Analysis of Company Network Models

Analysis of Company Network Models CHAPTER 1 ABSTRACT The purpose of this exercise is to provide a detailed design document as per the requirements given in various formats by the Client NoBo Inc. The scope of this document includes at first explaining the requirements provided by the client, explaining the solution both from a top level view and detailed, also explained are the configuration steps, technologies used and scope of the future work and recommendations. We have used modular design approach for designing the network .The final outcome is a detailed document which will extensively assist in deploying and configuration stages of network for NoBo Designs. CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION 2.1 AIM: This project aims to analyse the various network models and design a network according to the clients requirements. 2.2 OBJECTIVES: All the Cisco network models: Campus network, Hierarchical network, Enterprise edge model have been reviewed. According to the client requirements the suitable network model has been identified and designed. Proper selection of the devices (Routers, Switches, Computers, cables) has been made to meet the service requirements. The cost for all the devices and equipments that are required has been estimated. Centralised internet connection has been provided for the branch sites from their respective headquarters. This provides high control on the data between the sites. IPsec is cond for data security while using the backup line when the main link goes down. Cisco IOS Firewall is also cond on the perimeter devices. The designed network has been cond on the simulator and all its functioning has been tested. 2.3 DISSERTATION STRUCTURE: CHAPTER 1: This chapter briefly discusses about the abstract of our project. CHAPTER 2: This chapter briefly explains the introduction of our project topic, reviewing all the objectives and ends with the conclusions of each and individual chapter in our dissertation. CHAPTER 3: This chapter explains the background of various network topologies, reviewing of all the concepts like routing, switching, IP addressing and ends with the discussion of the QOS, security issues. CHAPTER 4: This chapter introduces the requirements of network design, implementation, testing and ends with the explanation of all configurations. CHAPTER 5: This chapter briefly discusses about all the experimental results and ends with the analysis of the obtained results. CHAPTER 6: This chapter discusses the entire evaluation of our project and ends with the introduction of conclusions. CHAPTER 7: This chapter briefly discusses about the overall conclusions. CHAPTER 8: This chapter provides the recommendations and future work in our present topic. CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 3.1 Cisco Network Models: Network models may change due to the implementation of different technologies which are applicable to us. But the goal of each model is finally same which is convergence and achieving service integration. There are 6 different geographies available in an end-end network architecture which is briefly discussed below: ( Inc., C. S. (Mar2009, Roberts, E. (8/28/95). 3.2 Cisco Hierarchical model: It is an older model which is good for network scalability. The entire network is divided into 3 layers which are given below: Access layer: These devices are generally developed entirely in a network for the purpose of providing clients access to the network. In general it has been done by the switch port access. Distribution layer: In general, these devices are developed as aggregation points for access layer devices. These devices can be used for the dividing of workgroups or some other departments in the network environment. They can also provide WAN aggregation connectivity at various Cisco Network Models. Core layer: These devices are designed for the purpose of fast switching of packets and they should provide the redundant otherwise it results in loss of degradation of service at the time of network congestion or link failures. Finally these devices help in carrying the entire network traffic from one end to the other end. Finally this model provides good scalability and it supports the combination of SONA, other interactive services and these are applicable to any topology (LAN, WAN, MAN, VPN..) or other connectivity options which are applicable to us. The following diagram (3.1) shows us the Cisco Hierarchical model. 3.3 Campus Network Architecture: In last 10 years it has been developed rapidly and the no of services supported in this model are more. The basic structure of this model is just an extension of the previous model. It supports the implementation of various technologies in this model like QOS, MPLS VPN, IPSEC VPN, and HSRP and so on. It provides the network access to campus wide resources and provides layer 2 switching; layer 3 switching at the Access and Distribution respectively. Services in this model are switched from stateless to stateful and provide redundant devices to monitor all the events, connections in a network. Meeting of these requirements requires some changes in its basic model. The following (3.2) shows us the campus network architecture model.( Gilmer, B. (Nov2004) It provides the combination, multi- service environment which gives the sharing and connectivity of all the users who are working at the remote, branch sites. It requires the combination of both hardware and software devices for providing the services and applications to all the clients in a network architecture. SONA architecture helps an enterprise model to extend its services to the remote site under the consideration of good service levels. Cisco Unified Communications, security and so on can be offered at all the branch sites to overcome the problems of inadequate connectivity. The following diagram (3.3) shows the branch network architecture. It plays a major role in the deployment of any network. Now days, it is growing rapidly to implement more SONA functions. These additions of new functions like virtual servers, instant applications, dynamic change of network configurations and so on. Some resources will be added online to get the support of upcoming needs. This network architecture provides the info about on- demand services which provides dynamic network environment to all the users, consolidation of services while growing of various business applications provided by an adaptive network. Finally this network model reports more usage of our capital without any changes in its infrastructure. In general it has been developed for the purpose of higher level security features in network architecture. It has been done by the support of several server farms having different functionality from DMZ (demilitarized zone) functions like DNS, FTP, HTTP, Telnet and so on for all the users (internal/ external) to share various applications and services among partners and to get the access of internet applications. This network architecture is entirely different and it can make a new or it can break the all discussed Cisco versions. Based on the discussion of all the services like SONA, QOS, and transport services and so on which would mandatory in an end- end system? Based on the bandwidth requirements, their functions and providing QOS the WAN/ MAN has been designed. The functioning and geography plays a major role in deciding the method and speed connectivitys among various sites. The cost of total deployment of a network may vary and it is different from each other. If the connection exists between the