University of

Greenwich

ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION COVER SHEET

SUBJECT CODE : COMP1664

SUBJECT TITLE : Network Technology Final Report

PROGRAMME : BSc Computer Systems & Networking

UOG ID : 000915678

LEARNING CENTRE : SEGI COLLEGE KUALA LUMPUR

SUBMISSION DATE : 3rd November 2016

 PART A

1.0 TITLE

Network Design for XPossible Technologies Company.

1.1 OBJECTIVES

1. Investigate network technology through simulation.

2. Investigate the effects of various network traffic conditions on network performance.
3. Gain experience of carrying out an experiment, to collect and process experiment data,
and to present and analyze results with clarity and depth.
4. Understand the role and value of simulation tools when designing and analyzing
networks.

1.2 PROJECT SCOPE

The scope of this project covers Customer Support team, Sales and Marketing department,
Maintenance team, Finance team, HR department and Management office.

1.3 INTRODUCTION

XPossible Technology developed the Possible Connect Internet Management and Billing Gateway
since 2015. XPossible connect is a high possible total solution designed to support many
simultaneous internet users ranging from mid-size to large 5 star hospitality establishments and
public access networks. It provides a High Speed Internet Access, Internet Access Management,
Billing gateway, Device Monitoring and Interface to Hotel Property Management system.
Moreover, it will supports their clients with a total platform for their client’s hotels from internet
solutions with interface to their front office system, to provide a broad range of network equipment.
The nature of business is to sell their solutions to the hotel and they offer partial investment or
total of their solutions for a 2 or 3years contract using their respective models. There an estimated
close 30 staffs currently running the day to day operation. The Customer Support team provides
supports to clients on a 24/7 basis which requires a high network availability and reliability
network performance. The current system unable to support this requirements.

Currently the XPossible office environment is equipped with a simple network infrastructure
which is unable to support the future traffic requirements based on estimated business growth.
With this the new proposed design model is planned to implement to support the future business
growth. Attached below is the new proposed XPossible network design model.
1.4 XPOSSIBLE TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY NETWORK DESIGN

GREEN- PRIMARY LINE

RED- BACKUP LINE

XPO-FW-01

XPO-CS-A01
XPO-SM-A02

XPO-CS-01
XPO-SM-02

CUSTOMER SUPPORT
TEAM SALES / MARKETING
DEPARTMENT

XPO-R1

XPO-MT-A03
XPO-FD-A04

XPO-MT-03
XPO-FD-04

MAINTENANCE TEAM

FINANCE
DEPARTMENT
XPO-R2

XPO-HR-A05

XPO-MO-A06

XPO-HR-05

XPO-MO-06

HR DEPARTMENT

XPO-R3
MANAGEMENT OFFICE

XPO-IT-07 XPO-IT-08

SWITCH

ROUTER INT-IT-01 PRT-IT-01 DNS-IT-01 EML-IT-01 XPO-IT-01

IT ROOM

ACCESS
POINT

SERVER

FIREWALL
1.5 NETWORK DESIGN MODEL EXPLANATIONS

The network model for the company is designed using proper networking devices and
networking standard based on the organization structure of the company. The company is
divided into six department and one IT room. Six departments which are HR, Maintenance team,
Customer Support team, Finance, Sales and Marketing and Management Office. To provide
optimum network performance to each department, one unit of Cisco 2950-24 ports switch will
be install. Every of this switch will be connected to a Cisco Router 2900 Series as a primary
connection and to another Cisco Router 2900 Series as a backup connection. For example (XP0-
HR-05) switch for HR department is connected to XPO-R2 (router) as a primary connection. If
the router fail to work, the switch able to send data over the network because there is a backup
connection where the switch is alternatively connected to XPO-R3 (router). All the networking
devices such as printers, IPhone, personal computers and access points will be connected to the
department switch. An access points is placed in each department which a six access points so
that the workers in the company able to connect to the internet wirelessly. They can connect their
devices additionally and each access point will be connect to the own department switch. For
instances, XPO-CS-A01 (access point) for customer support team department is connected to
their own department switch which is XP0-CS-S01. Moreover, three routers are placed in the
company that is pretty good for the company network. All the routers is connected to the each
other. The router will connect to the switches and to the firewall. In addition, there is an IT room
in the company where all the servers is placed such as HTTP/FTP, PRINT, XPOSSIBLE
Connect and EMAIL server. All those server will connect to two switches which is not the
department switch, it is an addition switches that is used only for servers. For instance, all those
servers will connect to XPO-IT-07(switch) as a primary connection and to XPO-IT-08 (switch)
as a backup connection. (XPO-R1)Router is connected to the firewall to protect the entire
network from being affected by malwares or disallow unauthorized person to get access to the
company system.

