2022

Internship
report

Asiacell Network enterprise

 Sarkar salam jafr

 Sulaimani Polytechnic University
 Communication and electronics engineering

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 CONTENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………….. 3

2. What is internship? ……………………………………………………………………….. 4

3. A brief history of the company ……………………………………………………… 5

4. Covered topics and subjects …………………………………………………………. 6

a) Computer network fundamentals …… 7
b) TCP/IP model ………………………………….. 8
c) Media types …………………………………… 12
d) Ethernet LAN switching …………………. 14
e) IP addressing …………………………………. 17
f) VLAN …………………………………………….. 24
g) Types of routing ……………………………. 28

5. Designing the network architecture of the company ………………….. 37

a) Applying technologies ………. 46

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 Introduction

This report is a brief description of what we have done in the summer. I divide the
report into 6 sections, the first one “what is internship” is about the importance of
internship training and how we can get benefit from it. The second section in name
of “a brief history of the company” is a quick survey about the very beginning and
development of Asiacell Company. What we have covered in the training course is
explained in detail in the “covered topics and subjects”, this section covers the
technologies that are used in the campus network of the company and tries to
answer what is the benefit of them and why they are used. In the next sections, I
tried to explain the network architecture of the company, and then I will
demonstrate the topology of the network and how devices are connected in this
network. The two last sections are somehow close to each other, but I will try to
separate them.

There are a lot of departments in the asiacell company, but my focus is only on the
one which I completed my internship in. I was in technology operation unit: IP
network department; I will tie to this departments and concentrate in it.

I used several software in order to clarify the purpose of the report, I will not explain
how to use these softwares and how they work, I will just use them as a figure. I used
the packet tracer simulator, GNS3 emulator, and Microsoft Visio program.

I will try to describe some technologies briefly, and then apply them in section 5 of
the report. Even though there are a lot of things and technologies to be covered, but
I will just tie to technologies which I need in order to sketch section 5.

In the end, I would like to thank my mentor, kak Assoss for giving us his time, sorry if
we distracted you from your job. In addition, thanks to my supervisor, Daban Osman,
for his collaboration. The internship would have been impossible without the aid and
support of the CDC, thanks to all.

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 What is internship

Internships offer students a hands-on opportunity to work in their desired field. They
learn how their course of study applies to the real world and build a valuable
experience that makes them stronger candidates for jobs after graduation.
Internships can help you gain valuable work experience, fulfill college requirements
and give you material to add to your resume. They can introduce you to many
aspects of full-time employment while allowing you to explore your interests and
form your personal career goals. An intern works at a company for a fixed period of
time. The daily tasks of an intern can vary widely, even within the same industry. It is
largely dependent on the company itself. In some internships, you may focus more
on administrative tasks. As an intern, you get a chance to work side by side with
accomplished industry professionals and get a pretty good idea of what an entry-
level role might entail. You’ll not only gain real work experience, but also meet and
learn from the pros. An efficient internship program can also provide a company with
a relatively inexpensive source of labor for many basic tasks. While companies
shouldn't expect interns to handle a lot of responsibility, they can use them as
valuable support and assistance to full-time employees.

Here are some advantages of internships for students:

 Access to a variety of tasks and departments

 Research experience
 Job experience
 Build a strong resume
 Build confidence

I chose asiacell telecommunication and data Service Company for my internship

program, because I study in some fields that have applications and are used in this
company. Mobile communication is such a big interest in modern world, I have

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learned its theoretical fundamental , and what is left is hands-on practice. this
internship offers me to practice what I have learnt during those days of college.

A brief history of the company

Asiacell is a leading provider of quality mobile telecommunications services in Iraq,

with over 14 million subscribers. Asiacell was the first mobile telecommunications
provider in Iraq to achieve nationwide coverage, offering its services across all of
Iraq’s 18 governorates including the national capital Baghdad and all other major
Iraqi cities. Asiacell’s network covers 97% of the Iraqi population, making Asiacell’s
national coverage the most extensive of any Iraqi mobile telecommunications
operator. In 2012, Asiacell was recognized by the French market research firm Altai
as being Iraq’s leading brand – not only in the mobile telecommunications market
but across all industry sectors – a reflection of Asiacell’s strong brand recognition and
its established reputation for quality, reliability and service. In 2011, the Iraqi
Ministry of Communications (MOC) recognized Asiacell as the “best GSM operator”
in Iraq. Asiacell achieved nationwide network coverage by 2009 and continues to
strive to be the first choice for mobile telecommunications in Iraq. Prior to its
conversion to a private joint stock company in anticipation of the IPO, Asiacell was
the largest limited liability company in Iraq. Asiacell enjoys the strong support of its
shareholders. These include its founder, Mr. Faruk M. Rasool, as well as its strategic
partner and key shareholder Qatar Telecom (Ooredoo), which has vast experience in
successfully operating and supporting mobile telecommunications providers across
the MENA region and South-East Asia. Asiacell holds one of only three 15-year
nationwide licenses issued by Iraqs Communication and Media Commission (CMC) in
2007, entitling the Company to build and operate a mobile telecommunications
network throughout Iraq. Asiacell currently provides international
telecommunications services through the international gateway of the Ministry of
Communications. In April 2015, the Iraqi singer-songwriter Kadhim Al-Saher became
a representative of the brand.

