Introduction to Network Design Typical Network Design Business Goals Increase revenue and profit Improve corporate communications Shorten product-development cycles and increase employee productivity Build partnerships with other companies Expand into worldwide markets Move to a global network business model Reduce telecommunications and network costs Expand the data readily available to all employees and fields offices Improve security Offer better customer support Offer new customer services 2 Top-Down Network Design Methodology Good network design must recognize a customer’s requirements. Customer’s requirements including : Availability Scalability Affordability Security Manageability Service level 3 Top-Down Network Design Methodology Top-Down network design is a methodology for designing networks that begins at the upper layers of the OSI reference model before moving to the lower layers. Focuses on applications, sessions and data transport before the selection of routers, switches and media. Top-Down network design process includes exploring divisional and group structures. Iterative 4 Analyzing Business Goals Working with a client Research a client’s business Learn about client’s market, suppliers, products, services and competitive advantages First meeting: Explain the organizational structure of the company. Overall goal of the network design project Why is the customer embarking on this new network design project? For what will the new network be used? How will the new network help the customer be more successful in the customer’s business? 5 Analyzing Business Goals Changes in Enterprise Networks Improve corporate old telecommunications and data processing Improve corporate communications 6 Identifying the scope of a network design project Determine scopes New network or modification Single network segment or remote access network or whole enterprise network Refer to 7-layer of OSI reference model 7 Identifying a customer’s network applications Current & new applications Fill in a chart Name of application Type of application New application? (Yes or No) Criticality Comments 8 Analyzing business constraints Politics and Policies Escape discussing office politics technological policies Budgetary and Staffing Constraints Must fit customer’s budget The budget should include allocations for equipment purchases, software licenses, maintenance and support agreements, testing, training, staffing, consulting fees and outsourcing expenses. 9 Analyzing business constraints Scheduling Timeframe for the network design project Tools for developing a schedule includes milestones, resource assignments, criticalpath analysis, etc. 10 Business Goals Checklist Use a checklist to determine if you have addressed your client’s business-oriented objectives and concerns: Researched the customer’s industry and competition Understand the customer’s corporate structure Understand the scope of the network design project Identified the customer’s network applications Customer explained policies regarding approved vendors, protocols or platforms. The budget for the project Schedule for the project 11 Q&A