Network Design Process - Effective Network Planning and Design

Overview

The network planning and design methodology describes a process with 9 specific steps and a sequence for those activities. As mentioned it is an engineering life cycle that supports technical initiatives such as Windows migration, IP telephony and wireless design to name a few examples. The methodology begins with examining company business requirements. It is absolutely essential that you understand the company business model, business drivers and how they are growing from a business perspective. That will build the foundation for a design proposal that serves the business, technical and operational requirements of the company.

STEP 1: BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

Network Design Process - Effective Network Planning and Design

Any design project starts with an understanding of what the company does and what they need to accomplish from a business perspective. This begins with an understanding of their business model, which really describes how their company works from an operational and business perspective to generate revenues and reduce costs. Many vendors today have conducted their own return on investment (ROI) studies for new implementations such as Unified Communications and Telephony. It is an effective sales tool that illustrates the cost benefits compared with investment over a specified period of time.

This is a list of some typical business drivers:

• Reduce Operating Costs

• Generate Revenue

• Client Satisfaction

• Employee Productivity

This is a list of some typical project business requirements:

• Budget Constraints

• Office Consolidations

• Company Mergers and Acquisitions

• Business Partner Connectivity

• Telecommuter Remote Access

• Implement New Offices and Employees

• New Data Center Applications

• Reduce Network Outage Costs

• Cost Effective Network Management

• Vendor Contracts

STEP 2: DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

Now that you understand the basic business requirements of the company, you can determine the standard and specific design requirements. The design requirements process is focused on defining requirements from a technical perspective. Those requirements along with the business requirements will build the framework that is used to define infrastructure, security and management. Design requirements are defined as standard and miscellaneous. The standard design requirements are generic and represent those considered with many design projects. Miscellaneous requirements are those that aren't defined with any of the standard requirements.

Standard Design Requirements

• Performance

• Availability

• Scalability

• Standards Compatibility

• Rapid Deployment

STEP 3: NETWORK ASSESSMENT

A network assessment is conducted after we have finished the business and design requirements of the company. A network assessment provides a quick snapshot of the current network with an examination of the infrastructure, performance, availability, management and security. That information is utilized for making effective strategy recommendations and design proposals to the client concerning specific information systems modifications. The network assessment model has 3 sequential activities, which are assessment, analysis and recommendations. The current network is examined using five primary surveys: infrastructure, performance, availability, management and security. When the surveys are completed, the information collected is then reviewed for trends, problems and issues that are negatively affecting the network.

STEP 4: INFRASTRUCTURE SELECTION

After doing an network assessment we are ready to start selecting specific infrastructure components for the network design. This phase starts building the infrastructure with a specific sequence that promotes effective equipment selection and design. It is important that you consider business requirements, design requirements and the network assessment when building your infrastructure.

The following numbered list describes the specific infrastructure components and their particular sequence.

1. Enterprise WAN Topology

2. Campus Topology

3. Traffic Model

4. Equipment Selection

5. Circuits

6. Routing Protocol Design

7. Addressing

8. Naming Conventions

9. IOS Services

10. Domain Name Services

11. DHCP Services

STEP 5: SECURITY STRATEGY

We must now define a security strategy for securing the infrastructure. The need for enterprise network security shouldn't be ignored with the proliferation of the Internet. Companies are continuing to leverage the public infrastructure for connecting national and international offices, business partners and new company acquisitions. The security requirements and network assessment recommendations should drive the selection of security equipment, protocols and processes. It identifies what assets must be protected, what users are allowed access and how those assets will be secured.

STEP 6: NETWORK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

This section will define a network management strategy for managing all equipment defined from infrastructure and security. It is necessary to define how the equipment is going to be monitored and determine if the current management strategy is adequate or if new applications, equipment, protocols and processes must be identified. Management components are then integrated with infrastructure and security to finish building the proposed design. These primary elements comprise any well-defined management strategy and should be considered when developing your strategy.

