DNCT603 Network Infrastructure and Administration Assessment Answers

Assessment Part 1 (25 Marks)

With networks at the heart of the most modern business, network design plays a crucial part in business outcomes. The network design refers to the practice of planning and designing a communication network infrastructure. Considering factors such as cost, performance and security, it is necessary to maintain the right balance between these factors and requires a unique blend of project management and technical skills to initiate the network design project.

Scenario

An Auckland-based Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company named ‘IT Matix Pvt Ltd’ hired you as a network designer. The company will require your help to design a network model for their IT network infrastructure requirements. The company building has two floors with 20 working employees in it. As a network designer, it is essential to follow a methodology and best practices that guide the entire lifecycle of the network design process.

Task 1: Project Management Methodology for the network (10 Marks)

LO 4: Apply project management skills for adoption of network design in a business.

Select a project management methodology (e.g. Cisco PPDIOO, Cisco PBM, etc.) which can be applied within the company to facilitate the design and implementation of a new network infrastructure. Prepare a short report of 700(±10%) words by reading the following requirements carefully and use them to guide you in writing your report:

Requirement 1: Using the chosen methodology, describe how it can be applied in the design and implementation of the network design project and identify the various phases of the methodology chosen,

Requirement 2: Produce a project plan using gantt chart which should outline the various phases you have identified.

Task 2: Project Management Practices for the network (10 Marks)

LO 4: Apply project management skills for adoption of network design in a business.

Based on the Task 1, identify 5 project management best practices and explain how it could be applied to the adopted network design project that would lead to making better decisions throughout the network lifecycle and provide a detailed description of them.

Task 3: Company’s Network Model using Network Simulation Tool (5 Marks)

LO 4: Apply project management skills for adoption of network design in a business.

Design a network model for the company and ensure that you include all the necessary

components and resources required to build the company’s network infrastructure.

Assessment Part 2 (75 Marks)

Scenario

The company ‘IT Matix Pvt Ltd’ hired you as a Network Engineer. The company plans to incorporate the domain and core services into the network. Also, they want the clients to get connected with the network. As you are proficient in the networking field, the company will require your help in understanding, installing and configuring the server and its services.

Phase A:

IT Matrix Pvt Ltd company requires your help understanding the server and its services by answering the following tasks.

LO 3: Demonstrate advanced skills in installing, configuring, managing, and maintaining a network to enhance business performance.

Task 1: Many SOHOs use a Windows Server; explain what purpose it performs along with the important services it provides (include minimum 2 services). (5 Marks)

Task 2: The company’s employees are unsure about the concepts of Domain Name System (DNS). Being proficient in the network administration field, explain how DNS operates within a Windows Server with a diagram if necessary. (5 Marks)

Task 3: The company wants to promote the use of server security service so that every user could have controlled access to the shared resources. As a network administrator, suggest what service could be used to implement the security service and explain it descriptively with a diagram if necessary. (5 Marks)

Task 4: Several of the company’s Windows Workstations (WSs) are having difficulty in connecting to the domain. The issue has been identified that WSs have been allocating a APIPA addresses. As a network administrator, suggest what server service could be used to automatically assign the IP addresses once WSs are connected to the network domain and explain how it functions descriptively with a diagram if necessary. (5 Marks)

Phase B:

You are required to install Windows Server and configure the server and its services based on the following parameters using virtualisation software.

LO 3: Demonstrate advanced skills in installing, configuring, managing, and maintaining a network to enhance business performance.

Task 1: Install Windows Server 2019 with the following information. (3 Marks)

• Computer name: ITMatrix
• IP address: 168.10.100
• Default gateway: 168.10.1

Task 2: Using PowerShell scripting, add the following roles in Windows Server. (5 Marks)

• Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS).
• Domain Name Server (DNS)
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server
• Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
• File

Task 3: Promote the Windows Server to Domain Controller (DC) with the following parameters and test the login as an admin in a domain. (3 Marks)

• Domain name: ITMatrix-DC.com
• Domain Password: ITMatrix@akl

Task 4: Within the company’s domain, complete the DHCP configuration with the following parameters using PowerShell scripting. (5 Marks)

• New scope name: ITMatrixScope
• IP address range: 168.10.200 – 192.168.10.250
• Excluded IP addresses: 168.10.225 – 192.168.10.230
• Lease time: 25 Hours and 5 Minutes
• Router default gateway: 168.10.1

Task 5: Configure ADDS and create an organisational unit (ITMatrixOU) object under your domain with the following sub-OU’s, inside that OU. (5 Marks)

• Call Centre Agents
• Team Leaders
• Call Centre Manager
• Quality Analysts
• Resource Planning Analysts

Task 6: Create the following users in the correct sub-OU’s. (5 Marks)

• Under Call Centre Agents: Liam, Noah, Oliver, Sarah and
• Under Team Leaders: Emma, Priya and
• Under Call Centre Manager: Benjamin, Xiao and
• Under Quality Analysts: Neeta, Rohit and
• Under Resource Planning Analysts: Alex, Amelia and

Task 7: Set the office working hours from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday, for all OUs.

(1 Mark)

Task 8: Configure SMTP server with the following parameters. (3 Marks)

• Authentication method: Anonymous
• Enable
• Limit the message size to 2048 KB, session size to 12 MB and the number of recipients per message to

Task 9: Using file and storage services, create a shared folder named ‘ITMatrix-Share’ in

server’s C: Drive and share it with all the domain users with the following permissions.

(2 Marks)

• Full
• Read access.
• Write access.

Provide screenshots of all configured tasks as evidence.

Phase C:

The company wants to establish full connectivity between the Server and Client PC in Auckland. So, complete the following tasks to fulfil the requirements.

LO 3: Demonstrate advanced skills in installing, configuring, managing, and maintaining a network to enhance business performance.

Task 1: Install and configure Window 10 Client PC with the Computer Name as “ITMatrix- Win”. (2 Marks)

Task 2: Join the Windows 10 workstation to the domain and verify the connectivity.

(2 Marks) Task 3: Login with one of the domain users on a Win 10 client PC, check to see if they can access the shared folder or not by creating a folder in the shared folder, which was created in Phase B: Task 9. (3 Marks)

Provide screenshots of all configured tasks as evidence.

Phase D:

The IT Matrix company’s Head and Director are now thinking of securing its resources by implementing some disaster recovery plan. They thought about incorporating the scheduled backup feature in the server by creating a copy of data that can be recovered in case of a primary data failure. You are required to help the company by accomplishing the following tasks.

LO 3: Demonstrate advanced skills in installing, configuring, managing, and maintaining a network to enhance business performance.

LO 5: Apply specialised skills to secure a company’s resources by implementing disaster recovery best practices.

Task 1: Add the backup feature to the server in ITMatrix domain login using PowerShell scripting. (2 Marks)

Task 2: Perform a complete one-time backup of the company’s server system. (2 Marks)

Task 3: Schedule a backup daily at 7 pm. (2 Marks)

Task 4: Aside from implementing a backup plan, recommend additional two features the company could add to the disaster recovery plan that could be incorporated into their best practices. Provide justification for each recommend feature. (5 Marks)

Task 5: Provide 5 methods that can be used to maintain and improve the performance of the network from a business perspective and provide a brief explanation of each of them.

(5 Marks)

Provide screenshots of all configured (1-3) tasks as evidence.