Introduction

ENormlnc has two sites in Pittsburgh that are four miles apart. Each site consists of a large factory with office space for 25 users at the front of the factory and up to 20 workstations in two work cells on each factory floor. All office users need access to an inventory database that runs on a server at the Allegheny Street location; they also need access to a billing application with data residing on a server at the Monongahela site. All factory floor users also need access to the inventory database at the Allegheny Street location. Office space is permanently finished, but ENormlnc must tear down and reconfigure before each new manufacturing run begins. Wiring closets are available in the office space. Nothing but a concrete floor and overhead girders stay the same in the work cell areas. The computers must share sensitive data and control access to files. Aside from the two databases, which run on the two servers, all office computers must run standard word-processing and spreadsheet programs. All work cell machines are used strictly for updating inventory and quality control information for the Allegheny Street inventory database. Workstations in the manufacturing cells are switched on only when they’re in use, which might occur during various phases of a manufacturing run. Seldom is a machine in use constantly on the factory floor. Use the following worksheet to evaluate the requirements for this network. After you complete the worksheet, determine the best network topology, or topology combination, for the company. Use Visio to show the network design you think best suits ENormlnc’s needs. Network Evaluation Worksheet for Hands-On Project 2-4 Will the network be peer-to-peer or server-based? If it’s server-based, how many servers will be attached to the network? How many computers will be attached to the network? What applications will the office computers run? The factory floor computers? What topology works best for the offices, given the availability of