Network Topology Design - Math Problem Example

Network topology design Course: Tutor: Name: Date: Abstract In order to ensure that their employee, customers and partners expectations of the network are met it is necessary to ensure that networks are built with the aim of eliminating downtime as well as providing uninterrupted access to resources availed by the network such as websites, database, application as well as business process. This implies the need for careful analysis and planning. However there exists modern technology that facilitates network resiliency and offers unprecedented levels of resource availability[CDW10]. By designing, building and deploying networks with high redundancy IT as well as network administrators can ensure high network availability as well as protection against business losses and diminished productivity that results from network downtime. Understanding a resilience network The main goal of any network design is to eliminate network downtime and guarantee availability of critical network services. Resiliency refers to the ability provide acceptable levels of service in the presence of challenges and faults in a normal operation. In terms of network design and planning resiliency should be availed on both the hardware as well as the software used in the process of delivering uninterrupted network services in the case of network disruption and hardware faults. Part of the key aim of providing a resilient network would be to eliminate any chance of a single point of failure by developing multiple pathways both through LAN, WAN and internet. Secondly, resilience can be facilitated by integrating redundancy in the network hardware such as the provision of back-up processor, switches and routers. This would minimize the cases of an entire network failure when a network component fails. However before building a resilient network, it is important for an organization to understand what “acceptable really is”. It is therefore important for an organization to understand their network needs so that they are better placed to address them in the context of delivering network resilience. Planning for a resilient network It is paramount that organization plans for resilient by involving all levels of the management. This is because building a resilient network involves offsetting investments threat as well as maintaining an organization’s reputation[CDW10]. This intertwining of relationships enables the decision-maker to define the organizations vulnerability as well as providing an opportunity for the network administrators to better analyze the cost of vulnerabilities. It is therefore important for network professional to ascertain the levels of uptime required as well as which applications can afford least downtime. Once these issues have been analyzed a resilient network plan can be implemented in four process stages which are: conducting network audit[CDW10], performing network assessment and developing a strategic plan. Conducting a network audit involves taking an inventory of all hardware and software components such as product patches, software versions, and support duration and product life-cycle so that possible security risks or network performance issues can be determined. A network assessment involves a detailed network mapping of links, devices and protocols as well as providing a detailed view of the complete organization of the LAN and WAN design. This is beneficial in identifying critical network issues. This assessment involves looking into current network topology, including network devices, physical and logical links, external connection, routing protocols, application-specific themes as well as IP addressing scheme. Finally developing a strategy plan involves considering all the organization’s operational needs and facilitating that the network has the flexibility to support future growth. Consideration of high availability The goal for high-availability of resilient networks is to maintain uptime, minimize loss of service as well as address unresponsive and slow service. By facilitating resilient networks an organization stands a better chance of maximizing bandwidth utilization, improve network management, measuring and reporting[CDW10]. This entails two considerations which are WAN consideration and LAN consideration. When assessing WAN consideration it is important to address the fact that most organization could be using frame relay or multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). MPLS is the most popular because it facilitates Layer 3 routing protocols being dynamic which leads to high availability. Several designs therefore can be implemented in creating multiple paths. One involves creating a second private link for alternative provide to split traffic. Furthermore several delivery solutions can be uses which are: WAN accelerators: that is network devices that optimize WAN and provide web caching services. Secondly use of load-balancing software that intelligently prioritizes and accelerates the rendering of critical applications. Also the use of application controllers can be deployed to offload server processing of web-based applications. Undertaking LAN considerations involves organizations making their LANs highly available through developing resilience among core components such as providing redundancy, power supplies, fan trays and other undertakings at router, switch and chassis levels. Routing protocols can also provide for an inherent level of resiliency because they are designed to route around problem areas[CDW10]. Also resiliency can be achieved by using virtual devices within physical devices at the core level. Incorporating of management and monitoring software that can identify and diagnose failed network connection centrally as well as repair and replace them without interruption of service can be enforced under LAN consideration. Designing a suitable network topology that is scalable and offers redundancy By taking a full mesh network topology, that is ensuring all devices in the network are interconnected, they offer the benefits of a fully redundant network. However since we are considering a large organization a partial mesh would be suitable as it allows each device to be connected to at least two other device. This type of arrangement creates a sufficient redundancy without the complexity of the full mesh[CDW10]. The choice of the partial-mesh topology is suitable for this type of network as it can withstand high traffic since data can be transmitted from different devices simultaneously as well as the fact that they can withstand high traffic. Secondly since it offers alternative connection routes, component failure stands little chance of destabilizing the network as well as