sites is a traditional frame relay or if it is provided by a service provider. For example, by using MPLS this provides layer three connectivity between two ends. And it also varies by considering the distance between two sites. The convergence of various types of application over an IP network requires good connectivity, high security levels and providing of good services over the large WAN. The following fig (3.6) shows the WAN/ MAN architecture. (Israelsohn, J. (7/22/2004.) In this approach the overall network design and implementation is discussed with the adequate background. Modular Design Approach: The recipe for an efficient and robust network is to design the network taking into Consideration the various functionalities/requirement required by the network and placing that functionality into a module. Various modules might end up acting in independent physical devices or one physical device may contain all the modules, the idea is to visualize the various functionalities acting as independent unit. The part of the network which consists of hardware and configurations for the wide area networks is termed as the WAN module of the network. It should contain of the all routers, interfaces, cabling and configurations that belong to the Wide Area Networks. The module should be designed separate from the other modules. Similarly all the devices, interfaces and configurations that are involved in the virtual private network would be designed as one module. Some aspects of the design for which there are no pointers in the design documents are also discussed in the detail design section with details of the relevant choices. 1) Performance: A network to its end user is as good as how his/her applications perform. Following are few metrics to for measuring network performance. Responsiveness: The design should be such that it is par with the acceptable responsive time of all the business applications. Throughput: The rate of traffic passing through a given point in the network, it can be calculated in multiples of bits per second or packets per second. Utilization: utilization of resources is the most effective metric to calculate the congestion points in the network, aiding the network design to a great extent. 2) Availability: Network Availability is the key factor to a proper network design. Planning for continuous uptime is important for the business to carry out their activities without any interruptions. Following are a few points for availability: Device Fault tolerance: All the devices installed in the network should be of quality and reliable. Where ever possible redundant ports, modules and devices should be installed. Capacity Planning: A network design should consider adequate capacity planning, for example how many connections can a link handle in worst case scenarios. Link Redundancy: As per the business requirement at least all the important links and internet connectivity should be redundant. 3) Scalability: All the network modules should be designed as such that they should cater for future requirements as well as todays needs. Topology: The topology should be designed as such that it would require minimal configuration whenever any major or minor changes are required. Addressing: The network addressing should allow routing with minimum resources. For example by using route summarization and proper ip addressing scheme which would have minimal impact or no impact on the existing networks or subnets and routing mechanisms. Local Area Network Module: The local area network design primarily consists of dividing the various departmental requirements into logical network separations. At all the sites will create individual virtual area networks for all the departments. All the virtual area networks will use a class c /24 subnet mask, reason behind that is the IP addressing used for the internal networks is all private and hence no sub netting is required. All the Vlans at all the sites are local Vlans which means that they do not extend across the wan pipes. The departments at different sites might have similar names and functionality but its always recommended that the Vlans are kept to be local. The Virtual are network will divide the whole LAN into virtual boundaries allowing for broadcast control and provide for access-control using access-lists. A VLAN has been provisioned for the Server Network and wireless network at each site as well. The VLANS are local to the respective sites only and are class C /24 networks.DOT1q trunks have been placed between the layer 2 switches and the routers at each site. DHCP: The DHCP is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol provides automatic IP addresses To the hosts on the TCP/Ip network [RFC 1531].It uses BOOTP known as bootstrap protocol. The DHCP server can be on the same or on a different network away from the host pcs. This is possible with the dhcp relay agent. When a client Pc boots, it searches for the server by sending broadcast packets on the network. When server gets theses broadcast packet it responds and sends a packet with an IP address to the client from the DHCP pool. The client can use the IP or can request for another IP instead. The client can hold this IP as according to the configuration in the DHCP server. The minimum duration for the client to hold the IP address is 8 days. After this period the clients has to make a new request for an IP address. This how , the DHCP usage in the network will reduce the intervention of the administrator from giving the IP addresses manually. NAT: For a Pc to connect to the internet and communicate with the other Pcs on the internet, it needs a public Ip address. One has to pay to have a public IP. It will be very expensive to have all Public IP addresses in a network. So, NAT provides a facility to convert the private IP address to the Public Ip which is on the interface of the device (router) that is directly connected to the internet via ISP. This saves money. Moreover it provides the additional security to the internal network By using the one public address. Following are the benefits that NAT provides: Preservation of IP address IP address and application privacy Easy management Routing Module: The routing module consists of the routing architecture at each site; it is the responsibility of the routers to forward packets to the correct destination. Routers by querying the routing table make the forwarding decision. 1) Static routes: At each site static routes have been placed at each head quarter sites. Static routes are the manual routes that are placed by the network administrator manually in the router and have to be taken out manually as well. At the headquarter site the static routes point to far end headquarter site or to the vpn subnet. 2) Default routes have been placed at all sites, Default routes are treated by the routers as a catch all. If there are no specific routes towards a given destination, the default route will be picked up and the packet would be forwarded out of that interface to which the default route belongs. Since the Internet has more than 100,000 routes , it would be infeasible to place all those routes into our routing table , so instead a default route has been placed at each headquarter to forward all the internet traffic towards the interface belonging to the ISP end. Since we are using the far end headquarter as back up to our internet connections at each site. A special type of default route has been added in each headquarter, if the internet link goes down, the floating route will come into the routing table and the original route will disappear. The floating route is nothing but a default route with a higher administrative distance. This is a feature of Cisco IOS, it originally takes the route with the lower AD and places that into the routing table, if that route is lost it would place the second default route with the higher administrative distance. 