WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY
Submittal Cover Sheet

Date: 12/20/2010
Student Name:
Student ID Number:
Student Degree Program: BSIT
Student Email:
Four Digit Assessment/Project Code: CPW1
Mentor Name: Laura Creamer / Les Vance
For Revisions Only Indicate Previous Grader:

Submissions received with an altered, incomplete or missing cover sheet will be returned for resubmission.
Submit to:
Western Governors University
Attn.: Assessment Delivery Department
4001 South 700 East, Suite 700
Salt Lake City, Utah 84107-2533

Capstone Project Cover Sheet

Capstone Project Title: Small Business Network Upgrade

Student Name:

Degree Program: BSIT

Mentor Name: Laura Creamer / Les Vance

Signature Block
Student’s Signature

Mentor’s Signature

Table of Contents

Capstone Report Summary (Introduction) ................................................................................................... 1
Goals and Objectives..................................................................................................................................... 6
Project Timeline (Appendix 2)..................................................................................................................... 11
Project Development .................................................................................................................................. 13
References .................................................................................................................................................. 17
Appendix 1: Competency Matrix ................................................................................................................ 18
Appendix 2: Project Plan and Timeline ....................................................................................................... 20
Appendix 3: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Features and Benefits .................................................................... 23

Page 1

Capstone Report Summary (Introduction)

Most small businesses today understand the need for a modern and efficient computer network to maximize their bottom line. Others, however, continue to putter along utilizing outdated systems that slow employee productivity and sharpen customer frustration.

is a small business in

California with 87 employees that had been working with a network that was current in 1998 but became quite archaic by 2010. Upper management found it lacking in many areas and the company’s users felt the whole system was extremely slow overall. As a former employee and current computer network consultant, the company had asked me to plan and build a comprehensive company network upgrade. In order to accomplish this, I conducted a systems analysis/rational for the project and researched technology with which I was less than experienced.
In approaching this project, I began by learning all I could about the existing system and why it needed to be changed. The process started with asking the principles relevant questions, then mapping out the existing system to determine what changes had to occur to meet their needs satisfactorily. For example, was the existing system inadequate in whole or only in part, and if changes were made, then what were the business benefits of these changes? Each business has a wide variety of needs and you can never assume you understand what a company needs without asking the appropriate questions. In other words, I had to conduct a comprehensive systems analysis and client interview before deciding on possible changes.
The first thing I did was schedule an appointment with the owner and COO of to find out what they liked and disliked in their existing system as well as what they were looking to accomplish with an upgraded system. As it turned out, they liked very little about their existing setup. In fact, they brought up a variety of complaints:

Page 2
1. The computer system ran so slowly that the owner, the COO and all the employees complained about it to each other constantly.
2. Customers often wondered aloud why the system took so long to show them design options via the internet as well as to give them any kind of quote.
3.

All of their computers showed signs of viruses, spyware and malware.

4. Network security was lax. Everyone had access to any computer at any time (the company had one standard user and password for every computer except for the owner and COO).
There was no central logging to show management who was doing what and when.
5. They were scared of losing all of their data, as they had no disaster recovery process in place. After the meeting with upper management, I held a meeting with several key employees as well.
From these meetings I put together a descent picture of what they felt was important in a new system.
Concisely, they wanted a system that was faster, more secure, more efficient and safer than their existing one. The sales manager wanted to insure all of his sales staff had bigger flat-screen monitors and faster internet access speeds for working with clients. The senior product designer also wanted an oversize monitor, in addition to making sure her new computer’s specs met or exceeded the recommended specs for all of her new design software. The production manager felt his existing production terminal systems were just fine for what he used them for, but wanted to eliminate any internet access on the machines.
Understanding what the company was trying to accomplish with a network upgrade, I then began an inspection of the existing company network to determine its architecture. From this inspection, I found their existing system was a simple peer-to-peer network, with 34 desktop computers and no main login server. This examination exposed the first problem with the network. While peer-topeer networks are less expensive from a cost standpoint, networks with more than 10 desktops or so

