Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

Anyone who is tasked with designing or upgrading a network is faced with a job similar to making pigs fly. As mentioned in RFC 1925 (Fundamental Truths of Networking, April 1996), it can be done with enough thrust. When it comes to network design, just replace "thrust" with "bandwidth." If you're up late designing networks, refer to RFC 1925 for some entertainment.

This topic provides an overview of enterprise networking technology. It references related topics and provides pointers for designing networks. The three main areas to be concerned with in designing a network are as follows:

• Infrastructure    The cabling system, network devices, and architecture design (topology) of the network


• Routing and route management    Standard routing, cut-through routing, label switching, MPLS, and so forth


• Control and management    Prioritization, QoS, and management

Note that WAN access networks and public network core technologies are discussed under "Network Access Services," "Network Core Technologies," "NPN (New Public Network)," and "Optical Networks."

This topic continues in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications" with a discussion of the following:

• Cabling
• Backbone network design
• Switching environments
• Hierarchical Wiring and Collapsed Backbones
• Migration to multilayer switched network design
• Multilayer Switching, Prioritization, and QoS
• Server Farms, SANs, and NAS

The following topics are related to network services and how they may be designed into the network:

• Data Center Design    This topic provides an overview of data centers where servers, storage, and other network services are centralized for efficient access and management.


• Clustering    A cluster is a collection of servers that are interconnected via their own high-speed network or a switching fabric. The servers operate as if they are a single server. If one server goes down, the others can take over its load.


• SAN (Storage Area Network)    Refer to the topic for information about networks designed specifically for storage devices.


• NAS (Network Attached Storage)    A NAS is a storage device that does not require a front-end server. It attaches directly to networks.


• Load Balancing    This topic covers multilayer switches that distribute requests to servers in server farms and clusters.

Copyright (c) 2001 Tom Sheldon and Big Sur Multimedia.
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