Design and Simulation of a Secured Enterprise Network for Faculty of Engineering, Rivers State University

Abstract

Institutions generally seek for a network infrastructure solution that intelligently combines voice and data networks. To compete globally, It has become necessary for the Faculty of Engineering to build and setup a secured enterprise network solution to drive the rapid engineering and technological advancement of the University. The aim of this study is to develop a secured, scalable, available, and manageable enterprise network for the Faculty of Engineering, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. In this article the various services that comprise the enterprise network as a unit have been put together using the Hierarchical Network Model. The physical and logical network topology was designed for the Faculty of Engineering infrastructures and the results from the simulation showed that any user who tried to connect to the network and initiated http traffic were redirected to the authentication server for verification of credentials, before being allowed on the network. The result also shows that the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance, the Core Router, the distribution switches and the integrated service routers were properly configured. The design reduced network device load and the time to identify network issues to resolve them. The configured network security provided availability, integrity, and confidentiality. This design also enhanced rapid connectivity, and the inclusion of new devices did not affect the transfer of packets. Finally, the specifications and commands used in this study is a model that could be modified and deployed for other Faculties or Universities.

Keywords: Configuration,design, enterprise network, topology, security, Cisco ASA.

DOI: 10.7176/CEIS/10-5-04

Publication date:June 30^th 2019