Integrative Network Design Project

Integrative Network Design Project

In an attempt to remain competitive in today’s ever growing, technology driven market, Kudler Fine Foods is seeking to make a change to its current business techniques by upgrading their current network. Kudler Fine Foods (KFF) will need to implement a Wide Area Network (WAN) which can be used to tie current locations’ Local Area Networks (LAN) together. In addition, KFF will need to incorporate other technologies, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) to accommodate wireless handheld transaction terminals and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to decrease phone service costs. Once implemented, KFF’s new network will need to be expandable to accommodate any additional locations that KFF may open. This new network will incorporate new technologies, along with strict security standards. The major concern of the new network will be to provide KFF with the ability to connect all locations, view reports and inventories in real-time, and to maintain a secure connection to protect data between locations.

The Current Network

Currently, Kudler Fine Foods operates on an out-dated network, which lacks a reliable connection between its three locations. Under the current configuration, two of the company’s locations, La Jolla and Del Mar, have matching hardware configurations containing POS terminals and three servers. The third location, Encinitas, has only one server along with the POS terminals. All locations run on a 10.1.50.0 Ethernet network and connect to the Internet via a 56k dial-up modem. At the time in which KFF implemented this connection to the Internet, the hardware and cabling met the needs of the organization. In the current age of technology, this type of connection is very slow, and unreliable for video conferencing and other demanding network uses. Now, an improved setup will be needed in order to connect multiple locations and to provide a fast, seamless connection for KFF. The entire network at each location is connected to a single UPS-Standalone. For point of sale transactions, each location has its own Novell 4.11 POS server with PII WIN9x workstations. Novell Netware 4.11 is a small business software solution, designed for a network of 25 or less users, which was introduced in1998. This network software will not allow for KFFs continued growth. The La Jolla and Del Mar locations each have a PII 64mb RAM WIN9x Server with Office 97. WIN9x is a term used to identify Windows operating systems produced between 1995 and 2000, based on the Windows 95 kernel. This server is connected to a bubble jet printer and external CD burner. An inventory for the location is kept and maintained on this server using Microsoft Excel. Maintaining an inventory this way can produce inaccurate results, and can also be lost in the event of a disaster. These two locations also have a PII NT Server with built in modem and CDROM reader.