Considerations to be taken when designing organizations computer network

Learning Objectives Covered

Understand and design Network Topologies
Understand and apply Network Communication and Protocols

Background

Designing a highly efficient computer network is not a trivial task. First one need to think about the right topology to choose. Often times, just one specific topology does not meet business requirements and office settings. Therefore, a combination of few topologies to be considered. Each topology has its own pros and cons.

When designing a new network one needs to think about future grow and plan for it in the design, in order to support business operations continuously and effectively.

What does it take to select the right topology for the network? To get an answer, one need to ask quite few right questions. For example, how much money available? How much fault tolerance do you really need? Also, is this network likely to grow like a weed—is it probably going to need to be quickly and easily reconfigured often? In other words, how scalable does your network need to be?

“For instance, if your challenge is to design a nice, cost-effective solution that only involves a few computers in a room, getting a wireless access point and some wireless network cards is definitely your best way to go because you won’t need to pony up for a bunch of cabling and it’s super simple to set up. Alternately, if you’re faced with coming up with a solid design for a growing company’s already-large network, you’re probably good to go using a wired star topology because it will nicely allow for future changes. Remember, a star topology really shines when it comes to making additions to the network, moving things around, and making any kind of changes happen quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively.

If, say, you’re hired to design a network for an ISP that needs to be up and running 99.9% of the time with no more than eight hours a year allowed downtime, well, you need Godzilla-strength fault tolerance. Do you remember which topology gives that up the best?

(Hint—Internet.) Your prime solution is to go with either a hybrid or a partial-mesh topology.

Remember that partial mesh leaves you with a subset of n(n–1)/2 connections to maintain—a number that could very well blow a big hole in your maintenance budget! Here’s a list of things to keep in mind when you’re faced with coming up with the right topology for the right network:

Cost
Ease of installation
Ease of maintenance
Fault-tolerance requirement” (Lammle, 2009)

Resources

Lammle, T. (2009). CompTIA Network+ Deluxe Study Guide: (Exam N10-004) – PDF Free Download. Retrieved 2 February 2021, from https://epdf.pub/comptia-network-deluxe-study-guide-exam-n10-004e214cedf781d07e6894be23c38590e3429796.html
Meyers, M. (2018). Mike Meyers CompTIA Network Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting Networks Fifth Edition (Exam N10-007), 5th Edition (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

DISCUSSION TOPICS

After reading and reviewing assigned materials and conducting your own research as needed, discuss the following topics with your peers:

Assume you are in charge of designing a network infrastructure for a college. What network topology would you use and why? (Tip: think about different departments, physical layout and other things that will impact network layout and architecture) In your answer propose network design concept for a college you attend or for a school (high school) you attended in the past. When proposing design solutions, please, make sure to support your suggestions with sound reasoning and consideration of industry best practices in that field.

Write your findings using APA style, have, at least one external online reference.

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MAIN POST: After reading course book and conducting necessary independent research, write your summary accordingly to discussion requirements for the course. Apply APA for resource reference and in-text citations as instructed in course information standards.

COMMENTS: Please, be specific in expressing your opinion and when posing additional inquiries extending the discussion. Minimum of 50 words per comments. Comments must support, engage and extend discussed topics.

Discussion Requirements