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 Covered topics and subjects

As I pointed, I was in the technology operations unit, in IP network department.

Operations departments and employees have the authority to make a substantial
impact on the production of products and services. Employees working in the
operations department must be proactive in identifying and troubleshooting
problems quickly and effectively. If so, your organization has a greater chance of
turning a profit, which can be reinvested back into the organization to hire more
employees. This department consists of some other sub-dep that operates in
different range of jobs. For example, there were transmission operators that were
responsible for the transmission lines: how sites are connected? They will decide on
which type of transmission medium should be used, cable or microwave? And they
will fix any problem in the site as quickly as possible. My mentor “ asos niyaz”
was responsible of monitoring the enterprise network of the company. They use
several softwares to monitor, for example Enterprise resource planning (ERP). ERP
makes it easier to collect, organize, analyze, and distribute the information to every
individual and system that needs it to best fulfill their role and responsibility. Except
from the monitoring, he would fix any type of problems that will occur in the
enterprise.

In order to manage or determine a problem and fix it, we need to have a solid
understanding on the fundamentals of networking. Firstly, we have to be familiar
with some of networking devices, what are they and how they operates, how these
devices are connected together. Then, I will cover the technologies dedicated to each
layer of networking.

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 Computer network fundamentals

Today, the world of computer networking uses one networking model: TCP/IP. The
TCP/IP model both defines and references a large collection of protocols that allow
computers to communicate.

In this figure, we can see several devices that may need some definition to
understand them. The two PC’s on the right hand is an indication of end-host, it may
be a mobile, a printer, or a PC as I used in this figure. The second important node of
networking is switch. Switch is a layer 2 device that connects end-hosts together and
will create a LAN(Local Area Network), as we can see, switch provide connectivity
between end-hosts. The third device is Router. Routers are layer 3 devices; they
provide connectivity between different LAN’s. From this definition, we can say by
connecting different LAN’s, Routers are used in WAN(Wide Area Network).

There are other details in this figure; I will just point out some of them:

1- NIC(network interface card): Connects a computer to a LAN.

2- Medium: The physical transport used to carry data. Most of the time, this can
be just a cable (twisted-pair or fiber), but it also includes air (for wireless
transmission).

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 3- Connectivity device: Any device that connects cable segments, connects two
or more small networks into a larger one, or divides a large network into small
ones.

There are some characteristics of networking, the network administrators and

engineers are responsible of it, these are:

 Speed: Also called data rate, speed is how fast data is transmitted over the
network.
 Cost: The general cost of network components, installation, and maintenance.
 Security: Defines how secure the network and network data are.
 Availability: : The measure of the likelihood that the network will be available
for use when required. Calculated using the following formula: [(525,600 –
Minutes downtime) / 525,600] * 100. 525,600 is the number of minutes in a
year.
 Reliability: The dependability of the devices that make up the network (for
example, switches, routers, PCs, and so on).

TCP/IP model

The TCP/IP model is a part of the Internet Protocol Suite. This model acts as a
communication protocol for computer networks and connects hosts on the Internet.
It is a concise version of the OSI Model and comprises four layers in its structure. The
TCP/IP suite of protocols communicates across any set of interconnected networks.
These protocols, initially developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), are well suited for communication across both LANs and WANs. The
protocol suite defines the following four layers:

 Network access: Consists of the physical and data link OSI model layers.
 Internet layer: Provides routing of data from the source to a destination and
defines addressing schemes.
 Transport layer: The core of the TCP/IP suite, providing communication
services directly to the application layer.

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  Application layer: Provides specifications of applications such as e-mail, file
transfer, and network management.

The TCP/IP protocol stack closely follows the OSI reference model. When I refer to
a layer, for example layer 2, I mean this layer according to OSI reference model.
Here is a quick comparison between these two models:

1
TCP/IP compared to OSI model

I will use the OSI model as the reference model, if I pointed to layer 3, the layer 3 in
the OSI model is network layer, and layer 6 is presentation layer.

1. Layer 1 devices:
Layer 1 devices operate at the physical layer and are only involved in
transmitting signals (moving bits). Layer 1 devices are repeaters, HUBs and etc.
HUB’s are layer 1 devices, they do not know anything about other layer

1
- Wendell Odom - CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide, Volume 1 Premium Edition eBook and Practice Test (2019).
P29

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 technologies, and they just forward messages. A group of devices connected to
the same physical medium is known as a collision domain. f two devices
transmit a signal at the same time, a collision results. Ethernet devices use a
method called carrier sense multiple access collision detect (CSMA/CD) when
sending bits. When a collision occurs, both stations resend the signal after a
random period.

HUB and collision domain

2. Layer 2 devices:
Layer 2 devices operate at the data link layer and, in most cases, isolate
endpoints, avoiding data collisions. Network interface cards (NICs) are
considered Layer 2 devices because they provide MAC addresses used by
other Layer 2 devices. Bridges keep local traffic from going to other LAN

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 segments but can filter traffic intended for other LAN segments using the
MAC address of the destination endpoint. Bridges keep track of
destinations in MAC address tables. Switches (or LAN switches) are
similar to bridges and have the same functionality as bridges but are
typically much faster than bridges. This is because the switching functions
are performed in hardware, whereas bridges use software. Switches
proved more ports than bridges and also support virtual LANs.

