Executive summary network design proposal

Network Design Project

You are to complete this project as a team.

Problem Scenario

Your data networking consulting firm has recently been contacted by Norwest Shipping Inc., for

a design project. Norwest Shipping operates a large fleet of trucks that deliver shipments for the

wholesaler/retailer industry, such as grocery stores, department stores, and home improvement

stores. Shown in Figure 1 is a layout of Norwest Shipping’s main headquarter building and

secondary building. The main building is more than 30 years old, with outside dimensions of 350

feet × 150 feet. The secondary building is about 10 years old, with outside dimensions of 100

feet on all sides.

Figure 1: Facility Map of the Norwest Shipping Headquarters (not to scale)

Norwest Shipping currently has a mix of shared 10BaseT (using hubs) and switched 10BaseT

LANs, connected by a series of workgroup routers. Specifically, there is a LAN in each of the

following department offices: Data Processing, Accounts Payable and Payroll, Accounts

2

Receivable, Sales and Marketing, Information Services, Human Resources, Agent Operations,

Intrastate Operations, and Interstate Operations. The Information Services Department maintains

a corporate Web server and a mail server, while the following departments maintain their own

database servers: Accounts Payable and Payroll, Accounts Receivable, Sales and Marketing, and

Human Resources. Each LAN has its own networked printers. Fleet Maintenance and Dispatch

operate several standalone computers in the secondary building. Figure 2 shows the organization

chart of Norwest Shipping.

Figure 2: Norwest Shipping Organization Chart

Requirements

The rapid growth of Norwest Shipping’s business volume has put considerable strains on its

existing network resources. Consequently, management has authorized investments in a faster

corporate networking infrastructure. Given the latest advances in networking technologies,

management would like you to propose a design solution after considering alternative standards

and products available. Moreover, management would like to see Fleet Maintenance and

Dispatch in the secondary building networked and interconnected into the corporate backbone.

Design a new enterprise network for them, including the overall architecture, and the specific

backbone and LAN technologies to be used. As with any real-life problem with ambiguities or

unresolved considerations, you must make your own assumptions. Be sure to provide adequate

justification for any recommendations you make, and be sure to take your client’s future growth

into consideration.

3

Note: to limit the scope of your project, you do NOT need to consider Norwest Shipping’s

WAN and Internet solutions.

Project Deliverables (submit both electronically and in hard copy)

Your deliverables consist of mainly a project report that conforms to the following content and

formatting guidelines:

1. A cover sheet showing the project title, course, date, instructor’s name, team name, and team

members’ names (there will be division of labor, so you may create specific job titles for each

team member that reflects individual responsibilities)

2. A one-page Executive Summary. It usually uses one paragraph to summarize the problem. It

then uses several paragraphs to summarize the technological solution you are proposing, plus

your estimated budget. You need to provide enough detail about your solution, so the reader will

have a general idea what your design consists of without reading the report proper.

3. A table of contents showing the organization of your report (the TOC is placed after the

Executive Summary)

4. Key assumptions (facts not provided in the case but assumed to be true)

5. Project scope, which states the project requirements and the tasks you will perform

6. Network architecture design, including network traffic demand analysis (traffic type, volume,

and pattern), performance criteria, and network topology designs. Key diagrams must be

included, showing the network layout at different levels of details. For example, if part of your

solution is to use WLAN, you must decide the number of APs needed, their placement, and how

they are to be physically wired into the backbone network (Note: You must provide

support/justification for the specific design decisions you make).

7. Networking hardware and software acquisition needed to implement the new network. You

may assume that your client’s existing server hardware and end-user computer resources are

adequate to meet all processing needs (Realistically, they must be obsolete as well, but we will

treat it as being outside the scope of your project).

8. Management has allocated an amount of $30,000 for designing and implementing the new

network. Prices are available at www.cdw.com or www.newegg.com, but you could use any

other sources for price information. Your budget needs to include not only design and equipment

acquisition costs, but also installation and training expenses. You will make estimates of labor

costs, but you need to show how you calculated them.

9. A reference section listing all sources of information you used for the completion of this

project

10. NO late submission will be accepted

http://www.cdw.com/
http://www.cdw.com/
www.newegg.com
www.newegg.com
4

General formatting guidelines: There is no minimum or maximum page limit for the report, as

long as it includes all the required components listed above. All pages must be numbered, so are

diagrams/figures/tables, and the latter should be referenced to and discussed in the report. This

means no figure or table inserts should appear in your report without being mentioned in the

report narrative.

While you may or may not be used to writing in a formal (i.e., not colloquial) style, now is the

time to practice that. Avoid using the pronoun you; always address your client by its

organizational name. Do not assume that I know all the acronyms. Other than the most common

ones, the first time you introduce an acronym into your text, spell it out.

Use prominent section headings, and avoid writing long paragraphs. Use a 12-point font face,

double-space the text, and include 1-inch margins all around. If you would like to include copies

of vendor literature, place them in an appendix.