Case Study: Consolidated Messenger

Overview 

Consolidated Messenger is a transportation and express delivery company serving the continental United States. 

The company maintains a commitment to its customers to expedite deliveries within contracted guidelines and offers a 100 percent refund to the customers if the contract is not fulfilled. 

Physical Locations 

The company's main office is in Chicago. The company has two branch offices in the following locations:  

• Boston 
  
• San Diego 
  

Planned Changes 

The company is expanding its business into the Asian market by acquiring Contoso, ltd., which is an Asian import company located in San Francisco. Contoso, Ltd has established relationships with shipping companies and various retail firms in China. Furthermore, Contoso, Ltd. has a strong background in working with the governmental trade protocol in china. 

Consolidated Messenger is also planning changes to enable the office and the branch office to work together more effectively. 

Business Processes 

Consolidated Messenger consists of the following primary departments: 

• Accounting 
  
• Customer service 
  
• Delivery 
  
• Human Resources (HR) 
  
• Information Technology (IT) 
  
• Management 
  

The company has a decentralized IT structure. The Chicago office and each branch office have its own IT staff. 

Each office maintains its resources separately. Each office is using the same delivery tracking database, named Deliveries, but information is not shared between the three offices. 

Each office uses an application named TrackingApp to update the tracking database. 

Every morning, delivery personnel receive a printed list of deliveries to be made for the day. They can contact the appropriate office for additional information, as needed. 

Infrastructure 

Directory Services 

The existing domain model is shown in the Existing Domain Model exhibit. 

Consolidated Messenger has Windows NT 4.0 domains in the branch offices. The Chicago office has a Windows 2000 Active Directory domain named ad.consolidatedmessenger.com 

The domain for the Chicago office contains four toplevel organizational units (OUs) named Accounting, Customer Service, Human Resources, and Delivery. The network consists of a single Active Directory site. 

Contoso, Ltd., has a Windows NT4.0 domain in its San Francisco office. 

Network Infrastructure: 

The company's existing network infrastructure is shown in the Existing Network Infrastructure exhibit. 

Client computers in the accounting, IT and management departments, at Consolidated Messenger, run either Windows 2000 professional or Windows XP professional. Client computers in the customer service department run windows 98. 

Client computers at Contoso, Ltd runs either Windows 98 or Windows NT workstation 4.0. 

Consolidated Messenger has a web site hosted by an ISP in Chicago. The web site, named www.consolidatedmessenger.com, is available for Internet customers to place orders or track deliveries. 

Contoso, Ltd., also has a web site, named www.contoso.com, which provides information to users about Contoso, Ltd. It is hosted by an ISP in San Francisco. The ISP in San Francisco has DNS on a Unix Server. 

The IP address in use for Consolidated Messenger is shown in the Network addresses exhibit. 

 

Problem Statements 

The following business problems must be considered: 

• Consolidated Messenger needs to create a better delivery tracking mechanism for the existing offices. Currently, each office provides point-to-point delivery as orders come in. 
• They are functioning adequately, but there is room for improved operational efficiency. For example, the Chicago office sometimes delivers into the northeast, which overlaps with the territory of the Boston office. Both the Chicago office and the Boston office might deliver to the west coast, which is the territory of the San Diego office. A centralized database is required to make tracking delivers more efficient. 
• When Consolidated Messenger implements a centralized version of the Delivers database, there must be a way to ensure continuous access to up to date delivery data, regardless of WAN status. 
• Consolidated Messenger wants to provide a better solution for delivery personnel to access 
  
• information about scheduled deliveries, than printed delivery lists. 
  
• Consolidated Messenger will need to bring Contoso, ltd, up to its technology standards. Contoso, ltd., does not use much technology. Although there is a Windows NT 4.0 domain present, there is a network administrator and there has been a great deal of turnover in this job. As a result, there is not adequate security for its computers. It does not adequately track Shipments, Inventory, Payable, or Receivable. Although Contoso, ltd. uses a spreadsheet application for its inventory listings it is still primarily a paperbased company. 

