Network Design
From your home office to your corporate office, network design and planning is an essential part of any business. A well designed network can improve overall performance of your essential business applications. Though most networks are very similar in the core planning, each network is tailored to perform around your business processes.
A proper network will allow for versatility to evolve as your business evolves without creating dreaded downtime. There are many items to take into consideration when planning out your network and you can find some of those listed below.
Where is the networking infrastructure going to be housed. Need to make sure you have proper cooling
How many devices will be connecting to this network? Including but not limited to cell phones, printers, desktops, laptops.. etc.
How many servers will be running? Are there any virtual machines or VM’s. Identify purpose of all servers
Documenting the entire network is the best way to ensure you are following best practices, tracking changes and creating the means to troubleshoot effectively. Documentation will also help if you loose your IT support staff and have to call in for outside help. A well documented network is a happy network
Will you be implementing wireless within your organization? What are you wanting the users to be able to do via wireless connectivity? Do you want a guest network?
Unless you plan on having every computer connecting via wireless, (Not recommended). You will need a central location in which all hard wire routes to. Also think about how your internet will factor in. Centralized location for all networking equipment if very efficient.
This includes physical security of server room, network security and virtual security. Want to make sure you are protecting your data from all points of attack.
One of the least thought about items and one of the most important ones. Having the enough power and consistency of power is very important. Insufficient power can cause network disruptions and loss of work. Plan ahead and make sure to allow room for growth.
How is all the data going to route to the users. Avoiding bottlenecks that slow processes and provide maximum throughput to your end users.
Do you have more than one office that you wish to connect to your network? You need to plan ahead for that data connectivity. Security is a must but you do not want to degrade connectivity to essential applications. PPTP VPN tunnels are a good suggestion.
This term will get used a lot in networking. Backups, redundant power, Servers… etc.
See all, know all. Management of your daily activities will help improve functionality and aid in troubleshooting issues. Staying up to date with the latest security patches and avoiding pitfalls.