3) Routing Information Protocol: Routing information protocol version 2 has been used to propagate the Subnet routing between the sites. RIP is a distance vector routing protocol which advertises its routing tables to its neighbours and has a hop count of 15 , since our network has only five sites at the moment, RIP has been used for routing between the networks , the RIP version2 is the recent version of the rip ipv4 and it can carry variable length subnet masks . The RIP is adequate for our requirement. (http://www.ciscosystems.org/en/US/docs/internetworking/technology/handbook/Routing-Basics.html accessed on Dec 12 ,2009) RIP: As said earlier Routing Information Protocol is the only widely used distance vector protocol. It propagates the full routing table out to all participating interface in every 30 seconds. RIP works very well in smaller networks, but it is not scalable for large networks having slow WAN links or on networks with more than 15 routers installed. RIP version only supports class full routing, which essentially means that all devices in the network must have the same subnet mask. The reason: RIP version 1 does not propagate with subnet mask information. RIP version 2 supports classless routing, which is also called prefix routing and does send subnet mask in the route updates. (Chin-Fu Kuo; Ai-Chun Pang; Sheng-Kun Chan (Jan2009,) RIP Timers RIP has 3 different timers which regulate the performance: Route update timer: This timer sets the delay between the propagation of the full Routing table to all the neighbours: this would be normally 30 seconds. Route invalid timer If the router doesnt hear any updates for a particular router for 90 seconds it will declare that route invalid and will update all the neighbours to that the route has become invalid. Route flush timer : After the route has become invalid , another timer starts which is normally 240 seconds ,if the router doesnt hear anything about the said route , it will flush the route out of its routing table and will update the neighbour that I am going to remove this route from my routing . RIP Updates RIP being a distance-vector algorithm propagates full routing tables to neighbouring routers. The neighbouring routers then add the received routing updates with their respective local routing tables entries to accomplish the topology map. This is called routing by rumor, In routing by rumour the peer believes the routing table of its neighbour blindly without doing any calculations itself. Rip uses hop count as its metric and if it finds that multiple path share the same cost to a particular destination it will start load-balancing between those links, however there is no unequal cost path load balancing as there is possible in case of EIGRP. Rip can be troublesome in many ways: Rip actually only sees the hop count as a true metric, it doesnt take care into consideration any other factors So if a network has two paths, the first only 1 hop away with 64 Kbps of bandwidth but a second path exists with 2 hops but each link having a bandwidth of 2 mbps , RIP will always prefer path no 1 because the hop count is less. Rip has a very crude metric and hence not a protocol of choice in many networks. Since RIP by default is classless and is a true distance vector protocol, it also carries with itself same issues as presented by the distance vector routing protocols, fixes have been added to RIP to counterattack such problems. Snort is an open source network based intrusion detection system, it can do traffic logging and intrusion detection analysis on the live traffic, snort is installed on a host and the interesting traffic is copied to it via the port mirroring or port spanning techniques, Snort can be also used inline on an Ethernet tap, it can work in conjunction with Ip tables to drop unwanted traffic. Inter-site Routing: The routing protocol RIP version 2 will propagate routes among all the sites, each Vlan will be advertised as a network in the routing protocol. Switching: The switches at each site carry all the virtual local area networks. 1) A DOT1q trunk has been placed between the switches and the routers at each site. The dot1q trunks carries all the Vlans from the switches to the routers, the routers act as the layer 3 gateway for all the Vlans present in the site, the layer 2 switches alone cannot act as the layer 3 gateways and hence they require some kind of layer 3 device. 2) All the other ports in the switches are either access ports or are trunks to other switches in the same sites. The access ports are the user ports, each access ports would belong to one or the other Vlans. The no of access ports in the building would decide the number and the model of the switches to be placed inside the access layer. Vlan: By Default all the ports on a layer 2 switch belong to the same broadcast domain. The broadcast domains are segregated at the router level, however there are requirements to segregate the broadcast domains in campus switching environments, hence the virtual local area networks are used. The numbers of Vlans in a switch are equal to the number of broadcast domains, the ports on the switch which belongs to a particular Vlan belongs to a certain broadcast domain of that Vlan. Devices in one Vlan cannot connect to other Vlans if there is no layer 3 connectivity provided. Trunking: Speaking of IEEE 802.1Q. There are two different trunking protocols in use on todays Cisco switches, ISL and IEEE 802.1Q, generally referred to as dot1q. There are three main differences between the two. First, ISL is a Cisco-proprietary trunking protocol, where dot1q is the industry standard. (Those of you new to Cisco testing should get used to the phrases Cisco-proprietary and industry standard.) If youre working in a multivendor environment, ISL may not be a good choice. And even though ISL is Ciscos own trunking protocol, some Cisco switches run only dot1q.ISL also encapsulates the entire frame, increasing the network overhead. A Dot1q only place a header on the frame, and in some circumstances, doesnt even do that. There is much less overhead with dot1q as compared to ISL. That leads to the third major difference, the way the protocols work with the native Vlan. The native Vlan is simply the default Vlan that switch ports are placed into if they are not expressly placed into another Vlan. On Cisco switches, the native Vlan is Vlan 1. (This can be changed.) If dot1q is running, frames that are going to be sent across the trunk line dont even have a header placed on them; the remote switch will assume that any frame that has no header is destined for the native Vlan. The problem with ISL is that doesnt understand what a native Vlan is. Every single frame will be encapsulated, regardless of the Vlan its destined for. Access ports: An access port is a port which does not carry any Vlan information, the port which is cond as a an access port, on that port the switch takes off the Vlan information and passes the frame on to the end device, end device be it a pc or a printer or something else has no information passed about the Vlan. A).routing: The routing table in a router is populated mainly in 3 ways. a) Connected routes: router places the networks belonging to all types of its live interfaces in the routing table such routes