2
bridge

3. Layer 3 devices:
Layer 3 devices operate at the network layer of the OSI model, which uses a
different addressing scheme than Layer 2 devices. The two most common
Layer 3 devices are routers and multilayer switches. IP addresses are one type
of Layer 3 address. Internet Protocol (IP) focuses on the job of routing data, in
the form of IP packets, from the source host to the destination host. IP does
not concern itself with the physical transmission of data, instead relying on the
lower TCP/IP layers to do the physical transmission of the data. Routers and
end-user computers (called hosts in a TCP/IP network) work together to
perform IP routing. The host operating system (OS) has TCP/IP software,
including the software that implements the network layer. Routers pass data
packets between networks based on their IP.

2
- CCNA Quick Reference Sheets by Eric Rivard and Jim Doherty.

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 routers used for routing

Media types

Network media is the actual path over which an electrical signal travels as it
moves from one component to another. There are three general classes of media
types: coaxial cable, twisted pair and fiber optic cable. Let’s discuss them a little
bit:

 Coaxial Cable: Coaxial cable uses a single conductor in the middle of a

cable; coaxial cables are being used by Cable TV networks to deliver high-
speed service customer premises.
 Twisted-pair cable: Used for telephony and most Ethernet networks. Each
pair makes up a circuit that can transmit signals. The pairs are twisted to
prevent interference (crosstalk). The two categories of twisted-pair cables

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 are unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) and shielded twisted-pair (STP), defined
as follows:
I. UTP cable: Usually connected to equipment with an RJ-45
connector. it is prone to electrical noise and interference because
of the lack of shielding. Seven categories of UTP cable exist: CAT 1,
CAT 2, CAT 3, CAT 4, CAT 5, CAT 5e, and CAT 6.
II. STP cable: Provides much better protection against electrical noise
and interference than UTP but is thicker and more expensive. The
cable speed and maximum length are the same as for UTP (speed
is 10 to 100 Mbps, and maximum length is 100 m).

An RJ-45 connector is use with UTP cabling. The two types of connections are
straight-through and crossover. Straight-through cables are typically used to
connect different devices. Crossover cables are typically used to connect similar
devices, such as switch-to-switch connections

 Fiber-optic cable: Allows the transmission of light signals. This offers a large
jump in bandwidth over other types of cables (1 Gbps or greater). The two types
of fiber-optic cables are multimode and single-mode, defined as follows:
I. Single-mode: This type of fiber has only one mode in which light
can propagate. Single-mode fiber is typically used for long-distance
and high-bandwidth applications.
II. Multimode: With this type of fiber, several modes (or
wavelengths) propagate down the fiber, each taking a slightly
different path. Multimode fiber is used primarily in systems with
short transmission distances (less than 2 km).

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 3
Components of a Fiber-Optic Cable

Ethernet LAN switching

Ethernet involves layer 2 and layer 1 in the OSI model, since I have covered layer
1 Ethernet standards like UTP cables, this section will be about layer 2.

Ethernet frames

These are Ethernet fields; I will just clarify them shortly:

I. Preamble: The preamble field is 7 bytes long; it allows devices to

synchronize their receiver clocks.
II. SFD: The SFD (Start Frame Delimiter) field is 1 byte long; it marks the end
of preamble and start the beginning of the rest of the frame.
III. Source and destination: they are 6 bytes in length each; they indicate the
devices sending and the receiver device. MAC address operates in this
field.
IV. Type: This field is 2 bytes long. This field stores information about the
protocol of the upper layer (network layer).
V. Data(payload): This field stores the encapsulated data of the upper layer.
VI. FCS: If data is less than the minimum requirement, padding is added. CRC
algorithm is used in this field. If data is more than the maximum limit,
extra data is packed in the next packet.

3
- Wendell Odom - CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide, Volume 1 Premium Edition eBook and Practice Test (2019).
P4.47

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 We need this information about the Ethernet header in order to comprehend
LAN switching. SRC, DST and FCS are most important fields for the purpose of
this report.

 MAC(Media Access Control) address:

Physical address assigned to the device when its made, it is globally unique. The first
three bytes are the OUI(organizational unique identifier) which is assigned to the
company making the device. The last three bytes are unique to the device itself. MAC
address are written in 12 hexadecimal characters.

Structure of Unicast Ethernet Addresses

 LAN switching
A switch uses its MAC address table when forwarding frames to devices. When a
switch is first powered on, it has an empty MAC address table. With an empty MAC
address table, the switch must learn the MAC addresses of attached devices. This
learning process is outlined below:

 Step 1. Initially, the switch MAC address table is empty.

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  Step 2. Station A with the MAC address sends a frame to station C. When the
switch receives this frame, it does the following:
I. Because the MAC table is empty, the switch must flood the frame to all
other ports (except E0, the frame origin).
II. The switch notes the source address of the originating device and
associates it with port E0 in its MAC address table entry.
 Step 3. The switch continues to learn addresses in this manner, continually
updating the table. As the MAC table becomes more complete, the switching
becomes more efficient, because frames are forwarded to specific ports rather
than being flooded out all ports.