Chief Executive Office 

With the acquisition of Contoso, ltd., by Consolidated Messenger, I am concerned that it should be a part of our overall business model, yet remain separate because it is a new venture. This is a positive addition to our current line of business. I want to be sure that have a method for clearly tracking the contributions that Contoso, ltd., makes to our business. 

Chief Information Officer 

I have two major goals for our Deliveries database. First, I want a method for integrating the data between the offices. Second, I want a directory services structure that provides a more straight forward model for maintenance. 

I also want an improved user experience when accessing centralized resources in the Chicago office. Additionally, I have strong reservations regarding the inexperience of the new IT staff to be hired in the San Francisco office. I want to make sure that we are monitoring their activities. 

I foresee substantial expenditure for upgrading desktop computers, and salaries for a new IT staff in the Contoso, Ltd., division. We need to provide sufficient access to Contoso, Ltd.; however, we need to spend only the money necessary to achieve this goal. 

Managers, Contoso, Ltd 

I am unsure if the restrictions imposed by our new parent company will benefit the business of Contoso, Ltd. On the other hand, I fully recognize that being part of a larger company can provide us with more financial stability. 

Business Requirements 

The following business requirement must be considered:  

• Contoso, Ltd., will be a separate division within Consolidated Messenger, maintaining its line of business because Contoso Ltd., is a new endeavor, Consolidated Messenger has elected to keep the namespace separate so that the internal staff will not be confused. 
• The duplication of effort in maintaining the Deliveries database between Consolidated Messenger branch offices must be reduced. 
• Contoso needs to replace spreadsheets. The database, to be named Inventory, will be created and administered in the Chicago office. The IT staff in the Chicago office will be responsible for the maintenance of this database, and will be replicated from the San Francisco office to the Chicago office. It is anticipated that database replication will exceed the available bandwidth provided by the VPN connection between the San Francisco office and the Chicago office. 

Organizational Goals 

The following organizational requirements must be considered: 

• Integrating the separate database into a single nationwide database is extremely important to the business. 
• Delivery workers will begin using PDAs to download delivery information from the Deliveries database. As a result, they will discontinue telephone check in for delivery information. As each delivery is completed, the customer will sign the PDA. At the end of each day, the delivery information will be batch uploaded from each PDA to the Deliveries database either from a company office or, if delivery personnel are too far away from a company office, a remote connection.  
• Each office must support wireless access for PDAs 
  

Security 

The following security requirements must be considered: 

• Appropriate permissions to trackingapp, the Deliveries database, and other resources will need to be established for users based on that user's job function. Job functions include customer service, delivery personnel, accounting, and management. 
• The IT staff in the Chicago office will audit administrative activity in all domains, particulary in Contoso,Ltd., domain, this includes interactive logons; shutdowns and restarts of domain controllers; changes to security logging; and changes to user and group accounts. 

Tchnical Requirements 

Active Directory 

The following Active Directory requirements must be considered: 

• Enterprise Active Directory administration will take place in the Chicago office. Additionally, the IT staff in the Chicago office has the primary responsibilities for administration of the Deliveries database. 
• Each current Consolidated Messenger domain will undergo an in place upgrade. Contoso, Ltd., will be added to the forest, but will maintain its separate namespace. The Contoso, Ltd., domain will be named ad.contoso.com. Their will be a single forest design with a minimum number of domains. 
• Upgrading the Windows NT 4.0 domains in the Boston and San Diego offices must be optimized to reduce the need for network administrators to travel between offices. 
• Permissions must be maintained. Additional groups can be created for the Deliveries database, as needed. 
• User and group accounts for Contoso, Ltd. will be recreated. However, desktop settings for Contoso, Ltd., users must be preserved. 

Network Infrastructure 

The following Infrastructure requirements must be considered: 

• All Contoso, Ltd., client computers will run Windows XP Professional. Consolidated Messenger has decided to migrate the user settings from the existing Contoso, Ltd., client computers to ease the transition. 
• The Deliveries database is a missioncritical resource for Consolidated Messenger. Database access for the Deliveries databases must be maintained in the event that WAN connectivity is lost. 
• All domain controllers will be configured as DNS servers. Client computers will be configured to point to the local DNS server.  
• DNS zones must be secured. 
  
