Assessment item 2 - Virtualisation ReportValue: 15%Due Date: 28-Mar-2021Return Date: 20-Apr-2021Group Assessment: NoSubmission method options: Alternative submission methodTASKOverviewThis assessment...

Assessment item 2 - Virtualisation ReportValue: 15%Due Date: 28-Mar-2021Return Date: 20-Apr-2021Group Assessment: NoSubmission method options: Alternative submission methodTASKOverviewThis assessment item requires you to produce a short report by investigating and advising acompany on some key topics and aspects of the use of virtualisation technologies.Note: answering these questions will help you build a solid base for your next assessmentitem. You must also provide references in your report using the APA 7th edition style ofreferencing. A guide to the use of APA referencing can be found in the Interact Resourcessection.TaskSoftArc Engineering is a civil engineering firm company which works across Australia as well asin Indonesia, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea. SoftArc Engineering currently has a smallself-managed data centre that has the following servers:• 2 x Active Directory domain controllers on Windows Server 2012 R2, (2 x Xeon 3.6GHZ,8GB RAM, 140GB HDD). These servers are used for authentication and authorisation;• 3 x SQL Server 11.0 (2012) database servers on Windows Server 2012 (2 x Xeon 2.8GHZ,4GB RAM, 500GB RAID-5 array). These servers are used for database operations forActive Directory, Exchange, SharePoint and their Client Design application;• 1 x Exchange 2013 email server on Windows Server 2012 R2 (2 x Xeon 3.6GHZ, 8GBRAM, 250GB RAID-1 array);• 4 x Windows Server 2016 File and Print servers (2 x Xeon 2.8GHZ, 4GB RAM, 250GBCharles Sturt University Subject OutlineITC314 202130 SM IVersion 1 - Published 15 February 2021
Page 11 of 33
RAID-1 array);• 1 x SharePoint 2013 server on Windows Server 2012 R2 (2 x Xeon 3.6GHZ, 16GB RAM,250GB RAID-1 array);• 1 x Client Design and CRM application server on Windows Server 2016 (2 x Xeon3.6GHZ, 8GB RAM, 250GB RAID-1 array);• 2 x Red Hat Enterprise Linux v7.1 (2015) servers running Apache TomCat v. 7.0 (2 xXeon 2.8GHZ, 16GB RAM, 140GB HDD).• 1 x Cisco 5505 ASA Firewall v9.3 (2014)The board of SoftArc Engineering knows that their core competency is civil engineering anddesign, along with their understanding of their customers and their requirements. They havebeen advised to retire most of their old physical servers and start moving their operationsonto a virtual platform. You have been employed to advise the board on various aspects ofvirtualisation.The board wants a report from you that answers the following questions:1. You have to explain to the board the role that Virtualisation plays in the current datacentre environment. You must research and explain:1. How will virtualisation assist SoftArc Engineering to improve operations intheir Data Centre? What is the difference between on-premise virtualizationand 'The Cloud'? Provide supporting references for your report. (20 marks)2. What are the minimum infrastructure requirements that SoftArc Engineeringwill need to consider before starting to implement a virtualisation solution intheir Data Centre? Provide supporting references for your report. (20 marks)3. Provide one example of an organisation using these technologies and show itsrelevance to SoftArc. (10 marks)4. Your answer for this section should be between 800 – 1000 words and addressthe points in the marking rubric.
2. You will need to explain to the Board how you can achieve better efficiency and use ofresources by using virtualisation. You will need to explain:1. What is the difference in efficiency between a hardware server and a virtualserver? Provide supporting references for your answer. (10 marks)2. What should be considered when deciding to virtualise a server? Why do youconsider these points important? Provide supporting references for youranswer. (10 marks)3. Your answer for this section should be between 400 – 500 words and addressthe points in the marking rubric.
3. A virtual appliance is a key concept in the virtualisation world. There are currentlymany hundreds (probably thousands) of virtual appliances available for use.1. Explain the differences between a virtual server and a virtual appliance to theBoard. Provide supporting references for your answer. (10 marks)2. SoftArc Engineering has been offered the chance to upgrade their currenthardware-based Cisco ASA 5505 firewall to a Cisco ASA 5500-X VirtualAppliance firewall. Would you recommend this approach to SoftArcEngineering? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this approach.Provide supporting references for your answer. (20 marks)3. Your answer to this section should be between 400 – 500 words.
Charles Sturt University Subject OutlineITC314 202130 SM IVersion 1 - Published 15 February 2021
Page 12 of 33
RATIONALEThis assessment task will assess the following learning outcome/s:• be able to communicate the importance of different virtualisation technologies for X86and Unix based platforms.• be able to evaluate which virtualisation technology should be used in a given set ofrequirements.• be able to communicate the essentials of network and storage virtualisation.• be able to discuss and evaluate the requirements for effective Virtual Machine (VM)management.
