For this below hypothetical scenario, I need clarity on below questions. I have defined the scenario first followed by questions -

Case Study:

Lollipopola, an organization that manufactures lollipops and other candies, uses many local area networks in its corporate office. Lollipopola naturally used earlier forms of Ethernet based on hubs when LANs were first becoming popular. The LAN speeds in the corporate office have been upgraded across the organization several times over the years, with most groups now using 100 Mbps (some groups are still using 10 Mbps). Those using 100 Mbps are using switches, while the rest are still using 10 Mbps hubs. The cables for the subnets run to utility closets, and each closet contains the subnets switch or hub. Lollipopola has wireless access only for the offices of the board of directors.

The CTO, recognizing the current trends, has asked Delaney, the network manager, to upgrade the speed of the network, to use more modern technology, and to add additional wireless capabilities. Delaney submitted the following proposal.

Network Design

The network staff will interview the high-level executives to determine what applications the organization uses. Using this information, the network staff will carefully calculate the speeds needed by each group.

The staff will then contact various vendors to review their prices through discount negotiations or bid requests and determine the cheapest devices available to support the speeds necessary for each group. The goals are twofold -- to minimize purchase cost, and to buy from as many different vendors as possible to avoid vendor lock-in (i.e. avoid being tied to only one vendor). This process will take about a year-and-a-half.

During the interview process, the staff will also ask the executives about who needs wireless access, to get a rough number of users that would use it.

Network Implementation

After the technologies and speeds have been designed, some groups will be given 100Mbps speed subnets connected to switches, which will be placed in the server room. Although 1Gbps speeds are available, using this slower speed allows re-use of existing 100Mbps switches to save cost. Groups with wired access will have no wireless access, to save cost. If several employees in a group need wireless access, the entire group will be given only wireless access via the 802.11i protocol; and their wired access will be removed to save cost. Each group will either have 100Mbps wired access, or 802.11i wireless access, but not both.

Wireless access points will only be placed next to groups that need wireless access. If no one needs wireless access in a certain part of the building, no access point will be added. Access points will also be placed around the edges of the building, so that employees can access the network with their laptop at the picnic tables and outdoor areas.

The upgrades will be rolled out one small area at a time, to avoid work disruptions. This process will take about 12 months.

Questions:

1. What elements of Delaneys proposal are problematic? Identify them and explain what the issues are.

2. What elements of Delaneys proposal work well? Identify them and explain why they work well.

3. Now that you have reviewed the characteristics, positives, and negatives of Delaneys proposal, write an alternative proposal that does not exhibit the same issues. The proposal should contain both a network design and a network implementation section and should also correct all the issues you listed in #1.

4. Explain specifically why your proposal is better than Delaneys proposal.

Note: For all problems in this part, make sure to consider at least the following areas:

• Speed
• Cost
• Network management
• Security
• Functionality