Page 3 begin to show a significant degradation in network speed. Further, I discovered the physical connection topology of the network utilized CAT5 cabling and 10BASE-T switches/network adapters. This exposed problem number two - CAT5 cabling and 10BASE-T network adapters both operate at 10mbps, which is excessively slow by today’s standards. Further, all of the desktop computers had wiring directly into one of two 10BASE-T switches, which compounded the problem. A wired Linksys router connected the switches to the company’s T1 modem to round out the intranet’s access to the outside world. All IP4 addressing in the network was strictly static and used a conventional internal network range of
192.168.1.100 – 192.168.1.200 and 255.255.255.0 subnet. The network also contained one Linux application server that held their proprietary design and accounting software. A tape backup system was also in place for backing up this application server.
All of the company desktops had either Windows 98 or Window XP operating systems. Each machine that ran Windows XP had the same hardware specification: 1800 MHz Pentium 4 CPU, 128K ram, 16mb video card and 14” analog monitor. Each machine that ran Windows 98 logged in various production activities and printed Identification product labels. These machines ran a 200 MHz Pentium
CPU with 64K ram, 4mb video card and 13” amber monitor. The company architecture also included 12
Brother laser printers, an HP scanner and 2 thermal label printers.
Once I charted the overall structure of the company’s topology, I examined a number of the desktops more closely. I examined only five machines to get an average picture since they were all built much the same. Each machine had a 16 gig hard drive with almost 0 remaining space available; none had been cleaned out of undeleted temporary files, been defragmented or had a backup in at least 4 years. In addition, each had Windows Word 97 as a standard word processing program, but none had any virus, spam or spyware prevention programs. However, I did find 20+ user-added programs that were unauthorized according to the owner.

Page 4
In the final analysis, it was obvious that this company would have benefited some if they had simply conducted due diligence by maintaining the existing computers by erasing temporary files, removing the unauthorized programs, defragmenting the drive and setting up scheduled backups of each computer’s data files. They might have improved even more with cable and network hardware replacements. However, was that enough? Unfortunately, the answer is no. There were just too many problems those measures did not address. A full systems upgrade was the necessary option. However, before I started any upgrade, I had some research to do.
I studied server software solutions, cabling options and switch/network card options as well as hardware options. These options were:
Server OS – Microsoft Server 2008 vs. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server
Network cabling – Cat5e vs. Cat6
Switches and Network Cards – 100BASE-T vs. Gigabit
Over the years, Microsoft server software and its corresponding hardware had been my server of choice when I set up any network for clients, but this client expressed that I present two system options – one
Windows-based and the other Linux-based. Since I had little experience with any Linux system, I researched Red Hat Linux Enterprise Server as a second option. In looking for a workable Linux server system, I read many articles on the internet regarding available options. Www.Linux.com had a direct comparison of Linux systems. In this article, they felt the Red Hat Enterprise Server (RHEL) was the best contender. Best Linux Enterprise Server
Again, in this category it really comes down to two main contenders: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
(RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES). Given the pick for the Enterprise Desktop category, you might expect SLES to get the "best of" label here.
But, when all factors for the enterprise server are weighed, RHEL is still the king of this particular hill. Page 5

Red Hat edges out Novell with its server product, because RHEL users get a deeply mature distribution, and Red Hat's support structure is second to none in the enterprise channels
(Proffitt, 2010).

