Week 4 Comprehensive Learning Assessment 1

Please choose one of the following two options and write your work in a 3-4 page APA-formatted paper. You are welcome to include diagrams within your work as appropriate, and if they are brought in from outside sources, be sure to provide proper citations and references. Do not go overboard with your designs, but consider each option carefully and provide an overview of the recommendations.
Option 1
You have been hired by a small company to install a backbone to connect four 1000base-T Ethernet LANs (each using one 24-port switch) and to provide a connection to the Internet. Develop a simple backbone and determine the total cost (i.e., select the backbone technology and price it, select the cabling and price it, select the devices and price them, and so on). Prices are available at www.datacommwarehouse.com, but use any source that is convenient. For simplicity, assume that category 5e, category 6, and fiber-optic cables have a fixed cost per circuit to buy and install, regardless of distance, $100, $120, and $300, respectively.
Option 2
You have been hired by a small company to install network infrastructure with shared storage. The office has 15 users. Business administration has requested that the accounting department, which has one user, not be on the same network as the operation network to protect business financial data traffic and maintain separate access to files and data.
Either Option:
In either case, consider the following requirements, but do not write your paper to solve all of these needs. Simply consider the needs in your network design solution:
Windows Server and Active Directory requirements
DHCP and DNS
IP addressing, VLANs, and subnet mask requirements to accommodate the number of users
NAS/SAN as appropriate
Print Server (if required)
Please provide diagrams of at least two design options.
Discuss and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed design and justify your recommendations. Consider cost, security, on-going maintenance, adding new users, printing, log-in, and Internet connection to all users.