MARKING CRITERIA AND STANDARDS
Assessment RubricQuestion HD DI CR PS FL
1.1 How willVirtualisationassistSoftArc? (20marks)
A thoroughdiscussion ofthe role ofvirtualisationwithinSoftArc, witha concise anddetailedcomparison ofthe cloud vson-prem
A detaileddiscussion ofthe role ofvirtualisationwithinSoftArc, witha concise andaccuratecomparison ofthe cloud vson-prem
A gooddiscussion ofthe role ofvirtualisationwithinSoftArc, withan accuratecomparison ofthe cloud vson-prem
Adequatediscussion ofthe role ofvirtualisationwithinSoftArc, witha mostlyaccuratecomparison ofthe cloud vson-prem
Inadequate orincompletediscussion ofthe role ofvirtualisationwithin SoftArc
1.2 Minimuminfrastructurerequirementsfor SoftArc toVirtualise (20marks)
Thoroughdiscussion ofthe minimuminfrastructurerequirementsrequired forvirtualisationwithin SoftArc
Detaileddiscussion ofthe minimuminfrastructurerequirementsrequired forvirtualisationwithin SoftArcGooddiscussion ofthe minimuminfrastructurerequirementsrequired forvirtualisationwithin SoftArc
Adequatediscussion ofthe minimuminfrastructurerequirementsrequired forvirtualisationwithin SoftArc
Inadequate orincompletediscussion ofthe minimuminfrastructurerequirementsrequired forvirtualisationwithin SoftArc
1.3 Exampleofvirtualisation(10 marks)
Excellentexample ofthe use ofvirtualisationthat showsrelevance toSoftArc
Very goodexample ofthe use ofvirtualisationthat showsrelevance toSoftArc
Goodexample ofthe use ofvirtualisationthat showssomerelevance to
Adequateexample ofthe use ofvirtualisationthat showssomerelevance to
Inadequateexample ofthe use ofvirtualisationthat showslittle or norelevance to
Charles Sturt University Subject OutlineITC314 202130 SM IVersion 1 - Published 15 February 2021
Page 13 of 33
Question HD DI CR PS FLSoftArc SoftArc SoftArc
2. 1 Efficiencydifferencesvirtual vshardware (10marks)
A thoroughdiscussion ofthedifferences inefficiency ofhardware andvirtual serversshowingrelevance toSoftArc
A detaileddiscussion ofthedifferences inefficiency ofhardware andvirtual serversshowingrelevance toSoftArc
A gooddiscussion ofthedifferences inefficiency ofhardware andvirtual serversshowing somerelevance toSoftArc
An adequatediscussion ofthedifferences inefficiency ofhardware andvirtual serversshowing somerelevance toSoftArc
Aninadequate orincompletediscussion ofthedifferences inefficiency ofhardware andvirtual serversshowing littleor norelevance toSoftArc
2.2 Points toconsiderwhendeciding tovirtualise (10marks)
A thoroughdiscussion ofthe points tobe consideredin decidingwhen tovirtualise ahardwareserver
A detaileddiscussion ofthe points tobe consideredin decidingwhen tovirtualise ahardwareserver
A gooddiscussion ofthe points tobe consideredin decidingwhen tovirtualise ahardwareserver
An adequatediscussion ofthe points tobe consideredin decidingwhen tovirtualise ahardwareserver
Aninadequate orincompletediscussion ofthe points tobe consideredin decidingwhen tovirtualise ahardwareserver
3. 1Differences:VM andVirtualAppliances(10 marks)
A thoroughdescription ofthedifferencesbetween a VMand a virtualappliance
A detaileddescription ofthedifferencesbetween a VMand a virtualappliance
A gooddescription ofthedifferencesbetween a VMand a virtualappliance
An adequatedescription ofthedifferencesbetween a VMand a virtualapplianceAnincomplete orinadequatedescription ofthedifferencesbetween a VMand a virtualappliance
3.2 VirtualApp firewallevaluation(20 marks)
A thoroughdiscussion oftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesto beconsidered indeciding touse a virtualappliance
A detaileddiscussion oftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesto beconsidered indeciding touse a virtualappliance
A gooddiscussion oftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesto beconsidered indeciding touse a virtualappliance
An adequatediscussion oftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesto beconsidered indeciding touse a virtualapplianceAnincompleteor inadequatediscussion oftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesto beconsidered indeciding to
Charles Sturt University Subject OutlineITC314 202130 SM IVersion 1 - Published 15 February 2021
Page 14 of 33
Question HD DI CR PS FL
firewall inSoftArc
firewall inSoftArc
firewall inSoftArc
firewall inSoftArc
use a virtualappliancefirewall inSoftArcPresentation Marks will be deducted for poor presentation, spelling and/or grammar mistakes.
Referencing
Marks will also be deducted for NOT providing / following the proper APA stylereferencing. Referencing should be accurately documented using APA 6th or 7thedition and both in-text citation and bibliographic information are required.(Note that the guide for APA referencing is provided in the Resource section of the
ITC314 Interact site)
PRESENTATIONThe report should be submitted as a single MS Word document with all images embedded inthe document.Submissions in in *.zip, *.rar or any other format will not be marked.
The report presentation structure is:Cover page• Title of Report• Student Name and Student ID• Student Email addressMain ReportThis section should contain main body of the report. It should discuss all tasks / challengesasked in the case study. You should have sub-sections that answers each task. Support youranswers with solid literature (in-text citations), diagrams and figures (if applicable). Alldiagrams and figures must have an appropriate caption.Reference ListYou must cite your references using the APA 6th or 7th edition referencing style for all materialyou have used as sources for the content of your work.Glossary (optional)A glossary should assist the reader in understanding any technical terms used in the report.Use a generally accepted source for the definition of the terms and include appropriatereferencing.