• VPNs will be implemented in all locations to support remote access for wireless devices. 
  
• Remote access policies will be centralized. 
  
• A single DHCP server will be configured in each office. In the event of a DHCP server failure, client computers must be able to obtain an IP address. 

Consolidated Messenger (9 Questions) 

QUESTION NO: 1 

You are designing the DNS zone to support the Active Directory domain for Contoso.Ltd. Which two actions should you perform? (Each Correct answer presents part of the solution. Choose two). 

A. Create ad.contoso.com as a standard primary DNS Zone. 

B. Create ad.contoso.com as an Active DirectoryIntegrated DNS Zone. 

C. Enable only authorized client computers to update DNS. 

D. Configure a zone transfer between the DNS server at the ISP and the DNS servers at Contoso.Ltd. 

QUESTION NO: 2 

Exhibit 

You are designing the Active Directory Infrastructure for the new forest to meet the business and technical requirements. What should you do? 

A. Choose forest model A. 

B. Choose forest model B. 

C. Choose forest model C. 

D. Choose forest model D. 

QUESTION NO: 3 

You are designing a strategy for adding the additional hardware necessary to support Contoso, Ltd. What should you do? 

A. Add a T1 Wan Link Between Chicago and San Francisco. 

B. Add a T3 Wan Link Between Chicago and San Francisco. 

C. Add a Basic ISDN Connection between Chicago and San Francisco. 

D. Configure HighSpeed modems in Chicago and San Francisco to support demand-dial routing. 

QUESTION NO: 4 

You are designing a client computer upgrade strategy for Contoso.Ltd. What should you do? 

A. Use the ldifde command to migrate user settings. 

B. Use the User State Migration Tool (USMT) to Migrate user settings. 

C. Create trust relationships between the Chicago domain and the San Francisco domain. Use the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) to migrate user settings. 

D. Create trust relationships between the forest root domain and the San Francisco domain. Use the Active Directory Migration Tool (ADMT) to migrate user settings. 

QUESTION NO: 5 

You are designing a DNS Name resolution strategy for the client computer in the customer service department. What are the two possible ways to achieve the goal? (Each Correct answer presents a complete solution. (Choose two) 

A. Create a reverse lookup zone in DNS for each new Domain. 

B. Add a WINS lookup record to the DNS forward lookup zone. 

C. Add a WINS reverse record to the DNS reverse lookup zone. 

D. Enable Dynamic updates for DownLevel client computers on each DHCP server. 

E. Install the Active Directory Client on All Computers in the Customer service department. 

QUESTION NO: 6 

You are designing DNS implemetation Strategy for the new Infrastruce. Which two actions should you perform? (Each correct answer represents part of the solution. Choose two). 

A. Create a Stub Zone in each domain of the root zone. 

B. Create a _msdcs subdomain in a new zone on the root domain. 

C. Replicate the _msdcs subdomain across the roor domain. 

D. Replicate the _msdcs subdomain to the ForestDNS zone applciation partition. 

E. Configure a zone transfer of the _msdcs subdomain to secondary zone on all DNS servers in the forest. 

QUESTION NO: 7 

You are designing a remote access strategy to meet the business and technical Requirement. What should you do? 

A. Configure each server running Routing and Remote Access as a RADIUS Client. 

B. Add a Remote Access policy to each server running Routing and Remote Access. Configure the Access method as VPN access. 

C. Add a Remote Access policy to each server running Routing and Remote Access. Configure the Access method as dialup access. 

D. Add a Remote Access policy to each server running Routing and Remote Access. Configure the Access method as wireless access. 

QUESTION NO: 8 

You are designing a DNS implementing strategy to meet the business and technical requirement. Which type of zone should you use? 

A. Sub Zones 

B. Standard Primary Zones 

C. Secondary Zones 

D. Active DirectoryIntegrated Zones 

QUESTION NO: 9 

You are designing a strategy to perform inplace upgrade of domain controller in Boston and San Diego. Which method should you use? 

A. adprep 

B. sysprep 

C. Answer File 

D. Remote Installtion Services (RIS)