Akami Corporation Continues to Grow!
These were the headlines yesterday in the "Money" section of USA Today. As you read the story (you just now have the time, you were doing network upgrades yesterday) you muse that it would have been nice if someone would have let IT know this was happening, but then surmise that it probably will not affect you.
You continue reading on about how the Akami Corporation, a leader in graphics and original art work for advertising, has had a great year financially and has already expanded once into a new facility (boy don't you remember THAT headache!) and added 65 new people.
Intrigued, you read further about the new acquisition of a fairly large organization with three locations all over the world. You stop for a moment, re-read the last sentence and focus on the words "all around the world" and start to get a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach. Just then the CIO walks into your office and says he is "glad to see you enthused about our newest project!" It is now that you know you were right to have that bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.
He explains that Akami has acquired this new company because they can provide original pictures of wildlife through a mobile unit, have a field office in New York and a headquarters in London. Well, you say, that certainly sounds like a good fit for us. Then he says that is the good news.
The bad news is that they have networks at each of their locations, but not one that connects them all together. Therefore, it is going to be your job to connect all the locations to your location in San Jose (USA), choosing the best technology to connect to each securely.
So, for this final networking assignment (because you tell yourself that after this, you can go anywhere in the world and ask for big bucks and get it!) you will have to
a) read the summary for each unit,
b) make a decision on what connectivity technology is best for each unit, and
c) develop a network diagram that depicts the deployment of each network technology you choose.
What you know...
You know that Akami already has a connection to the Internet, a web site, e-mail system, file sharing, and print servers. Take ALL of these facts into effect when you begin making choices about the technologies you are going to use.
You know that you are going to have to provide e-mail to all of the new employees at all of their locations, print services for some, and file services for all. All are therefore going to need Internet access of some type, either through the network or through the connectivity solution you provide for them. Each location will need the equipment to connect to whatever technology you choose, like a firewall for a VPN tunnel, router for frame-relay or T-carrier, etc. The manufacturer and cost are not so much a consideration for this exercise but rather the focus should be on the capability of the device(s) chosen.
The Mobile Unit
The mobile unit consists of 4 photographers with digital cameras traveling all over the world photographing wildlife (the animal kind, not Daytona at Spring Break) and natural oddities. These are your mavericks of the company that travel the world over, to the oddest and most remote places. They require e-mail and a place to upload their pictures. Their connectivity solution must be highly portable, rugged, and able to be deployed anywhere in the world.
The New York Office
This is where the "creative types" are located and do no small amount of graphics design and picture work. There are 20 employees that will need access to e-mail and a place to keep and retrieve their files and work from that allows for everyone around the world to get the files. These guys are ALWAYS in the office, and need access at all times, day or night, to all their files and those of their cohorts. They primarily send nothing more sensitive than pictures.
The London Headquarters
This is where the executives reside. They need access to e-mail and files and the availability to print to any other office. Security is a huge buzz-word around this office, so pay close attention to the security of their connection, whatever type of connection you may choose.
Your deliverables for this exercise are as follows (required for each location):
1. Recommend the connectivity technology, i.e., T-Carrier of appropriate size, DSL, Satellite, etc.
2. Detail how the branch will be able to access the required resources such as e-mail, files, print services, etc.
3. Detail how you are going to secure the connection with firewalls (hardware or software?) VPN concentrators, or point-to-point connections.
4. Diagram how the connection from branch to HQ will look for each branch location.
5. Describe how bringing on these new locations will affect your existing network. Will you have to increase bandwidth to the servers? Licensing for applications like e-mail? Will any additional hardware be required at your HQ site?
Create a .zip file containing your Word document and PowerPoint presentation.