In this project, you will design and provide specifications and costs for a WAN based on what you've learned so far. For this project, you can use network diagramming software, such as Visio, SmartDraw, or Gliffy, or you can simply draw the network using a pencil and paper.
1. To begin, you will sketch a high-level overview of the network. The WAN you are designing connects the headquarters of an electronic parts manufacturer in Oakland, California, with its three regional offices-one in Sacramento, one in San Jose, and one in Los Angeles. Given that all orders must be transmitted to a server at headquarters, the connection between each office and headquarters must be available for all locations at all times. On your paper, draw and label the four WAN end-points and connect them in a star WAN topology, with the headquarters at the center.
2. Each regional office is responsible for obtaining its own T1 leased line, which will offer Internet access, plus private connections to the rest of the company's WAN. Given the topology you have sketched, what equipment will be necessary at each location for the WAN to work? Create a list of all the equipment needed to complete this WAN (up to the point where it connects with each office's LAN).
3. Of the equipment you listed in Step 2, how much of that must be purchased by the company whose WAN you are designing, how much belongs to the service provider, and how much could the electronics manufacturing company lease from the service provider?
4. Next you will determine the costs to install and operate this WAN. Research installation and monthly fees for T1 services in California. (If necessary, call a regional carrier such as AT&T.) Assume that the company decides to purchase all its own equipment. What is the total cost for equipment and installation? Approximately how much will this WAN cost the company every month to operate?
5. Identify the critical weakness-that is, a single point of failure-in this design. If that endpoint suffers a catastrophic failure, what are the consequences at the other offices?
6. Suppose the company's owners decide to add more Tls to implement a full-mesh WAN. This will help ensure that all offices can communicate at all times. Modify your original drawing to indicate this topology.
7. What new equipment or components would need to be added to the network to make it a full-mesh WAN? How many new leased lines will be necessary? Recalculate the total installation and monthly costs for this WAN based on a full-mesh WAN topology.
8. Suppose the company decides, after a year, that it can't continue to pay for a full-mesh WAN. Now you must remove two of the connections between endpoints. They could be links you drew in Step 1 or some you added in Step 6. How would you decide which connections to eliminate and which to keep? In other words, what information would you need to know about each regional office to determine whether it merits a redundant WAN connection? List three questions you would ask the IT manager at each location that would help you gather this information.
9. Redraw the WAN to indicate its new, partial-mesh topology.