I conferred with a few colleagues who specialized in Linux and they concurred that indeed that
RHEL was the best choice. So, I did additional research at www.redhat.com, summarized in Appendix 3, along with a few other sources. However, in all my research I discovered deep divisions in opinions regarding Linux vs. Microsoft server solutions. It seemed that for every expert that lauded the virtues of
Linux, there was another expert who did the same for Microsoft, while at the same time they each bashed the other. I knew each system had its pluses and minuses like most things, but the question remained – could I have planned and built a Linux-based solution given my relative inexperience with the platform? There was no doubt I could with time, but the project had a tight timeframe and budget.
Being honest with myself, I told the client I would only recommend one system – a Microsoft-based solution. Page 6
After determining the system, I compiled a parts list. From this list, I worked with my hardware and software vendors on costs to bring the project in under budget. The goal of this project was to create a new network that met or exceeded all customer expectations within a defined budget and timeframe. Deliverables included new desktop computers and monitors, a main login server, switches, network cards, updated software and formal training.

Goals and Objectives
This project contained 11 main goals and objectives, including:


Created a faster and more efficient network



Upgraded all existing inefficient computer hardware and software



Installed new user productivity software



Designed and installed a new designer station



Established tools to generate reports on user and systems usage



Installed portal virus and malware software



Set up remote access for management and outside sales employees



Developed a backup and disaster recovery plan



Removed and recycled all replaced equipment



Provided appropriate employee training in the new system



Met project budget and exceeded customer expectations.

The business success of this project hinged on completion of these goals and objectives. They represented the scope of the project and provided a blueprint for a satisfying conclusion.

Page 7
The most important upgrade management asked for was a network-wide increase in speed and efficiency. How was this important? Let us say you are a customer at a grocery store and there are several customers with full shopping carts in front of you waiting to check out. Further, let us say that the grocery store has technology in place that makes the sales clerk input a code by hand for each item purchased. As you might imagine, you would be in that line a very long time. Now what if right across the street there was another grocery store with similar pricing, but they offer a faster checkout system where the clerk enters each item purchased automatically via flatbed infrared scanner. Compared head to head, if the customer in the store with the scanner lives close by, then they are likely to be able to check out, get into their car and be at home by the time the non-scanner customer even gets out of the store.
The main technique to getting increased speed for

was to upgrade their

existing hardware and software. Circuit boards are the main component of any hardware in a computer network. According to ‘Moore’s Law’, “the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years. The trend has continued for more than half a century…” (Wikipedia, 2010). Since the company had not upgraded their system in 12 years, this meant new circuit boards now hold roughly 64 times more transistors than those in the company’s old system. Add in new software and the symbiotic relationship of hardware and software moves in harmonic productivity producing better performance. Software upgrades, while not advancing to the degree of circuit boards, have made processes faster, easier and more automatic.
In upgrading the software for this company, I installed new server and desktop operating systems to take advantage of the increase in hardware performance and other new software provided increased productivity over outdated suites such as Word 97. Additionally, software to better manage calendars and email correspondence immediately enhanced worker’s organizational and

Page 8 communication skills. The senior product designer asked for and received new design software that allowed her to compete with competitor designers. Consequently, she now produces more competitive product designs.
A new modern design station was a critical part of the new setup. It contained a desktop machine that was fast and held a lot of RAM. The attached monitor was a large 28”+ LCD monitor running off a video card with a lot of memory and color match tuning. Hard drives were set up as a raid system with a very large storage capacity to hold a large number of high-resolution designs. The design station’s main function was to show clients new and exciting art designs. For accessories, I installed a digital writing tablet, large-format flatbed scanner, mid-range priced six-color printer and digital projector. Customers often complained to the senior designer that they were frustrated at how long it took to render designs onscreen and the old CRT screen never showed any of the colors in the designs accurately. Consequently, when they picked supporting mats and framing for the designs, the art simply came out different and did not have the impact desired of the overall design.
The next goal was to provide management with better reporting tools for their system. They had no answers to the many questions which most modernized corporations had access. How many hours were lost to unauthorized employee internet usage? Who was accessing the network, when were they accessing it and what were they accessing? If there were errors on the system and no one knew about them, did they really happen? Of course, they did, but no one knew it until information leaked out or some insidious software leaked in and devoured irreplaceable data. However, by then, it was entirely too late. Reports and tools to track these things and many others were not only nice to have, but are essential to the maintenance and security of the new network system.
When I initially examined some the existing desktop systems, I found a variety of malware present on each system. One had an outdated version of Norton, but the rest had no protection at all.
There are two types of security for viruses, spyware and other types of malware – desktop or portal.

