The Client

Our client is a non-profit organization that offers a wide variety of behavioral health and prevention services to adult citizens in many Ohio counties. An efficient and robust network is imperative to their functionality. The computer network consists of approximately one hundred fifty workstations and seven servers spread across two main offices and three satellite offices. The main offices are connected together via a T1 data line and the satellite offices as well as multiple mobile users are connected via VPN tunnels.

The Requirements & Solution

Network Upgrade: The customer's network consisted of two Windows NT 4.0 domain controllers, one in each main office providing authentication for all users. Due to security concerns and expiring OS support, the network infrastructure was upgraded from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2003 Server running active directory services. The migration process at the customer site was in “in-place” upgrade, meaning that existing hardware was not going to be replaced simply upgraded before moving to Windows 2003. The existing RAID controller in the PDC (primary domain controller) was not Windows 2003 compliant and therefore had to be replaced. Current hard drive storage capacity in the server was also upgraded during the migration to support more users and data storage. The migration process had to be completed with minimal downtime to the customer's network so the migration occurred on a Saturday to minimize the effect. Once all hardware upgrades were in place the server software was upgraded from NT to a Windows 2003 domain controller. The new domain was left in mixed mode until the BDC could be upgraded also to Windows 2003. User accounts and logins were tested as well as exchange email accounts to ensure the proper operation of the new active directory domain.

In the second phase of this project the BDC located in the second main office was upgraded from NT 4.0 to Windows 2003 as a domain controller. Again all network logins were thoroughly tested to ensure proper operation. The network was then moved from mixed mode to native mode in active directory.

VPN/Firewall installation: Due to increasing security concerns a more robust firewall solution consisting of a Watchguard Firebox was installed at the customer's site. This enabled content filtering and monitoring as well as protection of the internal network against outside attacks. The firewall provides protection on the internal network by offering NAT, Stateful Packet Inspections, and IPSEC.

During the firewall installation the remote offices were also connected to the main office via VPN tunnels to the main firewall. Branch office VPN appliances were installed at the satellite offices and then encrypted IPSEC VPN tunnels were created to each office. This allowed remote users to access resources from the main offices and provide for centralized account management.

Mobile users from homes and various local offices also needed to communicate with the network. IPSEC tunnels connecting directly to laptops via a VPN client software were installed and tested. The mobile users were able then to communicate from nearly any place with a network connection.