Mr$.$ Robertson, the IT director at Pearland Corporation, is responsible for

managing the network. Mr$.$ Robertson has requested your help in proposing a

network solution that will meet the company's requirements. The corporation is

growing, and the management has released funds for network improvements. The

employees in various departments need seamless access to network resources using

their laptops from any location within the office building. Each department has

specific needs, such as accessing shared files, collaborating on projects, and

utilizing department$-$specific applications. Mr$.$ Robertson has purchased new

servers and placed them in the data center. The wireless LAN $($WLAN$)$ currently

supports approximately $40$ laptops, and about $20$ more are due to be added in the

next six months. High availability is crucial for the servers. The departments are

spread across floors $4$ through $8$ of the office building. A wireless survey report

indicates that deploying a single access point in each communication closet can

provide adequate coverage and signal strength to all the departments on each floor.

The current network has ten segments that reach a single router that also serves the

Internet. The router is running Routing Information Protocol Version $1($RIPv$1).$

The back$-$end new servers are located in the same segment as those used on floor

Mr$.$ Robertson mentions that users have complained of slow access to the

servers. He also hands you a table with current IP addresses $($see Table $1).$ A

proposal is highly appreciated with these Requirements:

Scalability: The network should support the increasing number of employees

and devices.

Secure WLAN Access: Employees should be able to securely access the

network from floors $6$ through $10.$

Server High Availability: Ensure the servers have reliable and uninterrupted

access.

Performance Improvement: Address the slow access complaints and

optimize network performance.

IP Addressing Optimization: Reduce the number of leased Class C networks

from the Internet service provider $($ISP$).$

Table I $-$IP Addressing

$[15$ points$]$

a$)$ Extract and list the network requirements for Pearland Corporation $($e$.$g$.,$ fast

access to servers, etc.$).$ What are the technical constraints for this network

$($e$.$g$.,$ routing protocol, IP addressing, etc.$)?$

b$)$ Propose a topology for this network.

c$)$ Does the Pearland Corporation use IP addresses effectively? Indicate the

reason.

d$)$ What would you recommend to improve the switching speed between

floors?

e$)$ Based on the number of servers and clients, what IP addressing scheme

would you propose?

f$)$ Which routing protocols would you recommend? Why?

g$)$ What transport layer protocols would you recommend using in the Pearland

Corporation network? Why?