1.6 DEVICE NAMING

It is very important to name the device properly because when you encounter any problems, it is
easy to troubleshoot if not you will be in trouble during troubleshooting.
NO SWITCH ROUTER ACCESS POINTS SERVER FIREWALL

1 XPO-CS-01 XPO-R1 XPO-CS-A01 INT-IT-01 XPO-FW-01

(CUSTOMER SUPPORT (CUSTOMER (HTTP/FTP)
TEAM) SUPPORT TEAM)

2 XPO-SM-02 XPO-R2 XPO-SM-A02 EML-IT-01

(SALES/MARKETING (SALES/MARKETIN (EMAIL)
G DEPARTMENT)
DEPARTMENT)

3 XPO-MT-03 XPO-R3 XPO-MT-A03 DNS-IT-01

(MAINTENANCE (MAINTENANCE (DNS)
TEAM) TEAM)

4 XPO-FD-04 (FINANCE XPO-FD-A04 XPO-IT-01

DEPARTMENT) (FINANCE (XPOSSIBLE
DEPARTMENT) CONNECT)
5 XPO-HR-05 XPO-HR-A05 HR PRT-IT-01
HR DEPARTMENT) DEPARTMENT) (PRINT)
6 XPO-MO-06 XPO-MO-A06
(MANAGEMENT (MANAGEMENT
OFFICE) OFFICE)

7 XPO-IT-07 (IT ROOM)

8 XPO-IT-08
(IT ROOM)
1.7 TOPOLOGY
The network model the XPossible Technologies Company using star topology. The reasons is
because:-

1. Compared to other network topology, STAR topology is easy to connect and new devices
or nodes and it won’t affect the rest of the connected network devices and it can also
remove devices easily as well.
2. If one node or link failed, the network won’t be affected and it will work perfectly.
3. It is easy to troubleshoot if any failure is detected.
4. It is also easy to setup and modify.
5. It used Central management that can be used to monitor the network efficiently.

1.8 CABLING & PHYSICAL MEDIA

CONNECTION TYPE OF CABLE/SPEC

computer to switch 100BASE-TX Cat6

IP phone to switch 100BASE-TX Cat6
switch to router 100BASE-TX Cat6
router to router 100BASE-FX Multimode
access point to switch 100BASE-TX Cat6
router to firewall 100BASE-TX Cat6
printer to switch 100BASE-TX Cat6
Firewall to cloud 100BASE-FX Single mode
1.9 NETWORKING DEVICES

DEVICE MODEL NUMBER OF UNITS

PORTS/SLOTS
Switch Cisco 2950-24 24 8
Router Cisco 2900 Series 12 3
Server Dell PowerEdge Dual NIC card 5
R430 Rack Server
Access point Cisco Wireless 2 6
Aironet 1800 Series
Printer HP OfficeJet Pro - 8
276dw MFP

 Cisco 2950-24 switch –Switch is used instead of hub is because hub doesn’t not break
up collision domains which means it will lower the performance of the network.
Switch break up collision domains and improve the network performance and this
switch is designed with 24 port that is pretty enough for a department in the company.

 Cisco 12000 Series routers – It is used to route or send data/packets from one
broadcast domain to another broadcast domain and it is also used to decrease latency.
Three routers is used in the network and it is designed with 12 slots that is suitable to
design the network model for the company.

 Dell PowerEdge R430 Rack Server – this model is effective, scalable and can be
deployed in any IT environment and it is also designed with dual NIC card. It is used
to set up as a server to the company. Five Dell PowerEdge R430 Rack is used to set
up since the company needs 5 servers which is HTTP/FTP, DNS, PRINT, EMAIL
and XPO.
  Cisco WAP121 – It will provide high-bandwidth 802.11n, affordable wireless
connectivity for challenging applications. Moreover, it is easy to set up and to
manage using configuration wizard.

 HP OfficeJet Pro 276dw MFP – It is a multifunction printer that print, scan ,copy ,fax
send digital files, able to access files from the display of the printer. This
multifunction printer also designed to print up to 2300 pages and up to 1500 color
pages.

TYPE OF SERVERS

1. HTTP/FTP server
2. EMAIL server (Gmail)
3. DNS server
4. XPOSSIBLE CONNECT server
5. PRINT server

SECURITY

 Firewall – A firewall is placed at the end of the network to control all the data packets
from outside the network or from different network. The network is protected my
firewall from being hacked or get access from unauthorized person.