Page 9
Each desktop can have security software like Norton or McAfee suites installed on them. The updating of these desktop versions works very well but is laborious to maintain for each machine. Portal malware security is a better option for larger organizations as it scans and screens incoming and outgoing data at the packet level looking for digital trouble. Moreover, since it is a single portal and only in one physical position, it is much easier to maintain and manage. Many organizations decide to utilize a little of both. For example, even if you use a portal malware system you may still use desktop versions of virus software on sensitive desktops for added security.
Someone once said that the only way to secure yourself from outside digital influences is to not connect your system to the internet and plug all of your ports to allow zero outside access. In today’s business environment, that is far from advisable. What if you have remote employees such as salespeople, who need access to internal network resources when they are not physically on site? It is not practical to deny them access if they connect with a secure connection. The company had several employees that required this access, so VPN tunneling was set up for these employees. This helped to nullify unauthorized external access to the LAN.
Precautions have always been necessary to maintain a network, nevertheless, what if something still went wrong. Was there a system in place to restore lost data or restore systems that went offline?
The company had only a single backup system established for their Linux server that contained their design and accounting software. This solution did nothing if crucial one-of-a-kind proprietary designs on someone’s desktop were lost because of a hard disk crash or other hardware or software failure. A new backup and disaster recovery plan was necessary to maintain business continuity and retain valued digital assets.
When you had ‘in with the new’, you inevitably had ‘out with the old’, which in this case constituted physical hardware disposal. In today’s green world of recycling, no company or contractor can simply toss any computer network components that hold hazardous materials in the trash.

Page 10
GENERALLY, ELECTRONIC WASTE IS CLASSIFIED AS HAZARDOUS IF IT CONTAINS COMPONENTS
THAT ARE TOXIC (POISONOUS), IGNITABLE/COMBUSTIBLE, CORROSIVE, OR REACTIVE. MOST
ELECTRONIC DEVICES CONTAIN HEAVY METALS, SUCH AS LEAD. IF THE HAZARDOUS
COMPONENTS GET INTO LANDFILLS, THE HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES CAN THEN GET INTO THE
SOIL AND PERHAPS SEEP INTO THE GROUNDWATER. (Shinder, 2008)
Types of hazardous materials include most old circuit boards, batteries and CRT screens. The company requested appropriate disposal and an appropriate recycling of all discarded hazardous material. I secured an authorized vendor to do just that.
Upon conclusion of the project, my goal was to provide complete employee training on the new system. Just because there was, a new system in place did not mean anyone knew how to use it. It was only possible to increase productivity on the new systems through proper training. Desktop users needed to know how to do their jobs better using their new desktop equipment. Management needed to know how to access the report information and understand what the reports meant in order to act on them. There was additional training in some of the specific design software needed for the Senior
Designer, but that was outside the scope of my abilities. I accomplished training verbally augmented by a written instruction manual – one for management and one for all other users.
Lastly, my primary goal as a technology professional was to conclude the project on or under the established budget while attempting to meet or exceed project expectations of the principle stakeholders. This sounded like a simple concept, but it was far from it. Between scope creep and management’s tightening of their original budget, several goals underwent augmentation in order to accomplish this upgrade. My objective was for the customer to be happy with my efforts and I believe I achieved that.

