Customer Needs Assessment

 

 

 

Types of Connections

 

 

 

 

Group

Permitted Connections

Access Times

Network Resources

 

 

 

 

Accounting

Wired only

24x7

Server 10.1.1.50

 

 

 

Email

 

 

 

Internet

 

 

 

Printer 10.1.1.201

 

 

 

Color printer 10.1.1.210

Guests—platinum partners

Wireless only

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Internet only

 

 

 

 

Access Control Zones

Based on your users’ access needs, you can begin to identify which network segments must support wired, wireless, or even remote access. For example, the lobby might require only wireless support for guests. A warehouse might also require only wireless access because workers are very mobile, moving freely throughout the area with no fixed work area.

However, the area where the accounting department works might need only wired access because users have traditional workstations without wireless cards. And to protect highly sensitive financial data, your company may not want accounting employees to access the network via a wireless or remote connection.

Your company’s conference rooms, on the other hand, might need to provide both wired and wireless support.

As you evaluate users’ network access requirements, you can begin to identify zones, or areas within the network, that must provide particular types of network access. (See Figure 2-1.) In the examples listed above, the lobby and warehouse would be wireless zones, whereas the accounting department represents a wired zone. The conference room is probably a more typical example because it is a mixed zone—requiring both wired and wireless access.

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