• 7 Management Groups

• SNMP Applications

• Monitored Devices and Events

STEP 7: PROOF OF CONCEPT

All infrastructure, security and management components must now be tested with a proof of concept plan. It is important to test the current design, configuration and IOS versions in a non-production environment or on the production network with limited disruption. Implementation of newer network modules at a router, for instance, could require that you change the current IOS version that is implemented. Making those changes could affect WAN or campus modules already installed at production routers. That is the real value of doing a proof of concept and certifying that the new equipment and IOS versions integrate with each device as well as the network. The following list describes the advantages of doing a proof of concept with your network design. The proof of concept test results should be examined and used to modify current infrastructure, security and management specifications before generating a design proposal. The proof of concept model suggested here involves prototype design, equipment provisioning, defining tests, building equipment scripts and examining test results.

1. Prototype Design

2. Provision Equipment

3. Define Tests

4. Build Equipment Scripts

5. Review Test Results

STEP 8: DESIGN PROPOSAL/REVIEW

With the proof of concept finished, you are now ready to build a design proposal for the design review meeting. Your intended audience could be the Director, CIO, CTO, Senior Network Engineer, Consultant or anyone that is approving a budget for the project. It is important to present your ideas with clarity and professionalism. If a presentation is required, power point slides work well and could be used to support concepts from the design proposal document. The focus is on what comprises a standard design proposal and the sequence for presenting that information.

The working design proposal is presented to the client after addressing any concerns from proof of concept assurance testing. The design review is an opportunity for you to present your design proposal to the client and discuss any issues. It is an opportunity for the client to identify concerns they have and for the design engineer to clarify issues. The focus is to agree on any modifications, if required, and make changes to the infrastructure, security and management before implementation starts. Business and design requirements can change from when the project started which sometimes will necessitate changes to infrastructure, security and management specifications. Any changes should then go through proof of concept testing again before final changes to the design proposal.

STEP 9: IMPLEMENTATION

The final step will have us defining an implementation process for the specified design. This describes a suggested implementation methodology of the proposed design, which should have minimal disruption to the production network. As well it should be efficient and as cost effective as possible. As with previous methodologies there is a sequence that should be utilized as well.

Once the implementation is finished, there is monitoring of the network for any problems. Design and configuration modifications are then made to address any problems or concerns. The Book Network Planning and Design Guide, is available at amazon.com and ebookmall.com

Copyright 2006 Shaun Hummel All Rights Reserved

Network Design Process - Effective Network Planning and Design
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Shaun Hummel is the author of Network Planning and Design Guide and http://www.ciscodesignbooks.com featuring Networking Books, eBooks, Certifications, Articles and Design Tools.

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Seven Layers of ISO OSI Model

The ISO OSI model are explained below. The seven layers of the OSI model are:

Application Presentation Session Transport Network Antiqua">Data Link Physical
1 Application layer:

This layer provides a means for the user to access information on the network through an application. Many user applications that need to communicate over the network interact with the Application layer protocol directly. The user applications are not part of OSI Application layer, use the networking services offered by the networking protocol suite. Application layer functions typically include identifying communication partners, and determining availability of required resources. Some examples of application layer implementations include Telnet, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

Seven Layers of ISO OSI Model

2 Presentation layer:

Presentation layer converts local host computer data representations into a standard network format for transmission on the network. On the receiving side, it changes the network format into the appropriate host computer's format so that data can be utilized independent of the host computer. ASCII and EBCDIC conversions, cryptography, and the like are handled here.
Examples of Presentation layer coding and conversion schemes include common data representation formats, conversion of character representation formats, common data compression schemes, and common data encryption schemes.

Presentation layer implementations are not typically associated with a particular protocol stack. Some well-known standards for video include QuickTime and Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG). QuickTime is an Apple Computer specification for video and audio, and MPEG is a standard for video compression and coding.

3. Session layer:

The session layer establishes, manages, and terminates communication sessions. Communication sessions consist of service requests and service responses that occur between applications located in different network devices. These requests and responses are coordinated by protocols implemented at the session layer. Some examples of session-layer implementations include AppleTalk's Zone Information Protocol (ZIP), and Decent Phase Session Control Protocol (SCP).