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Frame Forwarding by a Switch

Ethernet switches perform three major functions in segmenting a network:

forwarding, filtering, and flooding. Switches perform these functions by the
following methods:

 MAC address learning: Switches learn the MAC addresses of devices attached
to each of their ports. These addresses are stored in a MAC database.
 Forwarding and filtering: Switches determine which port a frame must be sent
out to reach its destination. If the address is known, the frame is sent only on

4
- CCNA Quick Reference Sheets by Eric Rivard and Jim Doherty. P.50

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 that port. If it’s unknown, the frame is flooded to all ports except the one from
which it originated.
 Flooding: Switches flood all unknown frames, broadcasts, and multicasts to all
ports on the switch except the one from which it originated.

IP addressing

Both IPv4 and IPv6 define the same kinds of network layer functions, but with
different details. I will just discuss IPV4 here because the asiacell enterprise network
only uses IPV4. Internet Protocol (IP) focuses on the job of routing data, in the form
of IP packets. Routers and end-user computers (called hosts in a TCP/IP network)
work together to perform IP routing. Those routers make choices of where to send
the IP packet next. Together, the hosts and routers deliver the IP packet to the
correct destination, as shown below.

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 Routing Logic

The IP packet, created by PC1, goes from the top of the figure all the way to PC2 at
the bottom of the figure. PC1 analyzes the destination address and realizes that PC2’s
address (150.150.4.10) is not on the same LAN as PC1. So PC1’s logic tells it to send
the packet to a device whose job it is to know where to route data: a nearby router,
on the same LAN, called PC1’s default router. All routers use the same general
process to route the packet. Each router keeps an IP routing table. This table lists IP
address groupings, called IP networks and IP subnets. When a router receives a
packet, it compares the packet’s destination IP address to the entries in the routing
table and makes a match. This matching entry also lists directions that tell the router
where to forward the packet next. the network layer thinks about the bigger view of
the goal, like “Send this packet to the specified next router or host…,” while the data-

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link layer thinks about the specifics, like “Encapsulate the packet in a data-link frame
and transmit it.”

Now its time to correlate all information we got about Ethernet frames and IP
packets, lets understand how it works. The following list summarizes the major steps
in a router’s internal network layer routing for each packet beginning with the a
frame arriving in a router interface:

 Step 1: Use the data-link Frame Check Sequence (FCS) field to ensure that the
frame had no errors; if errors occurred, discard the frame.
 Step 2: Assuming that the frame was not discarded at Step 1, discard the old
data-link header and trailer, leaving the IP packet.
 Step 3: Compare the IP packet’s destination IP address to the routing table,
and find the route that best matches the destination address. This route
identifies the outgoing interface of the router and possibly the next-hop router
IP address.
 Step 4: Encapsulate the IP packet inside a new data-link header and trailer,
appropriate for the outgoing interface, and forward the frame.

If IP address have this important role in packets forwarding, so what is IP address?

 IP address
IP defines specific rules about which IP address should be in the same IP network or
IP subnet. IP addressing was designed to allow hosts on one network to
communicate with a host on a different network regardless of the type of LANs the
hosts are participating in. An IP address consists of 32 bits of information. These bits
are divided into four sections, referred to as octets or bytes.

IP addresses are displayed as a set of four digits- the default address may be
192.158.1.38. Each number on the set may range from 0 to 255. Therefore, the total
IP address range ranges from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255. IP address is basically
divided into two parts:

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  Network ID(network portion): It is the part of the left-hand IP address that
identifies the specific network where the device is located. In the normal
home network, where the device has an IP address 192.168.1.32, the
192.168.1 part of the address will be the network ID.
 HOST ID(host portion): The host ID is part of the IP address that was not
taken by the network ID. Identifies a specific device (in the TCP / IP world,
we call devices “host”) in that network. Continuing with our example of the
IP address 192.168.1.32, the host ID will be 32- the unique host ID on the
192.168.1.0 network.

192 168 32 1

You can depict an IP address using one of three methods:

 Dotted-decimal, as in 172.16.30.56
 Binary, as in 10101100.00010000.00011110.00111000

The designers of the Internet decided to create classes of networks based on

network size. For the small number of networks possessing a very large number of
nodes, they created the rank Class A network. At the other extreme is the Class C
network, which is reserved for the numerous networks with a small number of
nodes. The class distinction for networks between very large and very small is
predictably called the Class B network.

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 5
Summary of the three classes of networks

from the below figure, we have three networks:

I. 192.168.1.0/24 which is colored in yellow

II. 192.168.2.0/24 which is the blue area
III. 192.168.3.0/24 which is the connection between routers

5
- Todd Lammle - Understanding Cisco Networking Technologies, Volume 1_ Exam 200-301 (CCNA Certification).
Volume 1-Sybex (2019). P. 95

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 If the PC0 from network1, wants to send a message to laptop1 in network2, the
message will go through several steps. I will briefly demonstrate:

1) Is the destination address (192.168.2.1) in the same network/subnet? –NO.

So send the packet to the default gateway.
2) The default gateway of PC0 is the router interface in 192.168.1.0/24
network, which is 192.168.1.254.
3) The router will look at its Routing table; look for the best path to this
destination. It finally forwards the packet to its neighbor with the IP
address of 192.168.3.2.
4) Router2 will receive the packet from Router1, Router to will look at its
routing table. Router2 realizes that this network 192.168.2.0/24 is directly
connected to one of itself interface, so the router will forward the packet to
the switch, and then from the switch to the laptop.