Page 11

Project Timeline (Appendix 2)
The project timeline was broken down into seven broad phases: project initiation, project planning, design specification, build out, testing and quality control, project review and project closing.
Some tasks went quite smoothly and completed exactly as planned, while others were harder to keep to their scheduled timeline. A few were due to my personal family conflicts, however most scheduling problems were caused by the client changing the scope of the project and revising the budget downward. Project initiation (Phase 1) began on December 1 and consisted of two tasks. The first was reviewing the project scope to make sure I had thought of everything needed for successful project completion. The second task was to review success criteria of the project in order to determine what level of completion actually achieved an acceptable success level. I overestimated the time needed for these tasks (2 days) and was able to complete both in just one day.
Project planning (Phase 2) began on December 2 and consisted of four tasks. The first three tasks: developing an effective communication plan, determining the schedule and creating a risk assessment were straightforward. These tasks were scheduled to take 3 days to complete, but took just
2 days. The fourth task was the kickoff meeting with upper management to review the scope of the project and discuss overall scheduling on December 8, but I was able to move the meeting up to
December 6. It was at this meeting that the scope of the project began to creep and I had to use the two days I was ahead of schedule to create a new schedule.
Design Specification (Phase 3) began on December 9, putting me back on schedule. This phase consisted of six requirements: hardware, software, security, network, storage and access. Upon completion of these requirements, the last was supposed to be the final sign-off meeting with management where I would receive a purchase order and down payment to begin the project. Given that the first meeting had not gone as planned, I decided to attempt to do all of the requirements in 3

Page 12 days instead of the 6 days. That would allow me to move up the planned sign-off meeting three days to
December 14 in case I received new surprises – which I did. Citing a need for a lower budget ceiling, the company owner asked me to go back and reassess all of the project requirements to bring the projected overall cost down. He also wanted to reopen for business several days earlier than originally planned. I then spent the next two days modifying my proposal specs and timeline and rescheduled the sign-off meeting for its original date of December 17. Finally, I received a project purchase order and deposit to start the project.

closed their doors for their traditional holiday break after the

meeting and I began work on the next phase.
The build out (Phase 4) consisted of eight tasks and was supposed to begin on Monday,
December 20. However, not wanting to take any chances on getting behind schedule I began placing orders with my vendors on Friday, December 17 right after I received the PO and deposit check. This allowed me to obtain most of the hardware and software I needed for the project by December 21. This once again put me ahead of schedule by a one day. My first build was to install and configure the new
Microsoft Server. Next, I set up all the network hardware, cabling and desktop computers. After that, I set up the new design station, new network attached storage and new SonicWall appliance with VPN tunneling. Originally, I planned 12 Days for the build out, but with management shrinking their holiday, I cut that time to 8 days (including the one day I was ahead of schedule). Therefore, instead of completing this phase by January 3, I had to complete it by December 30.
Testing and quality control (Phase 5) came next. Originally scheduled for 3 days to test all hardware and software, I had to cut it down to 2 days and finish it by January 2nd. So of course, I ran into several problems with the server, dead cables and configuration settings that caused me to put in quite a few extra hours in those two days.
At this point, all company employees returned from their Christmas break on January 3rd and project review (Phase 6) commenced. The first step of the project review consisted of training all

Page 13 employees. I trained all users how to log into the new server and gave a basic course on the operation of the Windows 7 operating system. Additionally, I trained management in accessing and utilizing server and SonicWall reports. I gave the senior product designer extra training on her equipment as it differed somewhat from all the other machines. I accomplished all of this training in a little over a day. The remaining time on Day 2 (January 4) was spent reviewing all hardware and software aspects of the project to ascertain if all deliverables beside those in Phase 7 were up and running to specifications.
Finally, in project closing (Phase 7), four tasks remained. The first two involved the completion of the last two deliverables – a completed network physical topology diagram and a basic operating manual for the new system. For the third task, all obsolete equipment was turned over to a certified hazardous disposal and recycling vendor. The fourth task simply reflected on how the project evolved and what lessons I learned from the experience. The project culminated on January 11, taking 31 workdays to complete – 4 days earlier than originally planned.

Project Development
The project development proceeded mostly to plan. However, due to several changes in project scope and budget from the client and a few personal family conflicts, the project was not without its kinks. Because of these issues, I had to make several timeline changes and modify a few of the deliverables. Nevertheless, even with these issues the client judged the project a success.