carry an administrative distance of 0 as they are most trusted routers, these routes are taken out of the routing table if the interface goes down. b) Static routes are routes place manually by the router administrator and carry an administrative distance of 1, these routes are the second most trusted by the router after the connected routes, since these are being added by the administrator themselves c) Third type of routes are installed by the routing protocols and carry administrative distances according to the type of the routing protocol. Wireless local area network Module: A Vlan has been provided at each site which acts as a wireless network, the wireless Vlan connects to wireless access points which provides wireless connectivity to the users. Wireless access points are placed at each floor at all the sites, all the wireless access points will be of Cisco Linksys brands. The wireless access points at each site will be WIFI carrying all a, b or g standard. (O. Elkeelany , M. M. M., J. Qaddour (5 Aug 2004) The wireless networks will use WPA2 key security mechanisms to protect the network from unauthorised access and attacks. Proper placements of the wireless access points can be done after a physical inspection of the sites. If a barrier wall or something else obstructs the coverage of the wifi access points at a floor another wifi access point will be required at the same floor. IP Addressing Module: WAN Ip addressing, all wan connections are point to point and use a /30 subnet mask A /30 subnet only allows for two actual hosts which fits for the wan connections. VLAN Ip addressing, all the Vlans including the wireless and the server Vlans are /24 networks All the future Vlans should be /24 as well, this would help to limit the layer3 broadcasts to only 254 hosts, /24 is being used because our Vlans are all based on class c private addressing and there are adequate addresses in the same class for our future needs as well so there is no actual requirement to subnet any further, sub netting further would actually make the design complex without any real benefits. The routers also have a trunk which comes from their respective site switches. The 1st valid address of the each Vlan belongs to the router acting as a gateway to the Vlans. These .1 addresses are required to be hardcoded inside the routers themselves. The host addressing is taken care by the dhcp protocol, each router as its site will act as a dhcp server for all the Vlans present in the same site. The router acting as a dhcp server would provide gateway information to the hosts in each Vlan as well as the dns servers to be used and the domain information as well. A separate list has been maintained for the hosts outside the dhcp scope, should there be a requirement that a host be provided a static Ip address, and the same Ip address should be added to the list of non dhcp addresses for each Vlan at each site. Server Farm Module: A special virtual area network is in place at every site for a special purpose, this vlan only has servers placed in it, this Vlan acts as a DMZ at all sites. The servers at various sites are placed in separate Vlans to protect them from the broadcasts created by the users in the site as well as blocking unauthorised access. If the requirement arises that a server should also be placed in another Vlan at same time, either 2 network cards should be attached to the same server and each placed in the respective Vlan, if the server is required to be attached to more than 2 Vlans, then the server should carry a special network card which could build trunks with the 2960 switches. The speed and duplex modes on all the server ports should be manually cond by the network engineers as there are chances of duplex mismatch in the auto mode. Unauthorised access can be blocked into the server farm via using IP access-lists feature of the Cisco IOS.( Zhuo L , W. C., Lau FCM . (OCT 2003 ) Security Module: This is the most important module of the network design, as its name suggests it would cater for the network security, following are the security measures in place for the network designs. An integrated Cisco IOS firewall protects the perimeter interface (internet connection) from attacks from the outside world at both the headquarter sites; IOS firewall uses stateful inspection for the protocols listed in the firewall itself. As advised earlier the access to the server Vlan at each site is also controlled by the use of IP access-lists, only authorized IPs/networks and that too only on specific ports are allowed to traverse the DMZ(DEMILITARIZED ZONE). There are perimeter access-lists in place at the headquarter sites blocking most common and known attacks from the internet. The internet modules have been centrally designed to keep a tighter control and strict security. An additional measure of security can be placed at each site by adding an intrusion prevention system to each headquarter. A very effective intrusion detection engine is SNORT, being open source it can be installed in a very short period of time and is free. Further management Vlan can be secured by using port security and sticky Mac mechanisms. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/ps5708/ps5710/ps1018/prod_qas09186a008010a40e.html The Cisco IOS firewall is an EAL4 certified solution and is a stateful firewall, it is integrated into Cisco router IOS, IOS is the best available routing, security and VoIP software around, and integrating a stateful firewall produces an economical yet flexible solution. It is the ideal solution for small offices, branch offices and wherever the need arises for an embedded firewall solution. The Cisco IOS firewall can be turned on and off in the desired manner on the desired interface in the Cisco router Cisco IOS firewall can be cond in basically two modes, Classic firewall also known as CBAC control based access control or the new configuration technique which is called Zone based policy firewall. The later one is used wherever the network is required to be divided into various zones for example a DMZ zone. The later configuration methodology will be carried on in the future as it caters for the changing needs of networks. WAN MODULE: The Wan connectivity for the NoBo designs has been designed taking in consideration of the following characteristics WAN connectivity: Head -quarters: All the head Quarters have been has been connected via an International leased line from service provider. All the branch-offices are connected to their headquarters via leased lines as well via service provider. Wide Area Network Back up The internet connectivity at both the remote and client sites can be used as a backup in case the primary WAN link is down; a separate site-to-site vpn link will be required to be cond between the two sites. The site to site vpn will use the IPSEC framework which would be only used if the floating routes that are present in the Cisco routers start pointing towards the vpn links in case of the wan link outage. This IPSec vpn back up link should be strictly used as a back up as the internet bandwidth is limited and the latency is high. Network Management mechanisms would notify everyone, if the primary wan link is down. If the requirement for the backup link for a branch site comes up, same methodology can be used, the branch can acquire its own internet connection and use it as a backup link to its respective head office. In that case changes in routing will also occur. IPSec: IPSec is a protocol contains set of features that protect the data which traverses from one location point to another. The location itself defines the type of VPN. The location could be anything such as pc on the internet, a small regional office, a home office or any corp. headquarters. A user on the go would always connect to a user to site vpn and all the others would be called a site to site vpn. The IPSec protocol works on layer 3 and above, like tcp/udp header and data and does not protect any layer 2 frames, a different kind of protection mechanism has to be deployed for the same and also is possible only in the controlled network. The encryption and IPSec are many times thought to be one and the same thing but they are different, IPSec is basically a suite of protocols and one of them does encryption. Following are the features of the IPSEC protocol suite. Data confidentiality Data integrity Data origin authentication<

