Chapter B, Problem P1AYK

To determine

The type of network configuration that seems most appropriate for the company to carry out and analyze its operations, the range of bandwidth needed, the data that is needed to be collected, the plan that will be required to establish this system and whether the Global Manufacturing should use a private network or the Internet.

Answer to Problem P1AYK

Solution:

A private network or the intranet will be most suitable to carry out its operations. The estimated bandwidth required is 81 Mbps if the number of users is limited to 100 users. The type of data that the company needs to record is the work in process, and the finished assemblies. Also, the payrolls and accounting data is needed to be recorded. Global Manufacturing will have to remove the personal computers and connect all the dedicated computer systems to a single network. Hence, Global Manufacturing should use a private network.

Explanation of Solution

Given Information:

A manufacturing company and its departmental communication and data recording problem.

The company carries out the financial accounting and payroll calculation. Hence, this is very sensitive information. So, the network configuration should be dedicated to the company only. The company should establish an intranet network configuration system to receive data of the work in process and completed assembly. Also, the accounting and payroll data can be saved in the dedicated server and data storage facility. In case, the system crashes then the data can be recovered. Hence, the intranet will be the wise option. It simply uses the web-browser and file transfer application.

Consider that there are 100 users in the company that are using the computer systems. Each of them requires 1 Mb of downloading speed and 1 Mb of uploading speed. Next important thing is the number of the files to be uploaded. Consider that 10,000 files are uploaded daily and each file’s size is 1 Mb. This data will result in 11059 GB of data transfer for downloading and 14809 GB of data use in uploading. In such case, the estimated bandwidth is 81 Mbps.

Currently, Global Manufacturing uses a personal computer for accounting and payroll. If the company intends to establish a network system then it will have to connect all the computers dedicated to accounting, finance, and individual department to the intranet so that the related information can be transferred to the centralized system.

Further, the system is secure as there is no external element. Also, specified authorization levels can be set up to restrict unauthorized employees to access confidential information.

The company will have to establish a private network as the information is very confidential and company would not want to share it. The Internet can be vulnerable in such a case.

Conclusion:

The company requires a private network and intranet to fulfill its requirements.