From here, one question arise: if each octet can include addresses from 0 to 255,
isn’t the above figure is wasting of IP address? For example, network1 only have
uses three addresses, two of them are used to end-hosts, and one address is used
as the default gateway. What about the other 252 addresses? They are absolutely
wasted!! There must be a way to prevent IP addressing, this method is called
subnetting.

 Subnetting
An IP subnet is simply a subset of a Class A, B, or C network. In fact, the word subnet
is shortened version of the phrase subdivided network. For the subnet addressing
scheme to work, every machine on the network must know which part of the host
address will be used as the subnet address. This condition is met by assigning a
subnet mask to each machine. A subnet mask is a 32-bit value that allows the device
that’s receiving IP packets to distinguish the network ID portion of the IP address
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from the host ID portion of the IP address. This 32-bit subnet mask is composed of 1s
and 0s, where the 1s represent the positions that refer to the network subnet
addresses. A very large company might receive class A or class B network, while a
small company might receive a class C network, this lead to many IP address
wasted. In order these problems, the IETF introduced CIDR in 1993 to replace the
classfull addressing system. With CIDR, the requirements of:

Class A = /8
Were removed.

Class B = /16

Class C = /24

This allowed larger networks to split into smaller networks, allowing greater
efficiency. These smaller networks are called “subnetworks” or “subnets”. I will
create a table to clarify how CIDR works. For this example, I considered a class C
network:

CIDR notation dotted decimal

/25 255.255.255.128

/26 255.255.255..192

/27 255.255.255.224

/28 255.255.255.240

/29 255.255.255.248

/30 255.255.255.252

/31 255.255.255.252

/32 255.255.255.255

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The IP address must be assigned according to some basic rules—and for good
reasons. To make routing work efficiently, IP addressing rules group addresses into
groups called subnets. The rules are as follows:

■ Addresses in the same subnet are not separated by a router.

■ Addresses in different subnets are separated by at least one router.

In the below figure, hosts A and B in one subnet and host C in another. In particular,
note that any routers do not separate hosts A and B from each other. However, host
C, separated from A and B by at least one router, must be in a different subnet.

figure(13): PC A and B in One Subnet and PC C in a Different Subnet

because the routers’ main job is to forward packets from one subnet to another,
routers typically connect to multiple subnets. For example, in this case, Router R1
connects to one LAN subnet on the left and one WAN subnet on the right. To do so,
R1 will be configured with two different IP addresses, one per interface. These
addresses will be in different subnets because the interfaces connect the router to
different subnets.

We won’t deep dive into the process of subnetting and how it works, just remind
that there are two types of subnetting:

 FLSM (fixed length subnet mask

 VLSM (variable length subnet mask)

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Another crucial point t remember, is that a router separates each subnet, and in
order to communicate between these separate subnets, we have to route between
them. As a result, we can say that subnetting is a layer 3 technology and switches
don’t have anything with subnetting. Also, switches cannot communicate between
different subnets.

VLAN

Subnetting is dividing a large network into smaller subnets; this is a layer 3

technology. What technology is used in layer 2? How can we divide a LAN(one
broadcast domain) into smaller LANs(multiple broadcast domain)? VLAN technology
can divide a large LAN into smaller ones that we call them VLANs. he use of VLANs
improves performance, security, and flexibility. The use of VLANs also decreases the
cost of arranging users, because no extra cabling is required. The following list
summarizes the most common reasons for choosing to create smaller broadcast
domains (VLANs):

■ To reduce CPU overhead on each device, improving host performance, by reducing

the number of devices that receive each broadcast frame.

■ To reduce security risks by reducing the number of hosts that receive copies of
frames that the switches flood (broadcasts, multicasts, and unknown unicasts).

■ To improve security for hosts through the application of different security policies
per VLAN.

■ To reduce the workload for the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) by limiting a VLAN to
a single access switch.

A LAN is a single broadcast domain, including all devices in this broadcast domain.
Broadcast domain is a group of devices, which will receive a broadcast frame. Even If
we separate a network into smaller subnets(on layer 3), they are sharing the same
broadcast domain(layer 2). In order to fix this problem, we must separate them into
different VLANs. So we can say: VLANs Logically separate end hosts at layer 2.

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Now, I will separate them logically, into different broadcast domain, by using VLAN.

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  VLAN tagging
To support VLANs, a special “tag” needs to be applied to packets so that network
devices can know how to forward those packets correctly. TRUNK Ports are used
to carry traffic from multiple VLANs over a single interface. Switches will tag all
frames that they send over a trunk link, this allow the receiving switch to know
which VLAN the frame belongs to.

Trunk ports = tagged Ports

Access ports = untagged ports

There are two main tagging protocols:

 ISL(inter-switch Link): it is an old proprietary cisco protocol.

 IEEE 802.1Q: it is an industry standard protocol created by IEEE. The
802.1Q is inserted between the “source” and “type” field of the Ethernet
frame. VID(vlan ID) is a field of 802.1Q, it is 12 bits in length. It identifies
the VLAN the frame belongs to.

802.1Q has a feature called native VLAN, which is VLAN1 by default on all trunk
ports. The switch doesn’t add an 8021.Q tag to the frames in the native VLAN.

 Inter-VLAN Routing
Inter-VLAN routing can be defined as a way to forward traffic between different VLAN by
implementing a router in the network. As we learnt previously, VLANs logically segment
the switch into different subnets, when a router is connected to the switch, an
administrator can configure the router to forward the traffic between the various VLANs
configured on the switch. There are two ways in which inter-VLAN routing can be
accomplished.