Macbeth: Many People Were Involved In the Death of Duncan :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth: Many People Were Involved In the Death of Duncan There were many people involved in the death of Duncan, the King of Scotland. However, Macbeth bears the major responsibility for the murder. Macbeth committed the task by his own hand. He understood the significance of the prediction in relation to his own ambitions. Finally, Macbeth was aware of his actions and he accepted them. Macbeth murdered Duncan. He was the one who stabbed the King and he admits that freely in the play. "I have done the deed" relates Macbeth to his Lady after he completed the objective. (II, ii, l.19) Before the murder he says "I go and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven, or to hell." (II, I, l.69-71) In such he plainly states his intent to murder Duncan and again later on, he mentions in a soliloquy that "To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself." (II, ii, l.92) Preceding the actual death of Duncan, Macbeth's ambitions became apparent as the significance of the prediction and actual events emerged. Being an ambitious man, Macbeth said "I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself And falls on the other." (I,vii,l.25-28) In this speech Macbeth broadcasts his immense ambitions which are the only reason he is pursuing the witches prediction. Macbeth, upon hearing the witches speak was startled at their prophecy. Banquo said to him "Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear / Things that do sound so fair?"(I,iii,l.54-55) Macbeth was startled because of the implications of the forecast. Macbeth had thought before about the very thing that he was now being told was his. He was infatuated with the idea and he lusted after information pertaining to it. "Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis; But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman; and to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief, No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence You owe this strange intelligence? or why With such prophetic greeting? speak, I charge you." (I,iii,l.73-81) Macbeth began to fluster and ramble on, as if in fear that the truth of his thoughts become clear to those near him. He wanted more information from the witches on how he was to become King, but he feared that he would be considered

Aims and objectives Essay

This paper provides a context for this special edition. It highlights the scale of the challenge of nursing shortages, but also makes the point that there is a policy agenda that provides workable solutions. Results An overview of nurse:population ratios in different countries and regions of the world, highlighting considerable variations, with Africa and South East Asia having the lowest average ratios. The paper argues that the ‘shortage’ of nurses is not necessarily a shortage of individuals with nursing qualifications, it is a shortage of nurses willing to work in the present conditions. The causes of shortages are multi-faceted, and there is no single global measure of their extent and nature, there is growing evidence of the impact of relatively low staffing levels on health care delivery and outcomes. The main causes of nursing shortages are highlighted: inadequate workforce planning and allocation mechanisms, resource constrained undersupply of new staff, poor recruitment, retention and ‘return’ policies, and ineffective use of available nursing resources through inappropriate skill mix and utilisation, poor incentive structures and inadequate career support. Conclusions What now faces policy makers in Japan, Europe and other developed countries is a policy agenda with a core of common themes. First, themes related to addressing supply side issues: getting, keeping and keeping in touch with relatively scarce nurses. Second, themes related to dealing with demand side challenges. The paper concludes that the main challenge for policy makers is to develop a co-ordinated package of policies that provide a long term and sustainable solution. Relevance to clinical practice This paper highlights the impact that nursing shortages has on clinical practice and in health service delivery. It outlines scope for addressing shortage problems and therefore for providing a more positive staffing environment in which clinical practice can be delivered. Keywords: nurses, nursing, workforce issues, workforce planning Go to: Introduction The world has entered a critical period for human resources for health. The scarcity of qualified health personnel, including nurses, is being highlighted as one of the biggest obstacles to achieving health system effectiveness. In January 2004, the High Level Forum on the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reported, ‘There is a human resources crisis in health, which must be urgently addressed’ (High Level Forum on the Health MDGs, 2004, p. 4). Later in the same year, the Joint Learning Initiative reported that ‘There is a massive global shortage of health workers’ (Joint Learning Initiative 2004; executive summary, p. 3). In 2006, the World Health Organisation devoted the whole of the World Health Report to the negative impact that human resources shortages was having on global health care (WHO 2006). Against this backdrop of growing concern about shortages of health personnel, this paper focuses on one of the most critical components of the workforce: nurses. As such, it provides a context for the other papers in this special edition of the Journal of Clinical Nursing. These other papers focus in detail on specific nurse workforce issues and priorities facing policy makers and researchers in Australia, Canada, Japan, the USA and elsewhere. They emphasise the need to develop a better understanding of the specific dynamics in organisational and country level nursing labour markets if policy makers are to be well informed about the judgements they must make about what will be effective policy solutions for the nursing workforce. This paper provides a broader perspective, highlighting the scale of the challenge of nursing shortages, but also making the point that there are many common challenges and a policy agenda that points to workable solutions. Go to: Nursing and the global health workforce challenge WHO has estimated there to be a total of 59 ·2 million fulltime paid health workers worldwide in 2006, of which about two thirds were health service providers, with the remaining third being composed of health management and support workers (WHO 2006). WHO also calculated a threshold in workforce density below which consistent coverage of essential interventions, including those necessary to meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), was very unlikely. Based