to circumvent physical harm. They should be tested every week. Spaces in which network devices are stored must be at liberty from strong electromagnetic constituents and currents as they can damage electronic devices. (Knowledge, 2018 )

Cost / benefit of Hardware Failure planning

The price of servicing or server rooms that are sufficiently chilled and provisioned can be tens of thousands of dollars. Given the scope of the existing network, thousands of dollars a year would be enough to physically store and maintain the network hardware. Replacement or tipping equipment may be a cheaper solution at the cutting edge of technology. If area and setup do not permit storage at the IT level, redundancy is a vital portion of the repairs stage. (Knowledge, 2018 )

Cable Management and Breakdowns

The demolition of network cables blocks network traffic, particularly when connected in a tree. If there is a problem with the network cable, the whole network gets shut. To circumvent failure due to a physical network cable failure, the network cable must be routed corresponding to the tree structure. The areas in which redundancy occurs are web servers and e-commerce servers online. Other servers will fail if the network cables are demolished, but at least customers can still go to the site and make purchases. Operation continues when web servers are online. (Knowledge, 2018 )

These are some of the challenges a Network manager can face within Architectural Stone.

Conclusion

This report discussed the Analysis of the Stone Architecture along with evaluation of the Network Infrastructure for the corporation. It also discussed in detail the probable server administration and network security issues involved like denial of service attacks and misalignment with Ethernet. Similarly, it deliberated the challenges and configuration of the network architecture like fault tolerance plan, power outage, hardware failure and cable management and breakdowns along with their cost and benefit analysis.

Recommendations

Architectural Stone has a long way to go to improve its network. First, a LAN is configured with a tree topology that replaces the current logical physical / logical bus physical topology. A tree topology looks like a combination of linear bus and star topologies. Essentially, the individual star configurations are combined by a network cable, which the switches call a backbone. The currently installed Cat5 cable will be replaced by a UTP Category 6 cable. Unshielded twisted pair cables are the most common cables used in star topologies and are therefore common in tree topologies.

The network adds a client-server architecture in the form of multiple servers for multiple tasks. First, an Active Directory server is added to better manage the credentials of users on the network. This replaces the current form of Windows 7 user management. Domain name systems are managed by a DNS server and a failover DNS server. DNS servers are used to manage the name resolution of network devices. The names are assigned by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol server. This server assigns IP addresses to devices and stores the MAC addresses of each device, as well as subnet masks and gateways on the network. A file server for centralized file locations and the sharing will be as a Microsoft Exchange mail server for Outlook started. A SQL server is being managed databases for inventory and a web server is implemented to host the website and the online store. Web and SQL servers are physical, while AD, DNS, DHCP, and Exchange servers are virtualized with Microsoft Hyper-V. Because Microsoft servers are network ready, Microsoft 2014 operating systems are available on all servers.

A firewall will be installed on the network to monitor and manage network traffic to the Internet. Web servers are created for the online store in a separate demilitarized zone because the payment activity is exercised there and must be separated in order to better protect this data. A hosted service that handles credit card transactions has access through the firewall because it is added to an access control list for the server on port 4502.

References

1. Architectural Stone. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://architecturalstone.co.nz/about/: https://architecturalstone.co.nz/about/
2. Doe, G. (n.d.). Importance Onsite Evaluation Network. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-onsite-evaluation-network-70896.html
3. Guides. (2017, June 7). What is Server Management? Retrieved from https://linuxhostsupport.com: https://linuxhostsupport.com/blog/what-is-server-management/
4. Knowledge, G. (2018 , Nov 04). 12 Challenges Facing IT Professionals. Retrieved from https://www.globalknowledge.com: https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/articles/12-challenges-facing-it-professionals/
5. Sanchez, M. (2010, Dec 10). The 10 most common security threats explained. Retrieved from https://blogs.cisco.com: https://blogs.cisco.com/smallbusiness/the-10-most-common-security-threats-explained