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Build a Coffee Shop Network in Cisco Packet Tracer (Step-by-Step) – Transcript
Video by ITTechStudies · Watch the original on YouTube
Summary
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- The network setup for Mike's coffee shop includes a secure management office network, an isolated point of sale system, and free guest Wi-Fi.
- Using a router on a stick configuration, sub-interfaces act as default gateways to allow multiple VLANs to communicate across a single physical interface.
- An access control list is applied to the guest Wi-Fi interface to block access to internal business networks while allowing internet access.
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Transcript
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Hey, what's going on? Imagine you just got a call from a client. His name is Mike and he's going to open a brand new coffee shop. Opening day is next week, but there's one problem. He doesn't have a network. He needs a secure office network for running his business, a reliable point of sale system to process customer payments, and free Wi-Fi for his customers. So, today we're going to build one from scratch. Let's go meet our client.
This is Mike's coffee shop. It is a small neighborhood cafe where customers come to grab a coffee, get some work done, or simply relax. Before we touch a single command, it's important to understand the business. Let's start in the manager's office. This is where Mike handles payroll and the devices will have access to confidential business resources. Next to the manager's desk is the office printer. It may seem like just another printer, but it contains
confidential documents like invoices, schedules, and reports. So, it also belongs on the management office network. Now, let's walk over to the checkout counter. This is probably the most important area in the entire business.
Every coffee, pastry, and customer payment is processed right here. This is a point of sale terminal. It communicates with payment systems and records every sale. Because of how critical this system is, we'll isolate it into its own VLAN.
Next to the POS terminal is the receipt printer. Since it works alongside the POS system, we'll place it in the same VLAN. Now, let's take a look at the customer seating area. One thing almost every customer expects today is free Wi-Fi.
But just because we're providing internet access, doesn't mean customers should have access to our business network. So, we'll create a completely separate guest Wi-Fi network. To provide wireless coverage, we'll install a wireless access point. In a real coffee shop, this will usually be mounted on the ceiling near the center of the building. Of course, customers never see what's happening behind the scenes. Somewhere in the office or maybe in a storage room is a small network
cabinet. Inside the cabinet lives our router, our switch, and our internet connection. Every cable throughout the building eventually ends up here. This is the heart of the network. At the very top, we have our internet service provider. This represents the company providing internet service to Mike's coffee shop. That connection goes into our Cisco router. The router connects to our Cisco switch, and finally the switch distributes
connectivity to every device through the coffee shop. Now that we've planned our deployment, it's time to install the physical network. I'm going to start by connecting our router to the internet service provider.
This cable represents the internet connection entering the building. In a real deployment, this could come from a fiber, a cable modem, or another provider owned device before reaching our router. I'm connecting it to G0/0, which eventually become our WAN interface.
Next, I'll connect the router to the switch. This is one of the most important connection in the entire network. Later in the video, the single cables will carry traffic from multiple VLANs using a trunk connection.
Now, let's connect the manager's computer. I'm plugging it into fast ethernet 0/1. In a real building, this cable wouldn't run directly to the switch. Instead, it would connect to a wall jack, travel through the walls or above the ceiling, and eventually terminate inside the network rack.
Next, we'll install the office printer. Since it is located in the manager's office, it follows the same structured cabling path back to our switch. I'm intentionally placing it on the next available switch port, keeping devices organized like this makes troubleshooting much easier later.
Now, let's install the point of sale terminal. This cable typically runs underneath the checkout counter before making its way back to the network cabinet. Since this device processes every customer payments, one of the most important system on the network.
Next is the receipt printer. Because it sits beside the POS terminal, it follows the same cable path back to our switch. Finally, we'll install our wireless access point. In a real deployment, this access point would usually receive both power and network connectivity over a
single Ethernet cable using a technology called power over Ethernet or PoE. Our guest laptop won't require Ethernet cables. Instead, they'll connect wirelessly once we configure the access point later in the video.
Before we move on, I want to point out something that's often overlooked. Notice that I'm intentionally assigning devices to specific ports. The manager's computer is in F0/1, the office printer is on 0/2, POS is on 0/6. This isn't random. In the real world, every switch port is documented. If my call 6 months from now because the office printer is offline, I don't have to guess where it is
connected. I already know it is plugged into fast Ethernet 0/2. Good documentation can save hours of troubleshooting. Now that our physical installation is complete, it's time to bring the network online.
Whenever I deploy a new network, I like to start with the switch. The switch is the center of our local network. I'm going to start with some basic housekeeping. The first thing I always do is give the switch a meaningful host name.
Instead of seeing the generic name switch, I'll immediately know I'm connected to Mike's coffee shop switch. Next, I'm disabling the NS lookup. This is one of those small commands that
makes working in the CLI much more enjoyable. If you ever mistype a command on a Cisco device, you've probably noticed it pauses for several seconds. That's because it's trying to resolve what you typed as a host name.
Disabling DNS lookup eliminates that delay. Next, I'll configure and enable secret password. This protects privileged exec mode where administrative changes are made to the device.
I'm also enabling password encryption. This prevents password from being displayed in plain text within the running configuration. Finally, I'll configure a message of the day banner.
This provides a warning that unauthorized access to the device is prohibited and it's something you'll commonly see in production environments.
Even though we'll eventually manage the switch remotely using SSH, it's still important to secure the console port. If someone physically connects to the console cable, they'll still be required to authenticate before gaining access.
Now, let's organize our network. Instead of placing every device into one large broadcast domain, we're going to separate the coffee shop into multiple logical networks using VLANs. Our first VLAN will be for the management office. This network contains the manager's computer and the office printer.
Our second VLAN is dedicated to the point of sale system. Since every customer payment passes through this network, we'll isolate it from the rest of the business. Our third VLAN will be used for guest Wi-Fi. Customers should have internet
access, but they should never have direct access to our internal business network. Finally, I'm creating VLAN 99. This VLAN isn't for employees or customers. It is our network management VLAN and is used
for managing our network infrastructure. I want to point out something that often confuses people. We have a management office VLAN and a network management VLAN. Those are two completely different things. The management office VLAN is where employees work. The network management VLAN is reserved for managing network devices like switches and in larger enterprise environments, wireless access points.
Keeping those separate is considered a best practice. Now that our VLANs have been created, it's time to assign switch ports. I'm assigning fast ethernet 0/1 through 0/5 to the management office VLAN. Even though we're only using two of those ports today, I'm planning ahead.
If Mike adds another office computer and network printer or any other management device in the future, those ports are already assigned to the correct VLAN. Planning for future growth like this makes expanding the network much easier.