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 Traditional inter-VLAN routing: In this type of inter-VLAN routing, a router is
usually connected to the switch using multiple interfaces. One for each VLAN. The
interfaces on the router are configured as the default gateways for the VLANs
configured on the switch. For example, if we have three VLAN(10 , 20 , 30), and
we want to connect to a router, normally we will use three physical ports on the
router. However, this is not and efficient way to do so, because routers do not
have much interface.

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  ROAS(Router on a stick): by using ROAS, we can divide a single physical interface,
into several sub-interface, this allows us to perform inter-vlan routing with only
one interface.

Types of Routing

Routing is a process that is performed by layer 3 (or network layer) devices in

order to deliver the packet by choosing an optimal path from one network to
another. There are 3 types of routing:

 Static Routing: Static routing is a process in which we have to manually

add routes to the routing table. It exploits the paths between the two
ways, and they can’t automatically be updated. Thus you must manually

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 reconfigure static routes when the network changes. It uses low
bandwidth as compared to the dynamic maps. It can be used in those
areas where the network traffic is predictable & designed. It can’t be used
in the vast and continuously changing network because they can’t react to
the network change. It is applicable for small networks; thus, it is easy to
configure. The configuration of the system depends on the size of the net.
The small networks are accessible to, but as the web grows, applying
changes to all the routes can be difficult.

From this figure, if the PC on network 192.168.1.0 wants to send a message to

the laptop on network 192.168.3.0, firstly the packet should be forwarded to
the default Route. R1 will receive the packet, it looks at the destination of the
packet, but R1 doesn’t have any route to 192.168.3.0 network, basically R1
will drop the packet. In order to solve this problem, R1 should learn how to

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 send this packet to the destination network; a Static route will be configured
manually to the destination network.

R1 having IP address 172.16.10.6/30 on s0/0/1, 192.168.10.1/24 on fa0/0.

R2 having IP address 172.16.10.2/30 on s0/0/0, 192.168.20.1/24 on fa0/0.

R3 having IP address 172.16.10.5/30 on s0/1, 172.16.10.1/30 on s0/0,

10.10.10.1/24 on fa0/0.

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Now configuring static routes for router R3: 
R3(config)#ip route 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.2
R3(config)#ip route 192.168.20.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.6
Here, provided the route for 192.168.10.0 network where 192.168.10.0 is its
network I’d and 172.16.10.2 and 172.16.10.6 are the next-hop address. 
Now, configuring for R2: 
R2(config)#ip route 192.168.20.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.1
R2(config)#ip route 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.1
R2(config)#ip route 172.16.10.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.1
Similarly for R1: 
R1(config)#ip route 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.5
R1(config)#ip route 10.10.10.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.5
R1(config)#ip route 172.16.10.0 255.255.255.0 172.16.10.5

 Dynamic Routing: Dynamic routing makes automatic adjustments of the routes

according to the current state of the route in the routing table. Dynamic routing
uses protocols to discover network destinations and the routes to reach them.
RIP and OSPF are the best examples of dynamic routing protocols. Automatic
adjustments will be made to reach the network destination if one route goes
down. A dynamic protocol has the following features:
I. The routers should have the same dynamic protocol running
in order to exchange routes.
II. The routers should have the same dynamic protocol running
in order to exchange routes.

Routers can use dynamic routing protocols to advertise information about

the routers they know about other routers. If multiple routes to a destination
are learned, the router will determine which route is superior and add to its
routing table it uses the metrics of the route to decide which is superior
(lower metric=superior).

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  types of dynamic routing
Dynamic routing protocols can be divided into two main categories:

 IGP(interior gateway protocol): used to share routes within a single

autonomous system(AS), which is a single organization.
 EGP(exterior gateway protocol): used to share routes between different
autonomous system(AS).

With each organization an IGP is used to exchange routing information. In order

to exchange routes between AS’s, EGP is used.

Distance vector RIP

IGP
EIGRP

Link state OSPF

IS-IS

EGP Path vector BGP

1) Distance vector: distance vector protocols were invented before link state
protocols. Early examples are RIPv1 and cisco proprietary protocol IGRP
which was updated to EIGRP. Distance vector protocols operate by
sending the following to their directly connected networks: 1-their known
destination networks. 2-their metrics to reach their known destination
networks.
2) Link state: when using a link state routing protocols, every router creates a
connectivity map of the network. To allow this, each router advertises
information about its interfaces(connected networks) to its neighbor.
These advertisements are passed along to other routers, until all routers in
the network develop the same map of the network. Each router

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 independently uses this map to calculate the best routes to each
destination. Link state protocols use more resources(CPU) on the router,
because more information is shared.

there have been a number of dynamic routing protocols released since 1982. I
have listed these below:

1982 EGP

1985 IGRP

1988 RIPv1

1990 IS-IS

1991 OSPFv2

1992 EIGRP

1994 RIPv2

1995 BGP

1997 RIPng

1999 BGPv6 and OSPFv3

2000 IS-ISv6

 OSPF
Asiacell uses OSPF dynamic routing protocol to advertise networks between the
routers, so our focus will be on this protocol. Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is
one of the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP), which helps to find the best routing

35
path between the source and the destination router using its own shortest path
first (SPF) algorithm. It is a Link-state routing protocol that is used to distribute
routing information about data packets within a large Autonomous System. OSPF
has a reputation as a protocol that it is quite difficult to set up.