This project really started after I had presented a completed project proposal to the client, complete with a timeline and price estimate. The timeline matched the specified timeframe of the client and the price estimate came in under the budget proposed by the client. However, when I had my final meeting with the owner and COO of the company (before beginning the project), I was informed they wanted to change a few things. First, they wanted to change the budget.

Page 14
After consulting with his accountant, the owner felt the money for the project was just too much. Initially, he had tried to get me to cut down my price without any changes to the deliverables; however, this was simply not possible. So after some haggling, we agreed on several changes to the deliverables. First, instead of upgrading all of the computers in the production area as I had planned, I left them as is except to revoke their internet access. This was tolerable since the production manager felt these computers were fine. Next, I worked out a support agreement with him, which was much less expensive than the agreement offered by Microsoft support in the original proposal. Lastly, we agreed to scrap a second backup server that would be an automatic fall-over server in case of a server crash.
With these changes, the owner then felt the new project price was acceptable.

With the price point taken care of, the owner then sprang on me that he wanted to have the project completed several days earlier than originally planned. He felt his workers were going to be on holiday too long for his comfort or theirs. This presented a considerable problem for me as I set my price doing this job solo and if I had to hire assistance, the project was not worth doing. In putting together the original project plan, I already felt crunched on time. Considering all options, including spending time with my family over the holidays, I concluded my only option to meet the new timeline would be to work longer days while the company closed for the holidays.

As soon as I had some of the new equipment on site, I began to rebuild the client’s network.
However, without wanting to incur extra shipping charges, I ordered shipped items to arrive via ground shipping. Unfortunately, some of these parts filtered in a day or so later than expected, which means I did some parts of the installation out of order. Whenever I had no machine to configure or build, I worked on rewiring the network with CAT6 cable. This allowed me to stay busy at all times and minimize the shipping delays issue. I had run cable many times and felt confident there were no problems in that area. Page 15
On the day, I was to set up and configure the new server; my brother got a severe staph infection and went into the hospital. I had to leave the project and spend some time with his family that day and the next. I explained this delay to the client and they decided to give me a key to the building for the duration of the project so I could come and go at irregular hours to finish the project on time. If not for that, timely completion was doomed.

While working around 1:00am a few days later, the newly installed Microsoft 2008 server crashed. Amazingly, I soon realized the unit’s motherboard had fried. In all my years of working on computer systems, I had never once seen that happen. I always work with antistatic equipment when working inside any electronic equipment, but in this case, I had not even needed to open the case. I contacted Dell the next day to report the problem and got them to expedite a new server to me next day air. I had to wait on its arrival and had to reconfigure it when it did.

The new server seemed fine and began to set up all the desktops to log into it. Unfortunately, I had several desktops that would not connect, and after trying several solutions, realized some of the cables were bad. In my haste to get things done, I had neglected to test each cable from end to end to verify it was functioning. On two cables, I simply had to replace the ends with properly wired RJ45 connectors. With the others, I had to replace the entire cable lengths. The lesson learned was that sometimes it does not pay to do shortcuts.

With the server now running, the desktops connected and running through the new Gigabit switches, I turned to the installation of the new SonicWall appliance. I had done this before and as before, it presented no problems this time either. The last thing I did on the new system the night before the client was due to reopen was to configure the NAS backup system and establish the reports from the server and SonicWall for management.

Page 16
On the day the client reopened, I met with the owner and COO one hour before opening time. I explained to them how I would be having orientation training with everyone for 30 to 45 minutes before working with them individually. I discussed new desktop usage, new login procedures, and new security measures including management logging. I ended the day by working with the lead Designer on setting up and answering questions about her new station.

The last part of the deliverables was a small employee manual on the new system and a more involved one for the owner. In the owner’s manual, I gave him the tools to act as the Network
Administrator as he had some technical knowhow. However, to be prudent, I established a service contract with him for anything he was not able to handle. Along with the written training, I also gave the owner a mapping of the topology of the network that included the location of all equipment, settings and passwords he needed to know.

