Austin Powell
12/11/2014
NT2799 Week 1 Exercise

Working in Teams
The first step in completing this task is to upgrade the operating systems on the company’s desktop and laptop computers. Once it has been decided which operating system will be implemented, the task at hand will be to upgrade each machine to the new operating system. Any updates as well as any firmware that needs to be installed will also be done during this stage. In addition, the desktops at the employees’ homes will also need to have the operating system upgraded. It should also be noted that those desktops that are being used remotely should be configured so that only work-related tasks are being done on company machines. These users should be assigned their own special permissions so that they have access to the resources needed to perform their job. Those laptops that are to be used in the field will need to be configured so that they are able to access the network remotely. One of the issues that needs to be addressed with this is security. A pressing issue is to ensure that no unauthorized used can gain access to security sensitive information. The first step in securing remote access for trusted users is to specify which users can connect to the intranet from remote locations as well as which ports and networking protocols to use. Next task is to set up a remote access server to handle connections from remote locations. It can be configured to authorize and manage connections based on the use of a preshared key, particular ports, particular addresses, and other factors. In addition the server can be configured to block connections if a user attempts to connect using an incorrect password after a certain number of times. This will help prevent attackers from gaining access by submitting random sequences of characters as passwords. The next step would be to create a customized remote access connection also called a service profile that would distribute to users who want to connect to the intranet from remote locations. By creating and distributing a service profile, support costs can be reduced by simplifying the connection process, thus helping to ensure that user connecting from remote locations use established connection methods and protocols. One important deliverable is the time it will take IT personnel to implement upgrades to all the machines on-site and in employee homes. Another deliverable is going to be the time it takes IT to configure laptops to access the network remotely and securely. In addition consideration must be made to include any materials needed to perform these tasks.