NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS
Johnson Engineering is a South African company with four locations and as many as 50 PCs at each location. Each location also has at least one printer, and as many as six. There is no e-mail program at this time, nor is there any type of formal network in place. It is not clear how old the current PCs are, nor what type of budget exists for replacing these PCs or installing new servers.
The task facing the new IT manager is how to link the employees throughout the organization together without compromising security and without heavy new development costs. At this point, it is assumed that the IT manager is limited to using as much existing hardware as possible. The network should be phased in over a 6-month period, with the entire network operational at the end of that time and with pieces·such as the e-mail system·operational before the end of that time. By the end of the first year, plans should be in place to acquire new laptops to replace the oldest of the PCs·laptops can be easily transported to allow individuals to work from home or on the road; all PCs should be replaced by the end of the third year, depending on budgetary restrictions. High-end servers should also be implemented at the Johannesburg office, which will serve as the network hub since it has the most PCs and printers and is presumed to have the greatest on-site staff and IT resource requirements.
Within each office, wireless networks will provide access to the printers; a virtual private network (VPN) will make use of the Internet for linking the various offices together. Microsoft Outlook will be used as the e-mail system; this is available as part of the Microsoft Office product suite and will provide the company with industry-wide standards in terms of word processing and spreadsheet capabilities that will enhance the ability of employees to work remotely. However, security will be a primary ...