LESSON 1

Introduction to Network Design

Quick Recap
What is a computer network?
• A computer network is a group of computer

systems and other computing hardware devices

that are linked together through communication

channels to facilitate communication and

resource-sharing among a wide range of users.

 Types of networks
based on their geographic extension.

• A personal area network (PAN) is a computer

network used for communication among

computers and different information technological

devices close to one person. Some examples of

devices that are used in a PAN are personal

computers, printers, fax machines & telephones.

 Types of networks
Classification based on their geographic
extension
LAN
• Scale – occupy the space of a room or a building.

• Elements: Clients, server, switches, access points,

printers and router to exit the LAN.

• Typical speed: 100mbps to 1gbps – meant for nearby

communication between devices

 Types of networks
Classification based on their geographic
extension
Backbone
• In a site you can have multiple buildings.

• Scale: less than a few kilometres

• Elements: LANs, high speed switches or routers, high speed circuits (on
fiber optic cable) to interconnect LANs on different buildings.

• Typical speed: from 1 gbps to 40 gbps

• A backbone is a part of computer network that tie together diverse

networks in the same building, in different buildings in a campus
environment, or over wide areas.
 Types of networks
Classification based on their geographic
extension
• Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
• Broader extension covering a town, a city or a region.
• (eg a firm having multiple branch offices in multiple locations within a region
or city)
• Scale: more than a few kilometres
• Elements: LANs, Backbone Networks, Circuits are normally leased to Network
providers (eg cable companies). It is less expensive to lease than to privately
lay down fiber optic cables over long distances.
• The alternative is to have a point to point connections through microwaves –
this requires a straight line of sight for it to work. This is generally expensive.
• A cheaper alternative would be the use of VPN tunnels as a way to
communicate between one branch officeand another.
• Typical speeds: from 64 kbps to 10 gbps
• Note: 64kbps is the lowest rate to have VOIP conversation.
 Types of networks
based on who can access the network.
• Campus area network (CAN)
- is a set of LAN segments and building networks in an
area that is generally less than a mile in diameter.
• A home area network (HAN) is a residential LAN
used for communication between digital devices
typically deployed in the home, usually a small
number of personal computers and accessories,
such as printers and mobile computing devices.
• A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated
network that provides access to consolidated,
block level data storage & used to make storage
devices, such as disk arrays and tape libraries.
 Types of networks
Classification based on their geographic
extension
Wide Area Network (WAN)
• Extends MANs to a much bigger scale.
• WANs are used to interconnect multiple operations across the
globe for a single firm.
• Scale: more than tens or hundreds of kilometres, usually
international.
• Elements: same as MANs, but a greater distance
• Typical speeds: from 64Kbps to 10Gbps
 Types of Wide Area Networks (Cont’d)
WANs can be further classified into two categories:
• Enterprise WANs. An enterprise WAN is a WAN that
connects the widely separated computer resources of a single
organization. An organization with computer operations at
several distant sites can employ an enterprise WAN to
interconnect the sites. An enterprise WAN can use a
combination of private and commercial network services but is
dedicated to the needs of a particular organization.

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 Types of Wide Area Networks
A global WAN interconnects networks of
several corporations or organizations. An
example of a global WAN is the Internet.

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 Types of networks
based on who can access the network.
• Intranet: is only accessible by internal members of the
organization.
• The employees can collaborate using a central
information system (e.g ERP through an intranet)
• The employees can collaborate on a LAN or WAN
• The employees on the move can access sensible data
from a re,mote location through a VPN
 Types of networks
based on who can access the network.

• Extranet – this is a network that is accessible for

people or entities external to the organization.

• E.g. clients and providers logging into an

inventory system over the extranet.

• Public e-commerce websites

• WIFI network for customers

 What is Network Design
• Network design refers to the planning of the
implementation of a computer network infrastructure.

• Network design involves evaluating, understanding and

scoping the network to be implemented. The whole
network design is usually represented as a network
diagram that serves as the blueprint for implementing
the network physically.

