Campus network design

Example of a Campus Network Design
The goal of this section is to present a campus network design that was developed using the design methodology exposed in our lectures. The example is based on a real network design. Some of the facts have been changed or simplified to make it possible to present a simple and easy-to-understand example.

Background Information for the Campus Network DesignProject
Wandering Valley Community College (WVCC) is a small college in the western United States that is attended by about 600 full- and part-time students. The students do not live on campus. Approximately 50 professors teach courses in the fields of arts and humanities, business, social sciences, mathematics, computer science, the physical sciences, and health sciences. Many of the professorsalso have other jobs in the business community, and only about half of them have an office on campus. Approximately 25 administration personnel handle admissions, student records, and other operational functions. Enrollment at WVCC has doubled in the past few years. The faculty and administration staff has also doubled in size, with the exception of the IT department, which is still quite small. TheIT department consists of one manager, one server administrator, two network administrators, and two part-time student assistants. Because of the increase in enrollment and other factors covered in the next three sections, the current network has performance and reliability problems. The administration has told the IT department that both student and faculty complaints about the network haveincreased. Faculty members claim that, due to network problems, they cannot efficiently submit grades, maintain contact with colleagues at other colleges, or keep up with research. Students say they have handed in homework late due to network problems. The late submissions have impacted their grades. Despite the complaints about the network, faculty, staff, and student use of the network has doubledin the past few years. Wireless access has become a point of contention between the IT department and other departments. Students often place wireless access points in the Computing Center and the Math and Sciences building without permission from the IT department. The IT manager is concerned about network security and has assigned part-time students to roam the network to locate and removeunauthorized access points. The parttime students resent this task because in many instances the rogue access points were installed by peers and associates. Also, they think that wireless access should be allowed. Many students, faculty, and staff members agree.

Business Goals
 The college still wants to attract and retain more students. The college board of trustees believes that the best way toremain fiscally sound is to continue to increase enrollment and reduce attrition. The college administration and board of trustees identified the following business goals: Increase the enrollment from 600 to 1000 students in the next 3 years. Reduce the attrition rate from 30 to 15 percent in the next 3 years. Improve faculty efficiency and allow faculty to participate in more research projectswith colleagues at other colleges. Improve student efficiency and eliminate problems with homework submission.

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Allow students to access the campus network and the Internet wirelessly using their notebook computers. Allow visitors to the campus to access the Internet wirelessly using their notebook computers. Protect the network from intruders. Spend a grant that the state governmentissued for upgrading the campus network. The money must be spent by the end of the fiscal year.

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Technical Goals
The IT department developed the following list of technical goals, based on research about the causes of network problems, which is covered in more detail in the “The Current Network at WVCC” section:   Redesign the IP addressing scheme. Increase the bandwidth of the...