DESIGINING A SECURE AND SCALABLE NETWORK DESIGN FOR CITY BUILDINGS AND ARCHITECTURE OFFICE

A secure, scalable and reliable network serves as a critical foundation for effective and efficient government operations in today’s era. This study supports the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO)’s technological progress by addressing issues like inadequate security, data breaches, lack of structured network design and outdated devices affecting business performance. The research aims to determine the network profile, create a network design and policy, and produce network implementation plan. The PPDIOO lifecycle model was utilized to guide the team in creating the proposed network design. In gathering comprehensive data of CBAO, the team employed a multi-faceted approach, utilizing interview guide questions to understand operational needs, conducting on-site inspections to assess infrastructure, and performing network performance tests with tools like Ookla, Nmap, and Wireshark to analyze network behavior. The proposed design features a two-tier network focusing on performance, security, scalability, availability, usability and manageability utilizing TP-Link devices, with structured cabling, VLAN's, Access Control List (ACL), and redundancy protocols. The team leveraged the SANS Security Policy Template to develop the office’s policy and recommend to have an advanced network security measures such as intrusion detection systems (IDS), firewalls, and regular security audits to firmly secure network. After the network design and polices are created the implementation plan was then developed in case the CBAO choose to proceed with the proposed network design and help to minimize disruption during hardware and protocol integration. This study emphasizes the importance of effective network design for seamless operations.