• **Analogy of building a house

 Network Design
• Typically, network design includes the following:
• Logical map (displays how information flows through a network)
of the network to be designed. To achieve this, you need to
have gathered information about network devices, routing
protocols and subnets.
• Cabling structure
• Quantity, type and location of network devices (routers,
switches, servers, Clients etc)
• IP addressing structure
• Network security architecture and overall network security
processes
• Network design is generally performed by network designers,
network engineers, network administrators and other related
staff.
• NOTE: Network design is done before the implementation of a
network infrastructure.
Network Infrastructure explained
• Network infrastructure refers to the
hardware and software resources of an
entire network.
• A typical network infrastructure includes:
• Networking Hardware:
– Routers
– Switches
– LAN cards
– Cables
– Access points
……….
Network Infrastructure explained
• Networking Software:
– Network operations and management/NOC from
where network monitoring and control is exercised over a computer.
• Operating systems: e.g Debian , Ubuntu, Windows server
– Firewall: e.g samba firewall
– Network security applications/Tools e.g. Intrusion detection and
prevention system, Anti-malware etc
•
• Network Services:
– T-1 Line – a dedicated transmission connection between a
service provider and client
– Digital subscriber line (DSL) – used to transmit digital data over
telephone lines.
– Satellite
– Wireless protocols
– IP addressing
 Types of Network Design
• New network design

• Re-engineering a network design

• Network expansion design

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 New Network Design
• Actually starting from scratch

• No legacy networks to accommodate

• Major driver is the budget, no compatibility

issues to worry about

• Getting harder to find these situations

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 Re-engineering a Network Design
• Modifications to an existing network to
compensate for original design problems

• Sometimes required when network users

change existing applications or
functionality

• More of the type of problems seen today

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 Network Expansion Design
• Network designs that expand network
capacity

• Technology upgrades

• Adding more users or networked

equipment

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 Compare and contrast the top-down and bottom-up
design approaches

• Choosing the design approach that best fits your needs

will result in a stronger network. Recognizing the pros and

cons of each approach can help you build the case for the

appropriate choice, giving you the opportunity to build a

network that will meet the needs of the project or

organization — and improve network performance.

Bottom up approach begins with the physical layer of the
OSI model and works its way up. New, higher bandwidth
links might be purchased, as well as new routers, switches,
firewalls, etc. Designing a network with a bottom-up
approach enables you to get your network set up much faster.
• Top-down approach is a methodology for designing networks
that begins at the upper layers of the OSI reference model
before moving to the lower layers.
• This means that it focuses on applications, sessions, and data
transport before the selection of routers, switches, and media
that operate at the lower layers (layer 3, layer 2 and layer 1
respectively)
• The application layer is the starting point, and the applications
and services that are desperately needed are analyzed for their
specific requirements first.
• Top-down network design also is iterative (repeated cycle of
operations). A process for arriving at the desired results by
repeating rounds of analysis. **differentiate between a waterfall
life cycle and a spiral life cycle)
• Determine what applications will run on the network and how
those applications behave on a network.
 Waterfall life cycle
• The waterfall life cycle is defined by distinct stages. Different
waterfall-based processes have different names for the
stages, but they all tend to follow these five general steps, in
order: 1. Analyze 2. Design 3. Build 4. Test 5. Deploy

• This life cycle is called a waterfall, because work “flows down”

from one stage into the next, as shown on the Waterfall Cycle
Diagram. After the system is deployed, the life cycle begins
again for the next update.
 Spiral cycle
• The spiral cycle is a variation of the waterfall cycle.

• It meant to overcome some of the limitations of the waterfall cycle. This cycle is

often used in multiple-version software development projects; however, some of

its principles can be applied to network development as well.

• The guiding principle behind the spiral cycle is change management. Unlike the

waterfall cycle, the spiral cycle can adapt quickly to new requirements.

• This is accomplished by looping through all stages several times, producing a

limited version of the project each time

Recall
Layers of the OSI /TCP/IP Model
 PROTOCOLS AND THE TCP/IP LAYERS

• Application layer –
• HTTP - The Hypertext Transfer Protocol
• FTP - File Transfer Protocol
• POP3 - Post Office Protocol 3
• HTTPS - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure
• SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
• SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol
• SSH - Secure Shell
• TELNET
• DNS - domain name system

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PROTOCOLS AND THE TCP/IP LAYERS (Cont’d)

• TRANSPORT layer protocols:

• Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) –
guarantees end to end delivery of data
• User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

• Internet protocol (IP)

• Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
• Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

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 Network Access Layer Protocol
• Microwave
• Ethernet
• T1
• EIA/TIA 568A/B
• ATM
• ISDN
• FRAME RELAY
• TOKEN RING
• BNC
• FIBER OPTIC
• COPPER CABLES
• WIFI
• X.25
• RJ – 45
• CSMA/CD

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 PDU (Protocol Data Units)
• This is a generic term used to describe
layer’s information

• Each TCP/IP layer has a PDU associated

with it.