on these estimates, it reported that there were 57 countries with critical shortages equivalent to a global deficit of 2 ·4 million doctors, nurses and midwives. The proportional shortfalls were greatest in sub-Saharan Africa, although numerical deficits were very large in South-East Asia because of its population size (WHO 2006, p. 12). WHO also highlighted that shortages often coexist in a country with large numbers of unemployed health professionals: ‘Poverty, imperfect private labour markets, lack of public funds, bureaucratic red tape and political interference produce this paradox of shortages in the midst of underutilized talent’ (WHO 2006, p. xviii). WHO concluded that the shortage crisis has the potential to deepen in the coming years. It noted that demand for service providers will escalate markedly in all countries – rich and poor: ‘Richer countries face a future of low fertility and large populations of elderly people, which will cause a shift towards chronic and degenerative diseases with high care demands. Technological advances and income growth will require a more specialised workforce even as needs for basic care increase because of families’ declining capacity or willingness to care for their elderly members. Without massively increasing training of workers in this and other wealthy countries, these growing gaps will exert even greater pressure on the outflow of health workers from poorer regions’ (WHO 2006, p. xix). Nurses are the main professional component of the ‘front line’ staff in most health systems, and their contribution is recognised as essential to meeting development goals and delivering safe and effective care. One difficulty in making an accurate global estimate of numbers of nurses is the definition of  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœnurse’. Different international agencies, at different times, have developed different definitions, some related to educational level, some to years of training. The primary focus of this paper is on registered nurses, but this focus is hampered by the absence of a clear definition for some data sources, and the overall lack of a single universal definition of ‘nurse’. To give one indication of the size of the nursing workforce world wide, the International Council of Nurses reports 129 national nurses’ associations representing 13 million nurses worldwide (ICN 2007). This section of the paper provides an overview of nurse:population ratios in different countries and regions of the world. The data must be used with caution. The country level data collated by WHO which is reported in this paper may in some countries include midwives under the broad category of nurses; for some, it is also likely that the data may include auxiliary and unlicensed personnel. There can also be varying interpretations relating to the calculation of the number of nurses – some countries may report working nurses, others may report all nurses that are eligible to practice; some may report ‘headcount’, others may report full time equivalents. The analysis presented below should therefore be taken as illustrative of a broad pattern of regional variations, rather than an accurate representation of each country. Current initiatives by international organisations such as WHO, ILO and OECD to agree to standard definitions and improve the collection of count ry level HRH data should improve the current unsatisfactory situation.

Part Six Chapter III

III Andrew had refused a lift back to Hilltop House, so it was only Tessa and Fats in the car together, and Fats said, ‘I don't want to go home.' ‘All right,' Tessa replied, and she drove, while talking to Colin on the telephone. ‘I've got him †¦ Andy found him. We'll be back in a bit †¦ Yes †¦ Yes, I will †¦' Tears were spattering down Fats' face; his body was betraying him; it was exactly like the time when hot urine had spilt down his leg into his sock, when Simon Price had made him piss himself. The hot saltiness leaked over his chin and onto his chest, pattering like drops of rain. He kept imagining the funeral. A tiny little coffin. He had not wanted to do it with the boy so near. Would the weight of the dead child ever lift from him? ‘So you ran away,' said Tessa coldly, over his tears. She had prayed that she would find him alive, but her strongest emotion was disgust. His tears did not soften her. She was used to men's tears. Part of her was ashamed that he had not, after all, thrown himself into the river. ‘Krystal told the police that you and she were in the bushes. You just left him to his own devices, did you?' Fats was speechless. He could not believe her cruelty. Did she not understand the desolation roaring inside him, the horror, the sense of contagion? ‘Well, I hope you have got her pregnant,' said Tessa. ‘It'll give her something to live for.' Every time they turned a corner, he thought that she was taking him home. He had feared Cubby most, but now there was nothing to choose between his parents. He wanted to get out of the car, but she had locked all the doors. Without warning, she swerved and braked. Fats, clutching the sides of his seat, saw that they were in a lay-by on the Yarvil bypass. Frightened that she would order him out of the car, he turned his swollen face to her. ‘Your birth mother,' she said, looking at him as she had never done before, without pity or kindness, ‘was fourteen years old. We had the impression, from what we were told, that she was middle class, quite a bright girl. She absolutely refused to say who your father was. Nobody knew whether she was trying to protect an under-age boyfriend or something worse. We were told all of this, in case you had any mental or physical difficulties. In case,' she said clearly, like a teacher trying to emphasize a point sure to come up in a test, ‘you had been the result of incest.' He cowered away from her. He would have preferred to be shot. ‘I was desperate to adopt you,' she said. ‘Desperate. But Dad was very ill. He said to me, â€Å"I can't do it. I'm scared I'll hurt a baby. I need to get better before we do this, and I can't do that and cope with a new baby as well.† ‘But I was so determined to have you,' said Tessa, ‘that I pressured him into lying, and telling the social workers that he was fine, and pretending to be happy and normal. We brought you home, and you were tiny and premature, and on the fifth night we had you, Dad slipped out of bed and went to the garage, put a hosepipe on the exhaust of the car and tried to kill himself, because he was convinced he'd smothered you. And he almost died. ‘So you can blame me,' said Tessa, ‘for your and Dad's bad start, and maybe you can blame me for everything that's come since. But I'll tell you this, Stuart. Your father's spent his life facing up to things he never did. I don't expect you to understand his kind of courage. But,' her voice broke at last, and he heard the mother he knew, ‘he loves you, Stuart.' She added the lie because she could not help herself. Tonight, for the first time, Tessa was convinced that it was a lie, and also that everything she had done in her life, telling herself that it was for the best, had been no more than blind selfishness, generating confusion and mess all around. But who could bear to know which stars were already dead, she thought, blinking up at the night sky; could anybody stand to know that they all were? She turned the key in the ignition, crashed the gears and they pulled out again onto the bypass. ‘I don't want to go to the Fields,' said Fats in terror. ‘We're not going to the Fields,' she said. ‘I'm taking you home.'