How OSPF work?

When it is configured, it listens to its neighbors in the networks, and it gathers all
the link state data available. This data is then used to make a topology map that
contains all available paths in the network. This database is saved for use, and we
call it Link State Database. Once the Link State Database is made, it is used to
calculate the shortest path to subnets/networks using an algorithm known as
Shortest Path First, developed by Edsger W Dijkstra. OSPF creates 3 tables:

 Routing Table: It contains currently working best paths that will be used to
forward traffic between two neighbors.
 Neighbor Table: This contains all discovered Open Short Path First
neighbors.
 Topology Table: This one contains the entire road map of the network.
This road map includes all the available Open Short Path First routers and
keeps calculated data about best and alternative paths.

OSPF is the first widely deployed routing protocol. It can converge with a
network in a few seconds, and it is one of the protocols that can provide loop-
free paths. Aside from these features, Open Short Path First allows the
imposition of policies for the propagation of routes in the network. Open Short
Path First is better at load sharing on external links compared to other IGPs.
Considering these benefits, it can found widespread use.

OSPF routers can form adjacencies with certain neighbor routers. The routers
that OSPF routers build adjacencies with are determined by the data link media
type. After adjacencies have been formed, each router sends link-state
advertisements (LSA) to all adjacent routers. These LSAs describe the state of
each of the router’s links. Because of the varying types of link-state information,
OSPF defines multiple LSA types. Finally, routers receiving an LSA from neighbors

36
record the LSA in a link-state database and flood a copy of the LSA to all other
neighbors. OSPF organizes topology information using LSAs and the link-state
database (LSDB). Each LSA is a data structure with some specific information
about the network topology; the LSDB is simply the collection of all the LSAs
known to a router.

An LSDB consist of LSA’s.

The below figure shows the general idea of the flooding process, with R8 creating
and flooding its router LSA. The router LSA for Router R8 describes the router
itself, including the existence of subnet 172.16.3.0/24, as seen on the right side
of the figure.

this figure shows the rather basic flooding process, with R8 sending the original

37
LSA for itself, and the other routers flooding the LSA by forwarding it until every
router has a copy. The flooding process causes every router to learn the contents
of the LSA while preventing. the LSA from being flooded around in circles.
Basically, before sending an LSA to yet another neighbor, routers communicate,
asking “Do you already have this LSA?,” and then sending the LSA to the next
neighbor only if the neighbor has not yet learned about the LSA. Once flooded,
routers do occasionally reflood each LSA. Routers reflood an LSA when some
information changes (for example, when a link goes up or comes down). They
also reflood each LSA based on each LSA’s separate aging timer (default 30
minutes).

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 Designing the network architecture of the company

In this section, I will try to explain how campus networks are made by depending
on these fundamentals, which I explained. This section is a something like
virtually designing a simple network.

Campus network. A campus network is a proprietary local area network (LAN) or

set of interconnected LANs serving a corporation, government agency, university,
or similar organization. In this context, a typical campus encompasses a set of
buildings in close proximity. In the ideal case, all of the nodes in a campus
network are interconnected by means of optical fiber media, taking advantage of
gigabit Ethernet or 10-Gigabit Ethernet technology. In some cases, Wi-Fi hot
spots or even a hot zone make up the user end of the network, for example in
university student centers or libraries where numerous people simultaneously
use portable and mobile devices such as notebook and tablet computers to
conduct research and carry on communications. A campus network is generally
the portion of the enterprise network infrastructure that provides access to
network communication services and resources to end users and devices that are
spread over a single geographic location. network designers typically tend to
design the campus portion of the enterprise network to be optimized for the
fastest functional architecture that runs on high speed physical infrastructure
(1/10/40/100 Gbps). Moreover, enterprises can also have more than one campus
block within the same geographic location, depending on the number of users
within the location, business goals, and business nature. When possible, the
design of modern converged enterprise campus networks should leverage the
following common set of engineering and architectural principles:
■ Hierarchy
■ Modularity
■ Resiliency

 Enterprise campus: Hierarchical design models

39
The hierarchical network design model breaks the complex flat network into
multiple smaller and more manageable networks. Each level or tier in the
hierarchy is focused on a specific set of roles. This design approach offers network
designers a high degree of flexibility to optimize and select the right network
hardware, software, and features to perform specific roles for the different network
layers. A typical hierarchical enterprise campus network design includes the
following three layers:

 Access layer: Provides workgroup/user access to the network. The two

primary and common hierarchical design architectures of enterprise campus
networks are the three-tier and two-tier layers models.
 Distribution layer: Provides policy-based connectivity and boundary control
between the access and core layers.
 Core layer: Provides optimal transport between sites and high-performance
routing. Due the criticality of the core layer, the design principles of the core
should provide an appropriate level of resilience that offers the ability to
recover quickly and smoothly after any network failure event with the core
block.

This design model, illustrated in the figure below, is typically used in large enterprise
campus networks, which are constructed of multiple functional distribution layer
blocks.

