Analysis of Requirements and Server Roles Identification
System management is gaining more and more importance within the organizations. The traditional ways of working are being replaced by technological applications such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence etc. Similarly, system management using networking techniques are also gaining more and more importance so that the organizations can save time on their tasks and at the same time achieve results that are more accurate. Local area network (LAN) is one such technology used in the field of networking that is often implemented within .
the organizations in order to connect the different departments (example admin, operations, human resource), so that can work and co-exist at the work place. A local area network (LAN) is set up using different network components like switches, routers, hubs as well as servers, which is the most important component. These parts work in correlation with each other and helps in data transfer and storage as well as performing other tasks such as resource sharing, centralized printing and it is achieved by creating a local area network (LAN).
The following paragraphs will highlight the importance and aspects of implementing LAN in the office of Charlie chocolates, located in Perth, Australia. They require individual LAN set up for their four main department’s namely: Inventory, sales, Accounting, and marketing. The server roles and technologies including their configuration process will be studied. A detailed study of the requirements in order to establish the LAN connection will also be explained. By the end of this report, the reader will have a clear understanding of how the company’s own server can be used to host their own website.
Analysis of requirements and server roles identification:
1. User authentication from a centralized server:
This is one of the most important requirements of the company. A centralized database for the users is needed which has to be created by the centralized server known as the “vision server” which will allow the sharing of the users usernames and password and other user authentication information among different other servers at other levels [9]. A Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).
server will be responsible for the management of the sensitive information of authentication of the users [6]. Only a local LDAP server is referenced on a standalone server. When an authentication database which is centralized, is shared among the different Vision Servers, request for authentication are transmitted through the network, which in turn will be redirected to the LDAP server in question [15]. These exchanges of messages are always encrypted and they require the server certificate usage. Three types of server required are [2]:
- Provider server: This will manage all the updates in the centralized database containing the user authentication information. Some of the important roles of the provider server so that the windows server and client environment can be supported are listed below[1]:
- Network services and Access policies
- Remote Access services[3]
- Remote accessing services of Desktop computers
- Services for Volume Activation
- Web Server (Internet information services)
Technologies Required for Local Area Network
The features associated to the provider server required for the following task will be:
- .NET 3.5 framework Features (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0)
- AutomaticPrivate IP Addressing (APIPA)
- Non-HTTP services activation
- .NET features for 4.5 Framework
- TCP services Activation
- Sharing of TCP ports.
The technologies that will be needed to incorporate these services and features within the organization to setup the LAN are summarized below:
- Centralized user authentication will need a network policy server, which makes use of a VPN equipment, and a domain for the active directory domain services (AD DS) [16]. They are used to verify and authenticate the different user information for attempting to establish connections.
- Consumer server: It will act as a slave of the provider server and will always be notified every time there is some kind of change in the provider server (example adding or removing a user) [4].
- Standalone server: Only the local server can access this. It is also the LDAP acting master server.
- Centralized print servers for users:
For print servers, a central printing management system (CPMS) will be needed, which will make use of the Cirrato one solution for centralized printing [5]. Through this technology, organizations like Charlie chocolates that have multiple and widespread geographical locations will be able to manage their printers in an efficient manner and optimize the printer-server networks, thereby reducing printing and operating costs as well [8].
3. Automatic IP address assignment for all computers:
A technology called dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) will be needed so that all the hosts (computers, devices) in the Inventory, Marketing, Accounting and sales department will be automatically able to fetch IP address from the DHCP servers. The process is explained below:
Step 1: At first, the client (a computer) sends a “DHCPDISCOVER” message to the DHCP server. If the server is configured on the same local network it directly received the request, else if it is located on another network, a relay component will pass on the request to the server. Here, User datagram protocol (UDP) is used as the transport protocol and 67 as the port number. This is the initialization step of the client [11].
Step 2: On receiving the discover message, the server sends out a “DHCPOFFER” message. Again, if the client is in the same network as of the server, it received the offer message directly, else through a relay component. In this step, the client has to select the offer message [11].
Step 3: The client now sends a “DHCPREQUEST” message to the server in acknowledgement of the offer and letting the server know that it has accepted the offer given by the server. Multiple DHCPDISCOVER messages will have multiple DHCPOFFER messages. However, the client is only supposed to send only one request message to a particular offer message, even after which it is not supposed to use the IP address now. Here, the client system enters the requesting phase of DHCP automatic IP address allocation [11] .
Step 4: On receiving the DHCPREQUEST from the host, the server sends a DHCPACK message confirming that the client can now use the assigned IP address [11].
4. Charlie Chocolates should be able to host its own website using their own server:
Automatic IP Address Assignment for All Computers
The company can host its website using its own server, through the following steps:
- First, the domain names have to be registered. A trustworthy registrar should be used which is also known for providing good technical support [13].
- The websites have to be then hosted using internet information services (IIS) from within the computer, in the control panel.
