It242 Final

Acme WAN Design

Axia College of University of Phoenix

Acme Manufacturing is a growing organization with operational facilities and offices in multiple locations. The company’s offices are spread throughout the United States, with an additional plant in China. Atlanta, Georgia is home of the company’s headquarters, with an additional office supporting sales and engineering. The company’s distribution offices are in Chicago, Illinois; Phoenix, Arizona; and New York, New York. The distribution offices also have additional sales staff as well as administrative staff. The company is seeking to establish a Wide Area Network (WAN) to interconnect all of their staff to increase productivity and cut costs. Additionally, the company seeks to setup a telecommunications system. The company will benefit by reducing costs of travel by allowing teleconferencing, and greatly reduce communications by allowing real time communication amongst departments that are not physically connected, as well as the ability to share data and documents.

The WAN should be configured in a logical star topology. Each location will be configured to use a T1 leased line, which will serve as a dedicated line back to headquarters. A T1 leased line will be required for the following connections; from Chicago to headquarters; from Phoenix to headquarters; and from New York to headquarters. The sales and engineering office is across the street from headquarters so it will not require a dedicated leased line. Instead, the sales and engineering office will be connected to headquarters via a wireless connection. Directional antennas placed on the roofs of each building will provide the wireless connection without broadcasting the signal using an omnidirectional antenna. Two options exist for connecting the plant in China. An E1 line can be connected internationally to a T1. This may prove to be more costly, thus a satellite connection will provide the necessary connection from the China plant to...