Cultural Perspectives on Crime Essay

Minorities are over represented in the criminal justice system because they are targeted during drives to reduce hooliganism, juvenile drug offenses and crime. Then there are biases against them during prosecution, trial and judgment. Finally, the minorities get harsher sentences than their white counterparts (Davis. A 1998). In my opinion the minorities are over represented in the criminal justice system because of prejudices within the system. Way back in 1991, in LA, police officers beating Rodney King were captured on video. Rodney was a black man and this evidence supported the claims of the Afro-American community that cases of police brutality were a norm. The prejudice in the system was further exposed when in the trial court; the jury did not find the four officers guilty of wrongdoing. This case helped to justify the claims that there was a bias in the justice system and that it was very difficult for colored persons to get justice. This form of discrimination it is alleged is found in the entire justice system. In reality what has happened is that there is a failure of judges, even elected officials to correct the injustices in the criminal justice system. In addition, the criminal justice policy makers have also failed to redress injustice (Lochner. L, 2003). The result is that minority groups in general and black and Hispanic Americans are targeted and victimized by law enforcement agencies. When charging for crimes is done it is the colored persons that are targeted. To add insult to injury colored law abiding citizens are regularly challenged because of racial profiling and police bias. This prejudice has permeated almost everywhere. When the cop is patrolling his attitude towards colored people for the purpose of prosecution and penalty to the treatment of colored by the prosecutors and judges. The essential point is that all individuals should be treated in a similar manner. This is what the Constitution requires the justice system to do. What is the consequence of such police action? The prison inmates are mostly Hispanic and blacks. There are communities of blacks who have actually fallen apart and have dispersed because a large part of the youth has been lost to prisons. This has fostered a belief in these people that the law enforcement system cannot be trusted and should not be supported (Cole. G & Smith. C 2004). This belief has reinforced the prejudice in the law enforcement agencies that colored communities are beds of lawlessness and so should be punished and incarcerated. How is this prejudice reinforced? There are law enforcement policies and tactics that target blacks and Hispanics, moreover, there is the issue of racial profiling. In other words the blacks and Hispanics are usually the targets of suspicion. What happens is that on the basis of bias and suspicions the blacks and Hispanics are blamed for most of the crimes in the area, and ultimately jailed. This system is well ingrained in prosecution. At every step the blacks and Hispanics are treated unfairly. During the first plea bargaining with prosecutors to the final sentencing, there are preconceived notions against blacks and Hispanics. The persons in the justice system especially the judges and prosecutors are all logical and rational persons but there are presuppositions that are introduced in the system which skews the outcomes against blacks and Hispanics (Pratto. F 1994). Till recently sentencing was an important task of great responsibility that was entrusted to judges that were known to be men of integrity and impartiality. Currently, there has been an involvement in sentencing of sentencing commissioners, prosecutors and legislators that has made this process inhuman and mechanical leading to long sentences against the blacks and African Americans. What are the consequences? Several colored people who would otherwise have received shorter or non-jail sentences are now languishing in jail. If those blacks that were eligible for probation had been treated similar to their white counterparts, they would have not been jailed. What is more appalling is that if the courts had taken cognizance of the inequities piled on the colored people injustice could have been reduced (Petersilia. J 1983). The courts in general have refused to investigate into or rectify racial inequality in the system. There are several reasons why the inequity against blacks and Hispanics is being perpetrated. One is that the statistical information about the overrepresentation of minorities in the criminal justice system has not adequately been compiled. In addition, there is not adequate diversification of the law enforcement agencies especially the police (Miller J 1996). Further in light of harsh sentencing against blacks and Hispanics, the death penalty should at least be suspended. Most importantly, the sentencing guidelines are outdated. Finally, the existence of the felony disenfranchisement laws creates and perpetrates prejudice in the system. One area in which the prejudice against minorities is most lucid is the juvenile justice system. There is an extremely harsh treatment against blacks and Hispanics. These youths are tracked and marked in most anti drug campaigns. They are put behind bars. There are more and more black and Hispanics arrested for selling drugs where as arrests of white juveniles has decreased (Bishop. D, 2000). What happens when there is discrimination against blacks and Hispanics? Those minorities who violate a law can expect longer sentences; they can expect fewer leniencies than their white counterparts. In addition, minority youth face harsher sentences and bear the brunt of the efforts of legislators to treat them as adults. The result being that these minority youth because of the machinations of the legislators are more likely to be converted to hardened criminals. Finally whenever legislators or policy makers choose to enforce law more vigorously, there is an increase in the number of atrocities against minority offenders. Even though the constitution requires that two cocaine dealers be treated equally by the law we find that the minority dealer bears the wrath of the law enforcement