Master of Information Technology (MIT)

September Intake 2023

Second Semester

Assignment 1
Network Design (CSC 5620)

Submitted By: Submitted To:

Roshan Kumar Thapa Dr. Pradip Paudyal

Submitted for the partial fulfillment of the assignment Network Design (MIT)

Date: 19th May 2024

Question: Prepare a report of 5-10 pages on the topic "Network Design
Procedure" considering the attached materials.

Answer:

Network design

Network design is the practice of planning and designing a communications network.

That process starts with identifying business and technical requirements and continues
until just before the network implementation stage (when you actually do the work to
deploy and configure what was designed). Network analysis, IP addressing, hardware
selection, and implementation planning are all part of network design.

In simple networks, like those found in most homes and small offices, network design
is a straightforward process. In large enterprise networks, the network design process
is often very complex and involves multiple stakeholders.

Designing a network

While the specifics of your network design will vary based on size and complexity, this
general framework can help you make the right decisions.

1. Identify the requirements

Before you begin any network design project, begin by gathering information and
developing clear business and technical requirements. Without clearly defined targets,
the rest of the design falls apart.

Business requirements help define what you need to do. That means things like:

• Support a new office

• Improve end-user experience

• Cut costs

• Comply with a new regulation

• Improve business continuity

Looking back at the PPDIOO lifecycle model, business requirements align with the
prepare stage. This means you should work closely with stakeholders when identifying
business requirements.

Once we’ve detailed the business requirements, it’s time to move on to the
technical/functional requirements. For example, requirements could include:

• Bandwidth

• Security requirements

• Specific protocols the project must implement

• RTO/RPO (recovery time objective/recovery point objective) numbers

• Uptime SLAs (service level agreements)

When we create requirements, don’t overlook constraints. For example, business

requirements will have a budget constraint. Technical requirements may have
constraints such as the need to continue supporting legacy apps.

2. Assess the current state of the network

Chances are, in most networks you’re not starting with a clean slate. Sometimes that’s
a good thing that makes life easier, other times it can complicate a project. For example,
if all the structured cabling is already in place, that’s one less thing to worry about.
However, if all that’s in place is Cat5 cable and you need Cat6A to support 10GBaseT,
the existing cabling now becomes an issue to deal with.

Whatever the state of the network is, it’s important to know early in the design process.
You need to assess the network’s current state before you make any specific design
recommendations. At the end of this step, you should understand the network layout,
performance, data flows, applications & services on the network, network security, and
physical and logical layout.

3. Design your network topology

Once we know your requirements and understand the current state of network, you can
begin blocking out the functional components of network. During this step, you’ll need
to consider both the physical and logical aspects of your network.
When it comes to physical network design you’ll need to address things like:

• Running copper and fiber cabling

• Number of switch ports required

• WiFi access point positioning

• Rack layout

• Cooling and power

Logical network design deals with things like:

• IP addressing/subnetting

• VLANs

• Data flows

• Network topology

Hierarchical network design:

A traditional hierarchical network design is based on the idea of three basic network
layers. Each layer handles a separate portion of the dataflows on a network. Those
layers are:

• Core layer.

This is the layer that routes traffic between different geographical sites. In other words,
it’s the network backbone. The core layer is where high-throughput, expensive core
routers shine.

• Distribution layer.

The distribution layer sits between the core and access layers. It acts as a boundary and
implements network policies to restrict or allow data flows between different subnets
within the network. Less expensive routers and L3 switches are the common
workhorses of the distribution layer.
• Access layer.

The access layer is the layer for endpoint devices like user PCs, printers, and VoIP
phones. Smaller “access switches” are responsible for switching packets and routing
traffic at this layer.

Most businesses actually have only a few requirements for their network:

■ The network should stay up all the time, even in the event of failed links, equipment
failure, and overloaded conditions.

■ The network should reliably deliver applications and provide reasonable response
times from any host to any host.

■ The network should be secure. It should protect the data that is transmitted over it
and data stored on the devices that connect to it.

■ The network should be easy to modify to adapt to network growth and general
business changes.

■ Because failures occasionally occur, troubleshooting should be easy. Finding and

fixing a problem should not be too time-consuming.

Fundamental Design Goals When examined carefully, these requirements translate into
four fundamental network design goals:

Scalability:

Scalable network designs can grow to include new user groups and remote sites and
can support new applications without impacting the level of service delivered to
existing users.

Availability:

A network designed for availability is one that delivers consistent, reliable perform-
ance, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition, the failure of a single link or piece of
equipment should not significantly impact network performance.

Security:

Security is a feature that must be designed into the network, not added on after the net-
work is complete. Planning the location of security devices, filters, and firewall features
is critical to safeguarding network resources.

Manageability:

No matter how good the initial network design is, the available network staff must be
able to manage and support the network. A network that is too complex or difficult to
maintain cannot function effectively and efficiently.