LAN/WAN Configuration and Troubleshooting

You have been tasked with creating an overall LAN/WAN Configuration and Troubleshooting Guide for a medium-sized business with locations as follows:

• Location 1, New York State - 100 users
• Location 2, Pennsylvania - 200 users, servers that host email, collaboration tools, and the ERP/CRM system
• Location 3, California - 50 users
• All with the capability to work from home

For Week Five, a new CIO has joined the organization. S/he believes in a "cloud-first" approach to all systems and plans to migrate all the servers from Location 2 to cloud providers, leveraging Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) as appropriate. 

Research IaaS or SaaS providers, and pick one with robust features for a medium-sized business with multiple locations.Based on this shift, update your configuration to meet this new direction for Location 2, and compile your previous work for Locations 1 and 3.

Prepare a 14- to 16-slide PowerPoint® presentation, including Introduction, Conclusion, and Reference slides. Include detailed speaker notes with each slide. The presentation should include the following:

• Three important features of IaaS or SaaS you researched that will be used in Location 2
• A concise description of how the new configuration would impact the IP addressing of the LAN of Location 2, including usage of VLANs and any necessary switches and routers to connect to the WAN and all internal devices
• Network map of Location 2, including connectivity to cloud providers
• A high-level description of how to configure a MPLS Network
• A sample config output from a switch used in the design for Location 2, and the commands that would be used for basic switch configuration, VLAN creation, and inter-VLAN routing
• A concise description of how the Cisco® Application Centric Infrastructure Enterprise Module (APIC-EM) Path Trace Application could be used to troubleshoot the new configuration

Compile your previous weeks' work on Locations 1 and 3 into a Microsoft® Word document, including:

• 2- to 3-page WAN configuration summary document from Week Two that included:
  • A list of all the protocols you would recommend. Accurately describe at least three.
  • An accurate description of how using MPLS in a network would be different from traditional network designs.
  • Tools you could us to troubleshoot your WAN. Accurately describe at least two that will allow you to troubleshoot efficiently.
  • How you would enable Internet connectivity for the organization. Make sure your choices are logical and defensible.
• 2- to 3-page QoS table from Week Three (which includes updates to the bandwidth from Week One). The table included:
  • At least three QoS classes you would implement at each location
  • A list of the bandwidth requirements for each location based on this new requirement. The budget for the additional bandwidth will be under close scrutiny, so be sure your choices are logical and defensible.
• 1- to 2-page monitoring proposal from Week Four that included:
  • An accurate account of at least two monitoring tools you could use
  • An accurate description of at least two metrics and thresholds you would report on
  • A proposal of  how you would configure and verify device-monitoring protocols using an example from one of the Practice Labs providing insights on how to reasonably interpret the results from the tool

All references need to adhere to APA guidelines, and images should not be copied unless author permission is obtained or copyright free images are used.