Properly Designed and Configured Wired and Wireless Networks
Outstanding network design is essential, and everyone needs to focus on it until its perfect. It will save any business a lot of time and money. The below section shows steps on how to do a networking design for a company or business. We are happy to assist you in a network design project. However, we are glad to share some of the knowledge of network design principles to illustrate the process.
Any LAN Design or Network setup must be thought through. If in any doubt, please get in touch with us, we would be happy to help.
Whether you are planning a small network setup or Enterprise Edge? Network Design Best Practices will benefit you.
1. Draw it; we always start with a drawing or at least a sketch
For any Client that we have designed or upgraded their network, we have always started with a drawing. We listen to their requirement, and then a Physical and Logical Drawing is produced to outline the full scope of the Project. As the saying goes a picture tells 1,000 words. We explain the whole concept, especially to people who are not technical. Everyone will understand a picture. By the time we come to implementation and installation phase of the Network Design Project – a Drawing will be changed at least 15-20 times. It doesn’t end there.
Drawing also holds another primary function. In case of a problem or disaster at any time of day, anyone can look at the Lucid Chart drawing and troubleshoot a problem correctly. Therefore, Network Drawings must be continuously updated and kept in a secure, accessible location. Also, it must be very detailed and adequately representing the live network environment.
2. Choose correct and best equipment for the business requirements
We tend to use a major vendor’s equipment for our Clients. We are driven to deliver the best service and peace of mind to our customers, so the equipment plays a vital role to accomplish that. Our networks are built mainly on SonicWALL / Routers, with UniFi Switches and Wireless AP's. In terms of firewalls, we also use SonicWALL, Checkpoint, etc.… Inevitably we configure all the devices in High Availability mode to mitigate any issues due to failure or maintenance.
3. Plan for the Future – next ten years
As mentioned above, regarding equipment. We must plan as the technology is changing, and some of the devices may reach End of Life (EoL) support cycle from the manufactures. Most likely bandwidth requirements in a decade will be much higher than they are currently. We must accommodate for that and give our Clients excellent margins, so there are no bottlenecks in the future in their network environment.
If a client is thinking about 1Gb connection to the server, we are will suggest 10Gb or 2x 10Gb using FabricPath. Also, it is vital to look at the manufacture’s documentation. It says – 10Gb throughput but is this transmit and receive or only one of those?
Also putting devices inline is not the best solution as all the traffic must go through them and consumes a lot of bandwidth. Our extensive experience and knowledge suggest several options. We need to be aware of any consequences before they occur.
4. Secure from start to finish
It essentially needs to be done at the very, very beginning. It is utmost essential to secure Clients assets, business, resources, infrastructure – this is what is protected when the network environment is secure. Layers of computer network security must be implemented at key entry points and within the computer/server network. The number of security measures needs to be put in place such as firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, intrusion detection systems, antivirus, monitoring and more. We always make sure our clients are protected from malicious attacks. Everyone else should do the same and avoid falling a victim of cyber exploits or attack.
5. Copper and Fiber Cabling is important
How is everything going to be connected? With a new network, you must plan well in advance! For our Clients, we will engage subcontractors who will do all copper and fiber on our behalf. However, fundamental questions must be answered regarding the technology – switches that are going to be used in place.
6. Standardize as much as possible
For our clients, we standardize to the maximum for a simple reason to save them money. There will be some exception, but we are trying to avoid them. Even the naming convention needs to be standardized so straight away Network Engineers know where each device is located. In your own network, fewer problems and faults will occur due to those basic steps.
7. Redundancy, Resiliency and High Availability
We always tell and emphasize to our client that they need to avoid a single point of failure. Network devices or their components fail from time to time. Infrastructure needs to be prepared to function with no effect on users or application. When this happens, devices can be fixed or replaced without panic or financial or reputational impact to the business.
8. Monitoring and Management, Out-of-Band Access
We have noticed that not all the companies put in place enough resources into Out-of-Band Access. This is vital when the switch or router doesn’t reload correctly and stops during the power cycle process. Also sometimes access via Management port may be severed. OOB access is like RSC or ILO on the Servers.
9. Do research, find out, ask for advice
Knowledge is one thing but Experience is the other. In complex deployments, we heavily rely on our experience. Our notice is that comprehensive research needs to be done, and ask for a piece of advice if unsure of the solution or process to follow. No-one has to know everything.
10. Environment: Cooling, Power
In our Experience – Power / Electricity is the weakest point in any Network Infrastructure. The switch will work for years; however, if there is no power, it will stop – quite obvious. Make sure that appropriate power has been configured for your network installations.
Conclusion