Company Overview
FractalApps is a software development start-up. It was founded by three friends who went to undergrad school together at the University of Maryland. They founded their startup recently and set up headquarters at the condo of the two founders in Washington, DC. They have focused their attention on mobile app development and have developed and successfully marketed a popular app for job seekers. Now they are expanding their company into a full-fledged software development house.
They have recently received a cash infusion from an angel investor in Silicon Valley and are ready to build out their business. Their plan is to have three locations: a small headquarters in DC where the founders and senior staff reside, a sales office based in NYC (Brooklyn), and a development house in San Francisco where the bulk of the developers live and work.
They are looking for you to develop a network design for their business. They are seeking a standardized LAN design (using consistent hardware/software) for the three offices, and a cost-effective WAN design that allows all of their staff to communicate and collaborate quickly, efficiently, without a lot of network delay. The network should support both their voice and data needs.
Further, they require a secure way for mobile workers to remote in to the network and participate as if they were in the office. Many of the sales staff are in the field, as well as the development staff who want to be able to work practically anywhere. A VPN solution is what they are seeking but need guidance on what the hardware/software requirements are.
For this assignment, you will use your proposed solution for the FractalApps requirements analysis. Briefly describe the proposed technology solution and list the business requirements that are satisfied. This should be done on one to two pages. Then provide a detailed diagram that illustrates the placement of various communications components within the context of developing an effective solution for the FractalApps network.
Your deliverable is a one to four-page document that contains:
A recap of your proposed network (make sure you address all aspects of the network (LAN, WAN, VPN).
A detailed network diagram that shows the three FractalApps offices, the required LAN components, WAN technology and components, and VPN components (for both the office and mobile).
The Network diagram can be developed using any drawing applications (MS Visio or PowerPoint, CAD, etc., but needs to be in a pdf or docx format). I will even accept hand-drawn diagrams (take a high-res photo of your diagram and upload it with your Word document). You may submit multiple diagrams (one for the LANs, one showing the WAN technology components, and VPN network), and one high-level diagram that shows the interconnections between the three offices.
Your deliverable will be scored according to the Scoring Rubric below. Be sure you have incorporated all required aspects of the assignment.