4.Transport layer:

Transport layer is responsible for providing reliable service between the hosts. Upper layer datagrams are broken down into manageable datagrams and then appropriate header information (such as sequence number, port number, etc.) is added to the datagram before passing it on to the Network layer. Two frequently used transport protocols are the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and the UDP (User Datagram Protocol).

Important features of Transport layer:

Transport layer ensures reliable service. Breaks the message (from sessions layer) into smaller datagrams, and appends appropriate unit header information. Responsible for communicating with the Session layer
Important features of TCP/UDP:

TCP/IP widely used protocol for Transport/Network layers TCP: (Transport Control Protocol) TCP ensures that a packet has reached its intended destination by using an acknowledgement. If not, it retransmits the lost messages. Hence, TCP is called a connection oriented protocol. UDP (Universal Data gram Protocol): UDP simply transmits packets over the internet. It does not wait for an acknowledgement. It is the responsibility of upper layer protocols to ensure that the information had reached the intended partner(s). Hence, UDP is often called connectionless protocol. Application programs that do not need connection-oriented protocol generally use UDP.
5. Network layer:

Network layer is responsible for the routing of packets through the entire network. The layer uses logical addressing for this purpose. Note that the physical address (like MAC address) keeps changing from hop to hop when a packet travels from source to destination. As a result, an address that doesn't change is required to ensure continuity between hops. This is nothing but logical address. For IP networks, IP address is the logical address; and for Novell network, IPX address is the logical address, and so on. This layer also provides for congestion control, and accounting information for the network. IP (Internet Protocol) is an example of a network layer protocol.

6. Data link layer:

Data link layer provides delivery of information frames between communicating partners. This layer is responsible for flow regulation, error detection and correction, and framing of bits for transmission. The network data frame is made up of checksum, source address, destination address, and the data itself. The largest frame size that can be sent is known as the maximum transmission Unit (MTU).

Important features of Data link layer:

Logical Link Control (LLC): Defines how data is transferred over the cable and provides data link service to the higher layers. Medium Access Control (MAC): Controls media access by regulating the communicating nodes using pre-defined set of rules. (i.e. Token passing, Ethernet [CSMA/CD] all have MAC sub-layer protocol).


Different Data link layer protocols define different network and protocol characteristics, including physical addressing, network topology, error notification, sequencing of frames, and flow control. Physical addressing (as opposed to logical addressing) defines how devices are addressed at the data link layer. The protocols used in Data link layer are SLIP, PPP, and CSLP.

7. Physical layer:

This is the bottom-most layer of the OSI model. The Physical layer handles the bit-level communications across the physical medium. The physical medium could be made up of wired electrical signals, or light, or radio (wireless) signals. Physical layer specifications define characteristics such as media, data rates, maximum transmission distances, and physical connectors.

Some of the important standards that deal with physical layer specifications are:

RS-232(for serial communication lines), X.21, EIA 232, and G730.

Physical layer and Data link layer implementations can be categorized as either LAN or WAN specifications.

Seven Layers of ISO OSI Model
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Vijayanand has done his post graduation (M.E.) in Communication Systems. He has several years of experience in electronic assembly and design, rf testing, and networking. He is a Cisco Certified Networking Professional, and an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer). He is a director of Anand Software and Training Pvt. Ltd. Complete tutorial on Networking is available at SimulationExams.com

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Business Networking - 5 Important Networking Guidelines

Business networking is a very effective method for finding new customers, and forging new business relationships. It is a business strategy that can be used by anyone whether it's the chief executive officer of major international corporation, or a small home-based business owner. While many people who do business on a regular basis know the importance of business networking, many of them avoid it because of the amount of time and effort that it takes for its effectiveness. It is also mentally uncomfortable, and requires that one completely abandons his or her comfort zone. However, as these issues are dangerous to one's business development, they can be conquered by forming new habits and setting worthy goals. These tips can help you if you find yourself in a similar dilemma.