40
In HQ of the company, nearly 18 switches are distributed among the floors; they
are cisco catalyst 3650-48 port model. And in two switches, catalyst 6800, are
used in the distribution layer. These two switches are combined by using VSS
technology.

cisco catalyst 3650

A VSS is network system virtualization technology that pools multiple

Cisco Catalyst Switches into one virtual switch, increasing operational
efficiency, boosting non-stop communications, and scaling system bandwidth
capacity. It is used to create one logical switch by combining two physical
switches. It is a Cisco proprietary. This feature is supported on Catalyst 4500
& 6500 modular switches.

41
On the network layer, 2 routers are in use, their model is ASR1000. One of them
is active, and the other one is standby, in order to improve the network
redundancy at layer 3.

ASR 1000

These devices will be places in a cool room, in these rooms there is something
called RACK. A computer rack (commonly called a rack) is a metal frame used to
hold various hardware devices such as servers, hard disk drives, modems and
other electronic equipment. Some may refer to a rack as “LAN or network

42
furniture” as resembles a shelving structure where components can be attached
vertically, stacked on top of one another. A computer rack can also be called a
relay rack or open rack. As with everything in IT, the success of your rack mount
project will depend on diligent preparation. There are several details of which
you'll want to be sure before attempting to mount a device.

 Power: Check that adequate power outlets of the right nature (AC or DC)
and amperage are available.
 Air flow: Many racks, particularly in data centers, have been arranged for
predominantly front-to-back or side-to-side air flow.
 Cabling: Check that all stray cables have been removed or repositioned
prior to mounting.

this is how a rack looks like

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  Access layer
The access layer is the last layer of three-tier architecture of a datacenter. The actual
servers are connected to this layer. The access layer communicates with its upper layer
using several switches (like Layer 2 and Layer 3) and hubs. This layer generally uses
uplinks bandwidth of up to 10 GE (A. Headquarters). The access layer maintains some
sort of extra backup servers to provide the services to end-users. Each server contains
thousands of racks, VMs, a large processing capability, a huge storage facility.

Behind the scenes, the Network Access Layer is responsible for several things; including
error checking, formatting data into frames, and interfacing with network adapters. See

44
the box below for the full list of responsibilities of the Network Access Layer.
Responsibilities of the Network Access Layer:

 Checks for errors on incoming frames, and sends error checking information on
outgoing frames so receiving computers can check for errors.
 Acknowledgement of received frames is another feature. If a frame isn’t
received correctly, it will be resent to the appropriate destination.
 Formats outgoing data into frames, and then converts the data into electrical
pulses for transmission. The receiving computer will rebuild the frame, and send
the data up to the next layer.

Switches connected in this layer are known as access switches. End-devices connect to
the LAN network through the access switches. In other words, an access switch
forwards traffic between connected devices and the rest of the LAN.

 Distribution layer
The distribution layer is the second layer of the Cisco three-layer hierarchical
model. Switches connected in this layer are known as the distribution switches.
Unlike access switches, distribution switches do not provide any service to end
devices. Distribution switches connect the access switches.

45
The main functions of the distribution layer switches are the following:

 Providing connectivity between the access layer switches.

 Aggregating LAN and WAN links and traffic.
 If a separate core layer exists, providing upstream services for the access
layer switches.
 Controlling and filtering traffic by implementing ACLs.
 Controlling broadcast through VLAN.
 Providing redundancy and load balancing.
 Providing routing services between different VLANs and routing domains.
 Acting as a demarcation point between different LANs and broadcast
domains.
 If the network contains a separate core layer, the distribution layer
connects the access layer to the core layer.

46
  Core layer
This is the third layer of the Cisco three-layer hierarchical model. Switches that
work in this layer are known as the core switches. Core switches connect
distribution switches. In a complex and large network, core switches reduce
cabling needs and switch ports while still allowing all devices to send data to all
other devices in the LAN. To connect all distribution switches, a LAN requires
N*N-1 connections and N-1 available ports on each distribution switch. For
example, if the LAN has 8 distribution switches, it needs 8*8-1 = 56 links and 8-1
= 7 ports on each distribution switch. This requirement is without redundancy.
For redundancy, if the LAN adds additional connections, the number of required
connections will also increase in parallel. The LAN can reduce the required
number of connections and ports by connecting distribution switches through a

47
few extra switches. A switch that connects the distribution switches is known as
the core switch.

Unlike the access and distribution layers, the core layer does not provide many
services. The core layer has a single dedicated role in the Cisco three-layer
model. The core layer is responsible for forwarding traffic between the
distribution switches.

Applying technologies

48
In the enterprise network, several technologies are used in order to provide
services. Each enterprise has its own aim, so different types of technologies are
used, and even different style of network architecture is used based on the
demand of the company. For the scope of this report, even though there are a
large number of technologies like (STP, SD-WAN , token ring and etc.), I have just
focused on the outstanding technologies like (VLAN, Ethernet, and etc.)

As I discussed before, 18 access switches are distributed among the floors. VLAN
technology is used to provide much more efficiency. For each department, a
VLAN is created. For example, 6 end-hosts/nodes are dedicated to VLAN 10,
another 9 nodes to VLAN 20 and tec. Here is a figure to explain it:

There are much more VLAN in the company, here are some of them:

I. Market
II. Security
III. Customer
IV. Printer
V. commercial

In the distribution layer, 2 switches are used, their model is cisco catalyst 6800. I
will show how they are connected to other 18 switches in the access layer.

49
2 ASR 1000 routers are used in core layer, one of them is active, and the other
one is standby.

50