In the final analysis, the owner, the COO and all the employees of

were

extremely happy with their new computer network. It surpassed every expectation they had and accomplished every goal they listed. It was faster; they were more efficient; their clients were happier; their ROI was reasonable; they were more competitive in their market segment; and they loved the job I performed. However, did it make a difference in productivity? Just because the transistors, cables and software in the client’s system became many times faster did not necessarily make employees more productive. It is difficult to put a price on employee or customer loyalty and happiness. Nevertheless, technology alone will never be solely responsible for business productivity improvement; it is a tool like any other at the disposal of superior business professionals. It is up to successful managers and owners to make use of their technology for the betterment of their business. This business was very savvy in that they not only made the move to upgrade, but also hired a technology professional who understood their business well enough to help them set up a system so they could succeed.

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References

Proffitt, Brian. (2010). The Top 7 Best Linux Distributions for You. Retrieved October 28, 2010, from http://www.Linux.com/learn/docs/ldp/282996-choosing-the-best-Linux-distributions-foryou.html Red Hat Enterprise Linux. (2010). Retrieved November 5, 2010, from http://www.redhat.com/rhel/server/features/ SonicWall Network Security Appliance 2400. (2010). Retrieved November 24, 2010, from SonicWall
Network Security Appliance 2400 http://www.sonicwall.com/us/products/NSA_2400.html
Shinder, Deb. (2008). What IT pros should know about exposure to hazardous materials. Retrieved
November 22, 2010, from http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=637
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law

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Appendix 1: Competency Matrix
Domain/Sub-domain

Competency

Explanation

Technology Management
Fundamentals

Upper division technology management skills

Recommended appropriate tools, diagnostic procedures, preventive maintenance and troubleshooting techniques for personal computer components in a desktop system

Language and
Communication

Upper division language and communication skills

Presented information to an audience using effective communication strategies

Natural Science

Upper division natural science skills Analyzed the components, organization, interactions, and processes of ecosystems

Quantitative Literacy

Upper division quantitative literacy skills

Constructed reasonable quantitative arguments, reasons deductively and inductively, solved quantitative problems using a variety of techniques, and determined whether a given argument has logical flaws

Reasoning and Problem
Solving

Upper division reasoning and problem solving skills

Logically brought together information to arrive at a viable solution to a problem, and then clearly and accurately communicated the results

Principles of Management

Upper division principles of management skills

Responded appropriately to diversity issues in the workplace

Organizational Behavior and Leadership

Upper division organizational behavior and leadership

Analyzed the culture within an organization to determine how to work effectively within that organization Networks

Upper division network skills

Differentiated and installed/configured network devices.

Page 19
Operating Systems

Upper division operating system skills Installed, configured, and updated computer operating systems; determined and fixed postinstallation issues

Project Management

Upper division project management skills

Implemented, controlled, and coordinated projects according to project plans

Network Security

Upper division network security skills Identified security needs and recommended appropriate security practices for network infrastructures.

Web Systems and
Technologies

Upper division web system and technology skills

Identified suspicious network activity and selected the appropriate strategy to counter it.