Learn Business Networking from the Experts
There are many good programs that are designed to teach you how to network effectively. The people behind these programs are experts with many years of tangible and verifiable experience. Take a few minutes to find out just where these people are located, and what value they can bring to you as a business owner. Search online in as many communities as possible including Twitter and Facebook. Get on conference calls. Attend business networking venues, and try to meet as many of the best business experts as possible. Go to the Amazon website, and see if there are any good books that you can purchase that relate to the subject. Purchase and download eBooks by other seasoned experts. Learn as much as possible from these people, and make certain that they stay on your radar.

Develop a Long-Term Networking Plan
Once you have learned some good business networking strategies, find the one the you like the best. Prepare a networking plan based on that strategy and continue to add more steps to it to strengthen its effectiveness. Then, implement that plan on the very first opportunity that occurs. Go out and work the plan. At the end of the day, go back over everything that happened to see what worked and what didn't. Tweak your plan as much as possible. Look at the areas that need improvement, and incorporate those improvements into your plan. Do this until all of the bugs are worked and your plan is as close to perfect as you can get it.

Business Networking - 5 Important Networking Guidelines

Execute Your Networking Plan Daily
Now, you must work your business networking plan every single day that you are operating your business. Purchase a good day-timer, and make a networking schedule. Make sure that the schedule is consistent each day. If you prefer to network in the morning, schedule a specific time in the morning, and work your plan at that exact time everyday. Make no excuses, and take no short cuts. Just do it. By practicing this method, you will eventually abandon your comfort zone. You will start to develop more confidence, and start to see some good results.

Utilize Online Networking Resources
Once you have followed the previous steps, take your business networking to the next level by going online. Become more active on Twitter. Tweet everyday with other business owners. Pick their brains on new business opportunities that will either increase your existing business, or help to create a new lucrative enterprise. Do the same with Facebook and LinkedIn. Gather these new business contacts, and communicate with them regularly. Join and participate in online forums that relate to your business interests, expertise, and experience.

Learn and Apply New Networking Strategies
Now that you have found your preferred business networking strategy, and have executed your daily plan; you should think about developing new networking strategies. The idea behind this is to expand your business networking horizons. Go back to the strategies that you learned in the beginning, and pick up another strategy. Then, repeat these networking guidelines.

Business Networking - 5 Important Networking Guidelines
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Communication and Networking

Communication and networking skills are very important in career development. Great careers do not happen accidentally, it requires persistence, introspection, with the right people to achieve this. Most people would benefit from knowing more about career development and the skills that one can employ to ensure that they are developing their career at a pace that is acceptable to them. Career development is not a one time thing that one does; it is a lengthy process that requires one to set milestones for each stage that they are in with regards to their career.

In today's competitive business environment, developing one's career requires more than just a good education and job experience. One has to have an edge over the thousands of other well educated experienced individuals that are after the same position or career path as you are. Communication and networking skills are some of the skills that one needs to learn if they are going to get this edge.

Effective communication skills form the heart of networking as well as career success. Most employers look for strong communication skills in their potential employees. Being able to communicate with clients, co-workers and upper management is of utmost importance. One has to be able to convey their thoughts if the job is to be done properly; ideas that are stuck in your mind are of no use to anyone even to yourself. Often, you will find that people that are promoted in the various jobs are not usually promoted because of the technical skills that they possess but because of the communication and networking skills that they possess.

Communication and Networking

Communication involves both listening to other people and getting people to see things your way. If you do not listen to other people's ideas or suggestions then it is unlikely that you will ever learn anything new. Furthermore, they will not be open to listening to what you have to say; people will usually give you what you dish out.

With regards to networking, one has to mix with the 'right people' in order to advance their career. Mentorship is one way to achieve this; find someone that is an expert in your field and learn as much as you can from them.

Always talk to your boss and ask her/him to tell you ways in which you can do your job better. Office parties are also a great place to network with peers and superiors. Such events provide an opportunity to make use of one's communication and networking skills to go up the career ladder.

Communication and Networking
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