the fact that expansion and modification can be done without disrupting the other nodes of the network. However before building a resilient network, it is important for an organization to understand what “acceptable really is”. It is therefore important for an organization to understand their network needs so that they are better placed to address them in the context of delivering network resilience. Planning for high network availability It is equally important to look at the network infrastructure for redundancy and high availability as well as building redundancy into data centers. It is important to address network availability by using an availability scale characterized by the following: Unprotected: whereby IT services are not into high-availability processes. This may use some form of redundancy though they are unprotected. Secondly we have the reliable scale where applications and services can be recovered without affecting the network operation[CDW10]. As for recoverable, redundancy in the network infrastructure is in-built and allows for some considerable downtime. Highly available refers to an availability scale that is suitable for mission critical IT services that demands high availability both at hardware, software and communication levels. The always continuously available refers to those networks that offers absolutely zero acceptable downtime. These scales hardly exist. It is therefore important for an organization to know which network availability is suitable for organizations’ needs. Designing the networks The network design must include specifications that address availability, reliability, security, scalability as well as performance. It is often recommended that it is implemented in modules. This is important in facilitating high degree of resiliency through traffic segmentation and preventing single point failure. In our case the access layer should provide connectivity to end devices such as servers, PCs, laptops and printers. The distribution provides Layer 2 distribution through switched network. The distribution layer should then be connected to the Layer 3 links in order to make use of high convergence of routing protocols which are advanced. The placing of routers and switches in the core layers ensures the Layer 3 availability of the gateway IP address when the routers goes through a down-time. By this it is expected that the routing and switching capability is integrated into a single device[CDW10]. The function of the core layer is to facilitate backbone layer access as well as high-speed switching to other modules within the infrastructure. So as to enable the distribution of routing information, a dynamic routing protocol such as OSPF should be used. The key function of the routing protocol is to support resilience and changes in topology by default. When designing resilient networks, it is also important to eliminate single points of failure by having redundant links to critical servers and network devices. This should aloe any device to be switched off without disruption of network services. Recommended topology design Design description: in regard to the case study context By taking a full mesh network topology, that is ensuring all devices in the network are interconnected, they offer the benefits of a fully redundant network. However since we are considering a large organization a partial mesh would be suitable as it allows each device to be connected to at least two other device. This type of arrangement creates a sufficient redundancy without the complexity of the full mesh[CDW10]. The choice of the partial-mesh topology is suitable for this type of network as it can withstand high traffic since data can be transmitted from different devices simultaneously as well as the fact that they can withstand high traffic. Secondly since it offers alternative connection routes, component failure stands little chance of destabilizing the network as well as the fact that expansion and modification can be done without disrupting the other nodes of the network. However before building a resilient network, it is important for an organization to understand what “acceptable really is”. It is therefore important for an organization to understand Considering the topology above, this design would be sufficient in addressing the issues of resilience, maintainability and expandability in the context of the specified need. The mesh topology is suitable as it addresses redundancy. This is by use of two redundancy switch cross-linking the entire floor network. This provides a multi-point of access by supplying multiple paths. Therefore failure in one communication path does not cripple the entire network at any floor section. Secondly this type of topology addresses expansibility by combining both star and mesh topology. Therefore it is easy to expand the network by implementing another star network on top of existing stars networks which make up the nodes of the mesh network already put in place. This type of topology allows for easy maintainability of the network as fixes can be made on faulty section without disrupting the entire network operation. This has been well facilitated by the mesh topology as well as the star integration hence providing for a multiple alternative data routes during network troubleshooting. With this topology in place especially in relation to the building context, it is most likely that if this architecture is put in place resilience, maintainability and expandability of the topology can be achieved this is taking into consideration other network implementations such as LAN(Local area network) considerations as well as WAN(Wide area network) considerations as mentioned above. The result will be lower chances of down-time, maintenance cost reduction as well as sound network management. Managing and growing the network Another important factor to consider in building resilient network is design scalability. This should ensure the networks capacity to handle new users, applications and services as the organization demands[CDW10]. This is because an organization’s data network is constantly changing. This has come with the introduction of VoIP over traditional network as well as new applications that facilitates the streaming of video delivering high-definition content which means the IT department have to be capable of addressing the constant network growth. It is therefore paramount that one understands what the network has to achieve and ensure its goals are clearly addresses[CDW10]. It is also important for the stakeholders and not only the management but the end user as well to be given an opportunity to communicate what his or her needs should be addressed by the network. References CDW10: , (CDW, 2010), Read More