Page 20

Appendix 2: Project Plan and Timeline
Estimated
Duration

Estimated Begin
Date

Estimated End
Date

Reviewed Project Scope

.5 Day

12/1/2010

12/1/2010

Reviewed Success Criteria

.5 Day

12/1/2010

12/1/2010

Developed Communication Plan

1 Day

12/2/2010

12/2/2010

Determined Schedule

.5 Day

12/3/2010

12/3/2010

Created Risk Assessment

.5 Day

12/3/2010

12/3/2010

Projected Kickoff Meeting with Upper
Management

3 Days

12/6/2010

12/8/2010

Hardware Requirements

.5 Day

12/9/2010

12/9/2010

Software Requirements

.5 Day

12/9/2010

12/9/2010

Project Initiation

Project Planning

Designed Specification

Page 21

Security Requirements

.5 Day

12/10/2010

12/10/2010

Network Requirements

.5 Day

12/10/2010

12/10/2010

Storage Requirements

.5 Day

12/13/2010

12/13/2010

Access Requirements

.5 Day

12/13/2010

12/13/2010

Obtained Project Start sign-off from client 3 Days

12/14/2010

12/17/2010

Obtained Hardware and Software

3 Days

12/17/2010

12/21/2010

Configured Main Server

1 Day

12/22/2010

12/22/2010

Installed Network Cabling

1 Day

12/23/2010

12/23/2010

Installed Network Hardware

1 Day

12/24/2010

12/24/2010

Installed Desktop Computers

2 Days

12/27/2010

12/28/2010

Installed Main Design Station

1 Day

12/29/2010

12/29/2010

Installed Backup Solution

.5 Day

12/30/2010

12/30/2010

Build Out

Page 22

Installed Access Controls/Configure
Remote VPN Solution

.5 Day

12/30/2010

12/30/2010

Tested Hardware/Software

1 Day

12/31/2010

12/31/2010

Tested Network/Network Security

.5 Day

01/02/2011

01/02/2011

Tested backup solution/WAN connectivity/Access Controls

.5 Day

01/02/2011

01/02/2011

Trained Upper Management/Staff

1 Day

01/03/2011

01/03/2011

Reviewed hardware requirements and specifications, goals and objectives, budget and maintenance contracts

1 Day

01/04/2011

01/04/2011

Physical network diagram

1 Day

01/05/2011

01/05/2011

Disposed of obsolete equipment

1 Day

01/06/2011

01/06/2011

System Manual

2 Days

01/07/2011

01/10/2011

Project Lessons learned

1 Day

01/11/2011

01/11/2011

Testing and Quality Control

Project Review

Project Closing

Page 23

Appendix 3: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Features and Benefits
Features

Benefits

Optimized on highly scalable, multi-core systems, Red Hat Enterprise Linux manages the underlying
Application &

system complexity and reduces data bottlenecks so applications can perform their best.

infrastructure efficiency,

Red Hat works closely with our hardware partners and industry standard groups to enable the latest

scalability, and reliability hardware functionality as it becomes available. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 provides operating system control for platforms to have enhanced system power management, and end-to-end data integrity.



Scaling with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (pdf)



Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Application Compatibility Specification (pdf)

Unprecedented resource
Administrators and application developers can set policies by process, applications, and even guests to management match network, memory, and cpu usage to business needs and service-level agreements.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a complete security stack from network firewall control to secure containers for application isolation that has made Red Hat Enterprise Linux one of the most certified operating systems available.
Integral security
As a host, a guest, or in the cloud, applications can be secured with a common and comprehensive suite of technologies and policies - backed by Red Hat's global Security Response Team.



Security Technologies in Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Develop and deploy with confidence knowing that all the packages shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux are supported and maintained. In addition to the LAMP stack, the application development portfolio
Stable application

includes scripting languages such as PHP, the TurboGears2 framework, the Eclipse IDE, and debugging/tuning tools. Not only is deployment easy, but architects can use advanced caching

development and production platform

technologies to scale as needed without additional complexity.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides comprehensive application support across cloud services, middleware, web applications, and enterprise applications.



Your Web Applications

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is designed to be both a superior virtualization host and guest on any of the
Integrated virtualization

major hypervisors. With virtualization incorporated into the kernel, the complete breadth of system management, security tools, and certifications are available for your administrators to use.



Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Consolidation (pdf)

Page 24

Red Hat provides two categories of control for datacenter operations. Our Smart Management Add-On
Enterprise

and Red Hat Network Satellite servers centralize and automate common management functions so datacenters can scale systems without burdening staff.

manageability
Red Hat also packages the platform in system administer-friendly packages that allow the tailoring of installations to application needs.

(RHEL, 2010)