Redesign of network to support IP Convergence with Avaya IPT and Cisco Network

• The customer network was lacking Power over Ethernet switches to power IP phones directly from the wall jack. 
• The network used RFC1918 address space from the 172.16.0.0/12 address range.  In the past, this had led to conflicting address being used by different parts of the global network team.
• Over-subscribed access closet uplinks hampered performance - oversubscribed as much as 50:1
• single non-redundant core/distribution Cisco 4006 switch in each campus location
• sub-optimal addressing plan, such that summarization was not possible
• Network was built as Layer 2 access  - Layer 3 distribution/core network - failure domains spanned entire campuses
• IT department was unable to control network attachment of unauthorized workstations, switches and access points by R&D engineering groups. On a few occasions, this had led to virus outbreaks due to R&D workstations and servers not under central virus software control.  There had been several instances of unauthorized switches and wireless access points being attached tothe network which had caused security breach and spanning tree loops.
• General network fault tolerance was less than optimal due to aging hardware lacking 802.1s and 802.1w spanning tree capabilities and routing protocol timer tuning enhancements 
•  users and often, servers, were deployed in a few common subnets - ability to segment the network and restrict access to servers was less than adequate
• network was largely undocumented

Romulus Global, Ltd. was selected to design and deploy a new network infrastructure for the customer. 

Key aspects of the design:

• PoE for IP phones powered by the network
• Layer 3 routed access network design - limited scope of failure domains to support availability requirements of VoIP system
• integration of Avaya IP telephony and Cisco network equipment
• summarized addressing from 10.0.0.0/8 IP space
• Rapid Spanning Tree protocol tuned such that past Spanning Tree loops and Rogue Root bridge issues were eliminated
• Port Security deployed to restrict network access to only endpoints authorized by IT
• routing protocols tuned such that sub-200 ms failover times were achieved
• addressing plan was designed such that users groups were segmented into particular classifications to allow restricting access to servers in the data center by group rather than IP. 
• network design and implementation was documented in writing, something not done in the past to any great degree
• QoS policy to support VoIP, call signaling and other critical enterprise applications was designed and implemented.
• Network segmented such that users are divided into particular Closed User Groups to allow access controls to be implemented between user groups and servers.

The design and network implementation was carried out in under 30 days to support the customer's very tight timeline for occupancy of a remodeling campus building.  The fault-tolerance of the network and VoIP services are regarding as an outstanding success in the customer's organization.

The network design and implementation was deemed an outstanding success, allowing the customer to move employees from a leased location being closed to the newly renovated space on schedule.  The network designed and implemented by Romulus Global, Ltd. has proven flexible enough and highly fault-tolerant, so much so that the customer is converging other critical applications on the network, such as IP Video surveillance, building security and access control systems.  The network capabilities recently provided significant financial savings by permitting an IP Video Surveillance system to be implemented at one campus location.  The continued success of the network project has paid dividends for the US IT group, allowing them to take a leading role in IT architecture at this global company.