User Requirements

The Coyote Creek Elementary School is in need of a complete network design. The one-level building houses six grades and has three wings with one centralized area containing offices, the library, computer labs and kindergarten (see diagram 1). There is also a wing with a gymnasium and cafeteria.

  • The basic requirements for this network are as follows:
  • Every computer must have internet access
  • There must be a separate network for teachers and students
  • The teachers’ network must be inaccessible from the students’ network
  • Network must take future expandability into consideration
  • Only two protocols, TCP/IP and IPX, will be used

More detailed requirements include specifications of cable type and speed, number of connections per room, implementation of IGRP routing, and proper documentation. All of these requirements are included in this report.

What follows is the network design created by our company, MacroHard. This design allows for minimal maintenance, high security and future expandability with as little cost and setup time as possible.


Overall Design

Our logical design is a simple layout, originating from a single router in the MDF through fiber backbone to switches in three different IDFs. These IDFs can then provide connectivity to each of the classrooms requiring access (see Logical Diagram).

The following pages contain diagrams representing our floor plan with cable runs, floor plans for MDFs and IDFs, racks and more. The diagrams are as follows:

Network Analysis

In the design of our network, we have considered future expandability, functionality, scalability and manageability.

Pros:

  • High security
  • Minimal broadcast and collision traffic
  • Security for instructors
  • Easy manageability
  • Expandable into Novell
  • Easy to increase network speed


Cons:

  • Cost
  • Single point of failure in router
  • IPX not being utilized