- WHM accounts has to be set up. WHM may be defined as the main control panel that manages a server [12].
- Access to the cpanel account is necessary.
- Client website has to be added.
- The company should be able to store the files on a separate file server with limited access:
The company can achieve this feature by using a “file server resource manager” (FSRM) which can help in managing as well as classifying important data, which are stored on different file servers. Files can be classified and tasks can be performed based on these kind of classifications, folders can be assigned fixed predefined quotas, and storage usage can be monitored using FSRM.
The features of FSRM are:
- Management of quota: The amount of allowed space for any folder can be limited through this feature, which can be automatically applied.
- Infrastructure for file classification: Different classification policies such as private, confidential can be automatically applied on the data. It dynamically con troll or restrict the access to the files stored in the file servers. File encryption is also possible through this feature [10].
- Management of file screening: Through this, the format of the file that is allowed to be stored on the file server is managed. For example, mp3 files can be restricted from being stored on any personal folder in a computer.
- Storage reports: Disk usage as well as data classification trends can be identified through this feature.
USN journals can be deleted in order to conserve space through the fsutil command:
The steps are:
- After opening registry editor by typing regedit in the run dialog box, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesSrmSvcSettings
- The journal creation can be optionally skipped by right clicking on the Settingstab and selecting the option DWORD (32-bit) Value from the new option.
- To particularly skip the creation of journal for any particular folder, the below mentioned command can be followed [14]:
- Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesSrmSvcSettings key and then select New > Multi-String Value.
- The new value should be named as: SkipUSNCreationForVolumes.
- For each of the folders, a path name should be mentioned as below:
Configuration of the servers within the LAN with screenshots:
- Provider server configuration: In order to configure this server the vision console has to be accessed and logged in as the vision-sys-admin. Once the authentication parameters are set in the console and the platform configuration of programmable media done, the “submit’ button has to be clicked.
- Consumer server configuration: To configure the consumer server, the certificate of the provider server has to be pulled and installed in the consumer server after configuring the provider server internet protocol (IP) address [7]
- Standalone server configuration: To configure this, under “Authentication”, the server settings for LDAP has to be selected as consumer. After providing the port number and the IP address of the provider server, the provider certificate has to be installed on the consumer server. The status of the server is updated example trusted or unavailable [15].
The server configuration can also be done through the command prompt wherein the options to shut down restart the server are available
Summary:
From the above report, it can be summarized that in order to establish the LAN in the four separate divisions of the organization, the three main primary types of servers have to be configured within each of the divisions that the company has: Inventory, sales, accounting and marketing divisions.
Conclusion:
From the above report, it can be concluded that local area network (LAN) can be created within each of the organizational units within the Charlie chocolates which are namely the sales and marketing department and the inventory and accounting. The provider server will manage the updates in the centralized database. The consumer server will be used to authenticate the user security information and will be used for data duplication as and when necessary. It will only be configured once the provider server certificates are successfully imported and installed. Finally, the standalone e server has to be configured once the port number and the IP address of the provider server has been applied. The port number that has to be used her for the provider server should be 69. Once the LAN is created, it will become much easier for the employees to perform tasks within the shared networks.
References:
[1]Improving network management with software defined networking, 2nd ed. IEEE, 2013, pp. 114-119.
[2]Target advertising to a specific user offered through an intermediary internet service provider, server or wireless network. UNOWEB Inc, 2018.
[3]Remote management and access of databases, services and devices associated with a mobile terminal. Nokia Technologies Oy, 2015.
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[5]Central printing management system: A case study of Contact Resolution Limited. Uusimaa: Laurea Institute of applied sciences, 2016, pp. 13-28.
[6 ]MCSA Windows Server 2012 Complete Study Guide: Exams 70-410, 70-411, 70-412, and 70-417. Wiley, 2013.
[7]Method and arrangement for use of shared resources in a network. U.S. Patent No. 8,537,404, 2013.
[8]A method for controlling transfer of print data, a client controller arrangement, a print arrangement and a network. US Patent App. 15/126,999, 2017.
[9]The illustrated network: how TCP/IP works in a modern network. Morgan Kaufmann, 2017.
[10]What you need to know about SDN flow tables. Springer, Cham, 2015.
[11]Methods and apparatuses for dynamically provisioning a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) client as a clientless internet protocol services (CLIPS). United States patent US 8,572,217, 2013.
[12]Method and system for hosting entity-specific photo-sharing websites for entity-specific digital cameras. United States patent US 8,645,325., 2014.
[13]Promoting local content hosting to develop the Internet ecosystem. ISOC Report, 2015.
[14]Executing Windows Command Line Investigations: While Ensuring Evidentiary Integrity. Syngress, 2016.
[15]Single sign on with multiple authentication factors. U.S. Patent 8,613,067, 2013.
[16]Method and system for third party client authentication. U.S. Patent 8,918,848, 2014.