Network+ Certification (Outline) - Chapter 14: Planning the network

This chapter includes contents: Why does the organization want a new network installed? What services does the organization want the network to provide? Evaluating the installation site, evaluating distances between components, environmental conditions,...
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Network+ Certification (Outline) - Chapter 14: Planning the network Chapter 14, Planning the Network |1| Chapter Overview A. Determining Network Needs B. Providing Fault Tolerance C. Collecting Essential Information Chapter 14, Lesson 1 Determining Network Needs 1. Evaluating Business Requirements A. The first step in developing a network plan is to understand the requirements of the organization that will run the network and the needs of the people who will use it. |2| B. Why does the organization want a new network installed? 1. You might be providing a network for a new installation that has no existing equipment. 2. You might be asked to network a group of existing stand-alone computers. 3. The organization might have an existing network that it wants to upgrade to a new or different technology. |3| C. What services does the organization want the network to provide? 1. An organization with an existing network (or a group of computers that it wants to connect to a network) probably has a basic idea of what services it wants the network to provide. a. An organization that wants a new installation might know less about what it needs. 2. At the most basic level, organizations usually want their users to be able to access shared drives and printers and connect to the Internet. a. Sharing drives and printers is a fundamental networking task that almost any network technology can provide. b. Computers must run the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) protocols to access the Internet, and they need a router to connect the network to an Internet service provider (ISP). 3. Users often know what they want in a network but do not understand the technical requirements and implementation issues. a. Some organizations might need to maintain elaborate databases, which require powerful servers with fast processors, a lot of memory, and large hard drives. b. Others might need to work with huge graphic images or full-motion video, which require enormous amounts of network bandwidth and a lot of storage. c. A financial company might want to provide users with real-time data feeds for multiple stock markets around the world, which require large amounts of internal bandwidth and high-speed Internet access. d. You must determine what the organization wants and what it can afford, and then try to find a solution that satisfies both requirements. 4. In addition to talking to the heads of organizations about their network needs, it is a good idea to talk with the people who will use the network. a. Example: the owner of a company might decide that the network needs three laser printers. b. The network users can point out the best locations for the printers and request a printer with an envelope feeder to save the time they spend manually feeding envelopes. 2. Evaluating the Installation Site |4| A. A proper site evaluation helps you to choose 1. What type of network to install 2. What network medium to use 3. How to install the network |5| B. Distances between components 1. Understanding where the various computers and other network components must be located in relation to each other is a crucial part of the site evaluation. 2. Know the maximum distances supported by the protocols you will use. a. On a typical 10Base-T or 100Base-TX Ethernet network, computers can be up to 100 meters away from the hub. (1) A distance of 100 meters is far more than necessary in the average office networking environment. 3. Be sure to consider the actual route that your cables will take, not just the distance between the components. a. Cables must often snake up through a wall, through ceilings, around lighting fixtures, around doorways and other obstacles, and back down through another wall to complete a connection. b. You might need a cable that is much longer than the walking distance from a computer to the hub. c. Note where you might connect computers that are far apart, on different floors, or even in different buildings. (1) You might need to consider a fiber optic networking solution, which can span longer distances and run safely outdoors. 4. Consider the obstacles between the computers that are to be connected to the network. a. If the network will consist of computers that are all in a si ...