 XPossible Connect - Every person is given a username and password to use the
system without the password you are unable to get access to the system.

 Uses of Virtual LAN in the network.

 DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT

Management office Customer support HR

Team
Finance Maintenance team Sales/Marketing

Vlan -10 Vlan-20 Vlan-30

Virtual LAN has been configured the reason is because:-

It enables logical grouping of a department which is located on different floor. Based on the
Company Management Office and Finance department are assigned in VLAN 10, Customer
Support Team and Maintenance Team are assigned in VLAN 20 and HR department and
Sales/Marketing department are assigned in VLAN 30. All the departments are located in
different floor, instead of using extra routers for each of the floor, VLAN is used to cut the use of
routers that create too much of broadcast storms and it will reduce traffics to improve the
network performance. Moreover, it is also used as a security option such as the messages will be
delivered between the members in a particular VLAN.
 PART B
2.0 SERVERS (NETWORK APLLICATION)

The network applications that has be used by the staff of XPossible technologies company is
listed as below:-

1. XPOSSIBLE CONNECT server – It is the database for the company where all the
information of the staffs and clients will be stored. One of the most used server in the
company and it is mostly used by the Customer Support team and Sales/Marketing
department staffs.

2. EMAIL server (Gmail) – It is consist of storage area to store staffs and clients emails and
it works as a virtual post office which mean it will transmit the email depends on how we
set the emails server should act toward a specific email, other mail servers and clients
email. This server is mostly used by the HR department staffs.

3. HTTP/FTP server – HTTP server is used to store, process and deliver web pages to
clients when their request for it. FTP server is used to transfer data or files from one to
another through a network, it can be between the internal and external network.
Moreover, this server is mostly used by the Sales and Marketing department to increase
the Company product sales and the future of the Company.

4. PRINT server- It is used to connect printers to client laptop or computer over a network.
It will collect all the task of the printers and send the task to the appropriate printers. It
will allocate jobs faster than the printer can actually do.
 5. DNS server – It is used to help us to translate domain names into ip address. The reason
is because computers only understand ip address which is hard to us to type the ip address
of a website every time instead we use DNS to do the job for us. We just need to enter the
website name and the DNS server will search in its DNS cache or it will perform a DNS
query and try to find out the ip address if the name is not listed in its cache.

2.1 TRAFFIC SETTINGS FOR EACH SERVERS

i) Configurations to reflect low, medium and high traffic intensity levels depends on the traffic
settings.

1. XPossible Connect

High Medium Low

Arrival rate 
Message Size 

The arrival rate of data in XPossible Connect server is high and the Message Size is Medium. It
is mostly used by the Customer Support Team and the Sales/marketing department in the
Company because they are the one who deal with clients.

2. Email

High Medium Low

Arrival rate 
Message Size 

The arrival rate of data in Email server is high and the Message Size is Medium. It is mostly used
by the HR department in the Company. They deal with staffs and clients email most of the time.
 3. HTTP/FTP

High Medium Low

Arrival rate 
Message Size 

The arrival rate of data in HTTP/FTP server is high and the Message Size is Medium. It is
mostly used by the Sales/Marketing department in the Company.

4. DNS

High Medium Low

Arrival rate 
Message Size 

The arrival rate of data in DNS server is Medium and the Message Size is Low since there is a
moderate uses of DNS server in the company.

5. PRINT

High Medium Low

Arrival rate 
Message Size 

The arrival rate of data in PRINT server is Medium and the Message Size is Low. It is mostly
used by the HR department in the Company.
2.2 WORLOAD PROFILES AND RATE OF USES OF EACH SERVERS

ii) Three different workload profiles of XPossible Technologies Company is listed

attached below:-

XPossible Email traffic HTTP/FTP DNS traffic Print traffic

Connect traffic
traffic
HR staff low medium low low high
Sales staff high medium medium medium low
Customer high high high medium low
support staff

1. HR staff - uses “high” Print traffic, “medium” Email traffic, “low” HTTP/FTP traffic
XPossible Connect traffic and DNS traffic.

2. Sales staff - uses “high” XPossible Connect traffic, “medium” Email traffic, HTTP/FTP
traffic and DNS traffic and “low” Print traffic.

3. Customer support staff - uses “high” XPossible Connect traffic, Email traffic and
HTTP/FTP traffic, “Medium” DNS traffic and no Print traffic.

