Hello all. I would like to send a thank you before hand for theresponse's and
suggestions I am to recv from this email.
After month's of searching, I have been hired into a job position asthe Network
Administrator. The company currently has a very bad setupof there Network
infrastructure and has hired me to come in, asses thedamage, and design a
network, no matter the budget, that would help tokeep and grow them for the
future.
I have very little experience (on the job training) with designing anetwork. I
am a new graduate of Technical college, where I graduatedwith all A's, and did
very well on my Capstone with designing/buildinga Network infrastructure.I have
5 to 6 years in the IT field, N+, A+, Solaris 10, Linux+, andthe AS degree in
Computer Network Systems;CCNA-pending. My experiencecomes from
designing/building PC/Laptops, remote desktop support, andmy most pervious
position was System Database admin on Solairs/Unixplatform;Telnet,SSH,VNC,VPN,
VT100 Terminal..etc to remote clients.
What I ask from you expert's is this.
Help!! I would like to be pointed in a direction that may help toguide me in
creating a "beginners" style network.Are there any basic/template designs
available?
There are a list of things I know we need.
1. A new Web Server.2. File server3. FTP server4. Application server5. Cisco
routers.6. A wall mount
rack.--***********************************************************************
You have a huge job in front of you. Especially if you have to startwith
cabling etc. You will need to audit what you already have inplace. Maybe you
need to find a service company that can help you withthe process. I would also
take some time to understand what thecompany does and what are their goals. If
they for example are lookingto open many new offices then perhaps you need to
think about ways toperhaps deal with this eg ctirix and and so on. Scoping the
projecthas been mentioned and is very important. You will want management
tounderstand what you can and cant achieve and in what time frames. Thelast
thing you want is to go through is the whole project and thinkingyou achieved a
desired result and this is far away from whatmanagement perceive to be a good
result.
Again get to know your organisation. Proposing say a linux desktop maybe too
much of an ask if everyone is comfortable with windows or inyour area it is
difficult to get support for a certain system/product.You may have to stage the
project. Identify what are the core needs ofyour business. Sometimes this comes
down to a handful of apps. Havingsomething work which is antiquated may be more
important than changingto the newest version of something. If you are not
pressed for timeyou could look at implementing systems which are close to best
ofbreed. Perhaps a more comprehensive/expensivebackup/recovery/archival/life
cycle management system might bewarranted if you need to be running 24x7 or
have governance issuessuch as sarbannes. Maybe a security audit is required as
well androllout of new boxes might need to be inline with hardening in mind.You
may have a web server but maybe a content management server isappropriate if
you change the website frequently.
You could also look at implementing systems tools that may save youtime in the
whole process. If you currently have to spend largeamounts of time removing
viruses then perhaps content filteringsystems are needed. Likewise if you are
to be installing large amountsof software maybe automation solutions like
SMS\Zenworks maybebenefitial. These can often have a large return on investment
if youcan send down a change/program to 100 machines and not have to visit
asingle workstation. You will really know you are achieving things ifyou can
make major changes to the infrastructure with very littleimpact to the working
of the business. Don't forget that it is thebusiness continuity that is paying
your wage. I have seen experiencedengineers kill a process on a production box
which then downed aserver and caused data corruption to a billing system. This
couldhave been avoided if this was conducted in a lunch hour/after hours.Also
try and have a plan B or C or a rollback path if something goeswrong. You may
need to run parallel systems or a test environmentbefore you implement major
changes. (VMware/Virtual Server may assistwith this). There is no substitute
for good planning. Consider youroptions when selecting hardware. Maybe Cisco is
not priced right foryour organisation. Heaps to think about. Be methodical and
good luck.