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 PDU SUMMARY
• APPLICATION LAYER = DATA

• TRANSPORT LAYER = SEGMENTS OR

DATAGRAMS

• INTERNET LAYER = PACKETS

• NETWORK ACCESS LAYER = FRAMES

AND BITS

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 LAYER ADDRESSING
• Each layer has an address which is a
scheme to identify services

• E.g source address and destination

address

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 DEVICES SUMMARY
• Application layer = application Layer Gateway (ALG)
– data
• Transport layer = firewalls make decisions based on
the port number.
• Internet/network layer = routers and layer 3 switches
examine the packets and make decisions based on
the IP address – to forward or not to forward the
packets
• Data link layer = Bridges and switches – make
decisions based on the physical address of the
source or destination address – to forward or not to
forward a frame
• Physical layer = repeaters (transceivers) and hubs -
Bits 33
Focus of study in this course will
be
TOP DOWN NETWORK DESIGN
• Case study/Scenario 1
• Informatics is a private College that provides part-time and full
time courses in IT. It is planning to move to a new site and is
considering the networking that should be installed. The site
consists of three buildings. The Grace Building contains a
dedicated computer room with a number of high performance
dedicated servers. The servers provide services to students and
staff who may access them either over the Internet or over the
College’s own internal network. The Maurice Building contains
the staff offices, for both Lecturers and administrative staff. They
have desktop computers on fixed desks, from which they need
access to the Internet and to other College servers.
• Case study/Scenario 1 (Continued)

• The Grace Building and the Maurice Building are 360 feet apart and
are linked by an underground duct. The Alan Building contains a
reception desk, lecture rooms and a café and is 200feet from Grace
Building. There is no duct linking it to the other buildings and installing
one is not possible. The lecture rooms have a desktop computer at the
front for use by the lecturers, but some lecturer’s prefer to use their own
laptop or Tablet computer. All the students use Laptop and Tablet
computers to take notes and keep in touch with their friends.
Required:
1. Name the type of Ethernet network that should be deployed in the Grace Building and
hardware equipment that should be installed.

2. Name the type of Ethernet network that should be deployed in the Maurice Building and
hardware equipment that should be installed?

3. Name the type of network that should be deployed in the Alan Building and hardware
equipment that should be installed?

4. Name the type of network connections that should be used to link the buildings together
and where and how the College’s Internet connection should be made.
 Suggested solutions
• Name the type of Ethernet network that should be deployed
in the Grace Building and hardware equipment that should be
installed.
• A cabled/wired network (Gigabit Ethernet) is
appropriate, probably using high performance
switches.
• A minimum of a 1Gbps network should be
specified although perhaps a case for 10 Gbps
could be made.
• There seems little need for a Wi-Fi network
although a case for Wi-Fi to support systems staff
using laptops could be argued.
•
 Suggested solutions
• Name the type of Ethernet network that should be
deployed in the Maurice Building and hardware
equipment that should be installed?

• A cabled network (Fast Ethernet) is appropriate

probably using medium performance switches.
• A minimum of a 100 Mbps network should be
specified although perhaps a case for 1 Gbps
could be made.
• Since we are told that that some staff use
laptop/tablet computers there is an argument
for providing Wi-Fi support.
 Suggested solutions
• Name the type of network that should be deployed in the
Alan Building and hardware equipment that should be
installed?
• We are told about fixed computers and lots of
laptop/tablet use. It is clear that we therefore
want some cabled network sockets (fast
Ethernet) in lecture rooms and to cash bills in the
café together with a network switch.
• It seems, however, that most of the usage in this
building is from mobile devices, laptops and
tablets. A Wi-Fi Network is therefore definitely
needed, with multiple access points.
 Suggested solutions
• Name the type of network connections that should be used to link the buildings together and where and how the
College’s Internet connection should be made

• The Grace Building and the Maurice Building can clearly be connected by laying some form of cable in the duct. Fibre optic
would be the better choice.

• We are told that there is no duct to the Alan Building and we are not allowed to install one and so a cabled interconnection
is not really possible.
• We can therefore perhaps best connect the Alan Building by using Wi-Fi technology and directional aerials.

• Considering all the factors, it seems the best place to make the Internet connection would be the Grace Building.

• As access from outside the university campus is needed, ADSL is not really appropriate and some form of symmetric service
would be better.
• Different Types of Internet Connections
– DSL. DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line.
– Cable. Cable provides an internet connection through a cable modem and operates over cable TV lines.
– Wireless. Wireless, or Wi-Fi, as the name suggests, does not use telephone lines or cables to connect to
the internet.
– Satellite.
– Cellular.

• Security needs to be considered. Wi-Fi connections should use a good quality security/authentication
technique and good practice would see a firewall installed between the Internet and the College
network.