agencies. Ethnic background and racial heritage is becoming a basis for unfairness. This inequity is pervasive and affects every step of the criminal justice system (Sherman L 2002). What is dreadful is that in the criminal justice system, racial discrimination is increasing and not reducing. This makes a mockery of the progress in civil rights made till now. To sum, black and Hispanics bear the worst rage of the criminal justice system. They are followed by cops, watched and arrested more than their white counterparts. Then they face a criminal justice system that assumes that colored people are more likely to commit crimes. They are dragged to juries, prosecutors and judges who feel that minorities are more likely to have committed crimes. Finally, the legislative machinery ensures that tough sentences are passed against them to root out crime in the country.. They are over represented in the criminal justice system because they have been singled out for ruthless treatment. References: Bishop. D, (2000) Juvenile Offenders in the Adult Criminal Justice System, Crime and Justice, Vol. 27, pp 81-167 Cole. G & Smith. C, (2004) The American System of Criminal Justice, Thomson Wadsworth. Davis. A (1998) Prosecution and Race: The Power and Privilege of Discretion, Fordham Law Review. Vol. LXVII, No. 1. Lochner. L, (2003) Individual Perceptions of Criminal Justice System, Working Paper 9474 NBER Working Paper Series available at: http://www. nber. org/papers/w9474 Miller J (1996) Search and Destroy: African-American Males in the Criminal Justice System, Cambridge University Press. Petersilia. J (1983) Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System, Rand Corporation, Santa Monica. Pratto. F (1994) Attenuators and Hierarchy Enhancers: Social Dominance Theory and the Criminal Justice System, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Volume 24, Issue 4. Sherman L (2002), Trust and Confidence in Criminal Justice, NIJ Journal, Retrieved from: http://www. ncjrs. gov/pdffiles1/nij/189106-1. pdf on January 4, 2007.

Write about being a revenue cycle director in managed care Term Paper

Write about being a revenue cycle director in managed care - Term Paper Example President, I am tasked with verifying, reviewing and updating all information relating to the demography on the managed care’s database, SoundConnect, which is primary a care service provider. i. Evaluating equipment, systems and staffing so that they meet the set standards of business. I provide assessments, appraisals and recommendations to the Chief Financial Officer and other top level management. After I send my recommendations, they are then responsible for making the appropriate changes. iv. Monitoring the productivity of all the departments. These productivity metrics include claims that have been rejected, denied or processed. It also includes collection volume, payments of patients, rates of fee schedules and account write offs. v. Ensuring that the staff attends training programs for specified functions. Through reviewing the staff, I am able to gauge their job proficiency. Additionally, I schedule staff meetings aimed at enhancing staff development and improving communication. vii. Using the billing system and systems of collection for processing and billing. I am an accountant by profession and therefore I ensure that the billing systems are utilized by the staff at the care. I also conduct training programs to make sure that proficiency testing for all staff is established. Friedman et al., argues that, the revenue cycle director is part of the managerial staff and as such, is involved with contributing to the vision and strategic strategies that a managed care facility adopts. Therefore, the director sets the strategy and vision in alignment with the goals and initiatives of the critical revenue cycle for every business line (Friedman et al., 2013). As the director, I provide the strategy and vison for the Pain Center, Home Health, Orthopedics and the Ambulatory Surgical Center. My job extends to managing and leading intrinsic revenue cycle projects. I perform this role by providing the total oversight and direction of the core areas that

What are the social benefits of using lie detectors Research Paper

What are the social benefits of using lie detectors - Research Paper Example The danger of using lie detector is that innocent people will be mistakenly pronounced as being guilty since the test only measures physiological responses. Such responses may be caused by a number of emotions, for instance, fear and anger of which guilt is only one. The device has an equally unacceptable rate of falsely accusing innocent people. One question that is emerging is that; how reliable are the polygraph tests? Cheating is human. There has never been, nor ever be, an honest society. So long as human beings lack the means to quantify lies or weigh hypocrisies, there is no need of any individual or society, supposing that any other society is more dishonest than another. Various culture of the world can be distinguished on the basis of how it copes with deceit, the types of lies it denounces, the type of institutions it fashions to expose the deceits(Messer and Jones, p 108). The lie detector and its used have been great in the modern society. The instrument has become one of the greatest projects of the twentieth century, aiming at improving the effort to transform the central moral question of our collective life and how to fashion a just society. The instrument also drew its legitimization from two noble half-truths about our political life which states that: democracy depends on transparency in public life and that justice depends on equal treatment for all persons. As a society based on the political principles rather than a common history or shared kinship, the modern society has decided to resolve social conflicts with public rules regardless of any other factors taking place behind the scenes. Social rules are often in conflict and the society is quick to justify them in the name of science. Science, in itself, is considered as the least arbitrary and the most transparent form of rule making. This has led to the treatment of deceit and