2.3 THREE TYPES OF WORLOAD MIXTURES

iii) Three different mix workload mixes
WORKLOAD PROFILES

Mix 1 10% Customer support staff, 50% sales/marketing staff, 40% HR staff

Mix 2 20% Customer support staff, 20% sales/marketing staff, 60% HR staff

Mix 3 30% Customer support staff, 40% sales/marketing staff, 30% HR staff
 PART C
3.0 DELAY AND THROUGHPUT METRICS GRAPH

1. DELAY GRAPH

Network Performance - using Delay metric

1
0.9 0.41
Average end-end Delay (seconds)

0.8
0.7
0.6 0.27
0.5 0.3
0.4 0.18
0.3 0.2
0.12
0.2 0.13 0.2
0.08 0.09
0.1 0.06 0.13
0.04 0.06 0.09
0.03
0.02 0.04
0
50 100 150 200 250 300
Number of active Users

Workload mix 1 Workload mix 2 Workload mix 3

2. THROUGHPUT GRAPH

Network Performance - using Throughput metric

12
3.5
Average Throughput (seconds)

10

8
2.33 3.24
6
1.6 2.16
4 1.04 1.44 3.04
0.69 0.96 2.03
2 0.64 1.35
0.34
0.32 0.6 0.9
0.3
0
50 100 150 200 250 300
Number of active Users

Workload mix 1 Workload mix 2 Workload mix 3

3.1 ANALYSIS AND EXPALANATIONS
Analysis and evaluation of the results

1. Network Performance - using Delay metric

Number of Active Workload Mix 1(s) Workload Mix 2(s) Workload Mix 3(s)
users
50 0.02 0.03 0.04

100 0.04 0.06 0.08

150 0.06 0.09 0.12

200 0.09 0.13 0.18

250 0.13 0.20 0.27

300 0.20 0.30 0.41

Based on the table above, the graph for workload mixture 1, 2 and 3 gradually increases when
the number of active users increases. The processing delay for the Workload mixture 1, 2 and 3
are 1, 1.5 and 2. That’s the reason why the mixtures have the different shape of graph

The reason is because of the number of routers used, time taken of processing delay on each
workload mixtures and the number of active users plays a major role. End-to-end delay is the
time taken of packet to be transmitted across the network from the source node to the destination
node. The lesser the processing delay, the lower the end-to-end delay and the graph of the
workload mixtures. The end-end delay will increases when the number of active users increases
in a workload profiles. High end-to-end delay will affect the network performance of the
network.

The formula for the end-to end delay = N (processing delay + transmission delay + propagation
delay)
 2. Network Performance - using Throughput metric

Number of Active Workload Mix 1(s) Workload Mix 2(s) Workload Mix 3(s)
users
50 0.30 0.32 0.34

100 0.60 0.64 0.69

150 0.90 0.96 1.04

200 1.35 1.44 1.60

250 2.03 2.16 2.33

300 3.04 3.24 3.50

Based on the table above, the graph using Throughput metric for workload mixture 1, 2 and 3
gradually increases when the number of active users increases. This is because, each of the
mixtures has their own bottleneck link of capacity, R- rate which are 80%, 75% and 70%. The
Throughput delay will increases if the rate of bottleneck decreases. The more the number of
active users, the delay will gradually increases. The bottleneck rate defines the bandwidth rate of
all the users connected to a network. It defines how fast the network can deliver the sender’s
data/message to the receiver.

The formula that used to calculate the throughput is = file size / bottleneck rate.
4.0 CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, I have successfully completed the aim and objectives of the project within the time
given. I have create a network design for XPossible Technologies Company that can help them
to improve their network performance. This design able to help them to achieve the company
goals since they are dealing with many clients, they need a good network design and internet
connection.

This coursework teaches the fundamental of network design and how to design a network for a
company. First of all, what I’ve learned is to design a network for a company, you need to
research about the company and their needs then you have to sketch the network design for the
particular company. Moreover, I have learned all the networking devices and their specifications
accordingly. The uses of each devices in networking and the purpose of the devices in a network
design. Specification of networking devices such as the type and length of cables that need to
use, type and number of routers, switches, access points, computers, printers, IP phone, servers,
and firewall. In addition, I’ve also learned how to connect all the networking devices in an
efficient and alternate ways as a backup if any failures occurred. I have also learned how to use
VLAN in network and also has assigned VLAN for departments in order to improve the network
performance and to use as a security option.

The things that I think I could be improved are I should assign IP address to the company as well
to make the network design more complete. Moreover, I would prefer to do the floor plan for the
Company XPossible Technologies.