IT project Implementation (Essay Sample)

IT Project Implementation Proposal
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Introduction
Technology has witnessed dynamism in the recent past. Developments in the different aspects of computing have seen business increase productivity both in performance and expansion. With proper utilization of the potentials dispensed by use of technology, businesses are in a position to scale higher with little effort (Hernandez, 2013). The growth of technology has been marked by a number of factors all leading to contributive growth of enterprises. New versions of sophisticated software are being released to the market with vast performance capabilities and features to aid in productivity. More versions of user friendly, machine friendly and secure software packages are also released by vendors now and then. For years, Microsoft has released different versions of their windows server. The different versions come with improved features and capabilities that suit the user requirements for competitive advantage. This has been marked with the release of windows server 2012, a version that came out with a mix of editions targeting various segments of their customers.
Background Information
Shiv LLC is a multinational corporation dealing with the manufacture and distribution of solar panels to a number of distributed consumer markets throughout various states in the United States. They have their operations based in the three locations: Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas. With the increasing growth in demand for solar panels, however, the company has plans for future expansion. Their main offices will be located at the Houston and Dallas Offices from where their support staff will run the business. As such, an integrated system for management of the various aspects regarding their operations should be established. This could include a well-established network environment, sophisticated data management system, a communication system and precise file management system among others. The security of every aspect of the company should be taken into consideration since the organizational corporate information needs the highest levels of security and confidence. The rising issues in security should be a motivation to Shiv LLC as they should also be keen on the deployment of their systems to minimize vulnerabilities.
For some time now, the different branches of the company have been connected through a WAN (Wide Area Network), with ample bandwidth being set in place in support of communication and connection for the different workers of the company located in different regions. The available bandwidth is strong enough to support expansion without further investment in the same. The availability of such a resource is, therefore, an advantage to the company as the costs of the expansion will be reduced. The number of client computers available within the organization has sufficient features for implementation and deployment of the Windows Server 2012 Operating System, a framework that supports the different applications and operations intended to enhance the performance and productivity of the organization.
A number of technology implementations should be performed for improved efficiency and productivity. Among them include proper implementation of the Active Directory, Group Policy, the DNS (Dynamic Name Servers), the File Services and other applicable Remote Services. All these are services available with the Window Server 2012 operating system and their implementation should be done keenly, with a close look up and consideration.
The Active Directory
The release of windows server 2012 marked a new revolution of advancements in computing (Taft, 2012). This is not only in the aspects of virtualization, manageability and storage, but can also be associated to the availability of the Active Directory. This has loads of improvements and features that suits the functions of the system administrators for their effective performance. The Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) forms the basis for the formation of distributed networks, an aspect critical for proper implementation of the new infrastructure for Shiv LLC. These components function through the use of domain controllers to provide structured and hierarchical data storage facility for objects in a more secured way within a network infrastructure. Such components as computers, their users, printers and other services are examples of the objects managed through the Active Directory Domain Service, which acts to provide for their location and support. Administrators and users are provided with a graphical user interface through which they can access data and other objects available within the Active Directory Domain Services.
Recommended Domain Model
The domain design selected for the organization should be the single domain model. This model is cheaper in terms of implementation, manageability and administration compared to the Regional domain model. The model provides a room for efficient replication of data without having much impact on the bandwidth available in the network (Hernandez, 2013). Recently, the number of users for such a system has been increased making it possible for multiple users to have access to and use the information stored in the directories without any problems. Data replication take place efficiently and with minimal effects on the network making this model a perfect choice for Shiv LLC.
The single domain model, when adopted in any organization, proves to be easier to manage and cheap to maintain (Taft, 2012). It is made up of a forest containing a single domain, the forest root domain, which houses all the user and group account details. With this model, a single domain controller has the power to authenticate users within the forest. The domain controllers can therefore act as universal catalogs replacing the need for the administrator's plan for them. Furthermore, all directory information is replicated throughout the different locations hosting the domain controllers. As such, the model creates high levels of traffic in the network due to replication. There is, therefore, need for administrators to have RODC (read only domain controllers) in place for remote control of the domain.
The Active Directory FSMO (Flexible Single-Master Owner) roles should be placed in the domain to ensure that best performance of operations takes place within a single domain. The FSMO defines targets in which critical operations should be performed to avoid the emergence of conflicts that might result from Multi-Master updates. As such, the FSMO role owner should be available and discoverable to all computers within the network performing operations that are dependent on the FSMO.
Backup for the Active Directory should be done as part of the system state in which different constituents of the system that dependent on each other are kept. In other words, backup and restore of the system state should be done together in entirety. This will entail having all the system state components available on a domain controller which comprises of the registry, boot files, the active directory and the SYVOL.
Group Policy
Presence of user and group accounts within the windows server 2012 environment allows for tracking and management of data and information about the users by the server. User and group accounts should be properly setup and organized for effective performance of the system (Neilson, 2013). It is, therefore, wise to choose the most appropriate policy for creation and management of user accounts. The main policy that should not be left out in the management of these accounts is the naming policy. The display and logon names used in the system should ensure consistency and reduce name conflicts in the event of user base growth. The users of the system should be provided with secure names that are difficult to exploit for their security safety in the use of the system.
Such settings as use of a numeric code as the logon name or inclusion of character combinations in the logon space could be a perfect way of ensuring consistency in the system. The organization should therefore ensure an appropriate policy for naming is put in place to reduce conflicts and possibilities for unauthorized user account access. Finally, the use of secure passwords should be put into considerations when setting the group policies.
DNS (Domain Name Servers)
The DNS servers play a major role in the resolution of windows domain names to IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. These are a critical component within the windows Active directory that aid in location of network resources (Taft, 2012). The DNS (Domain Name Servers) have a ubiquitous nature marked with a complex hierarchical structure. This makes it complex for most administrators to master and use for their management roles. The diagram below is an illustration of the hierarchical nature of Microsoft’s Internet DNS namespace showing how it integrates DNS and Active Directory Namespaces.
Figure 1:Illustration of Microsoft’s DNS Server (Adopted from )
The Domain Name System forms a tiered structure used to name computer systems, resources and services involved or connected via the internet. The root domain appears at the peak of the hierarchy. This domain lacks a formal name and is thus represented using a bare string on the hierarchy. Name resolution through the use of Domain Naming is a core course in the administration and operation of the Windows Server 2012 operating system. Proper resolution of names should be ensured therefore. Without this, the resources within a network cannot be accessed. It is thus crucial for designers of the DNS to have in mind a design that includes an Active Directory and also have in mind the namespace existing on the internet to avoid it from conflicting with the internal namespace of the organization...