NETWORK DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT

COSC 404
 Network Design and Management
• Network design and management is of critical and growing importance in
business, government and other organizations.

• Needs to be managed for effectiveness and efficiency. This study session

discusses fundamental aspects of network administration.

• Network design and management is a branch of engineering that

concerns the operational management of human–computer systems.

• An act of putting together a network of computers (workstations, PCs and

supercomputers), getting them running and then keeping them running
in spite of the activities of users who tend to cause the systems to fail.
System Administrator
• works for users
• use the system to produce work.
• should not just cater for one or two selfish needs, but
also work for the benefit of a whole community, which
is a global community of machines and organizations
• It is often difficult balancing act to determine the best
policy, which accounts for the different needs of
everyone with a stake in a system.
• Once a computer is connected to the Internet, we have
to consider the consequences of being directly
connected to all the other computers in the world.
• System administrators need to know a bit of everything
 Network Administration and System Administration

The terms network administration and system administration exist

separately and are used both variously and inconsistently by industry and
by academics. System Administration
Network Administration
System administration is the
Network administration term used traditionally by
means the management of mainframe and Unix
network infrastructure engineers to describe the
devices (routers and management of computers
switches), the management whether they are coupled by
of PCs in a network a network or not.
Network and system administration are increasingly challenging
as the complexity of computer systems is increases all the time.
Scope of Network Design and Management
The management of a network consists of procedures and services that keep the
network running properly.
An important part of network management entails making sure that the network is
available (or up and running as IT professionals) when employees and managers
need it. Other admin activities are:

1. Monitoring the network capacity to ensure that all transmission requirements can be
met.
2. Adding capacity to the network by increasing band width interconnecting additional
modes, or creating and interconnecting additional networks.
3. Training people to use the network effectively
4. Assisting IT professionals in organizational applications that will make good use of the
network’s capabilities.
5. Backing up the network software and data regularly to protect against the failure of
network or any of its components
6. Putting security procedures in place to make certain that only authorized users have
access to the network and ensuring that all security procedures are followed
7. Making sure the network personnel can respond quickly and effectively in the event of
a network operational or security failure.
Goal of Network Design and Management

o To keep the network running properly, configuring

and managing services that are provided over the
network.

There are many services that we use regularly, some work in the background
enabling other services to run smoothly.
 Challenges of Network Design and Management
System administration is not just about installing operating
systems. It is also includes planning and designing an efficient
community of computers so that real users will be able to get their
jobs done. That means:
• Designing a network which is logical and efficient.
• Deploying large numbers of machines which can be
easily upgraded later.
• Deciding what services are needed.
• Planning and implementing adequate security.
• Providing a comfortable environment for users.
• Developing ways of fixing errors and problems which
occur.
• Keeping track of and understanding how to use the
Principles of Network Design and Management

Policy (the foundation)

o System administration begins with a policy – a decision about what is
wanted and what should be, in relation to what can be afforded.
o Policy speaks of what we wish to accomplish with the system, and what
we are willing to tolerate of behaviour within it.
o It must refer to both the component parts and to the environment with
which the system interacts.
o If we cannot secure predictability, then we cannot expect long-term
conformance with a policy.
Principles of Network Design and Management
Predictability
o The highest level aim in system administration is to work towards a
predictable system,
Predictability has limits. It is the basis of reliability, hence trust and
therefore security.
o Policy and predictability are intertwined.

o System administration is difficult because it involves a kind of ‘search’

problem.

o The search for a stable aspect in the general policies that can lead to
stable and predictable behaviour.

o In choosing policy, one might easily promote a regime of cascading

failure, of increasing unpredictability that degenerates into disorder.
 Principles of Network Design and Management

Scalability
o Scalable systems are those that grow in accordance with policy; i.e. they
continue to function predictably, even as they increase in size.

o The important point to understand about predictability is that it has

limits.

o Human–computer systems are too complex and have too many

interactions and dependencies to be deterministic.

o When we speak of predictability, it must always be within a margin of

error.

o If this were not the case, system administration would not be difficult.
 Network Design

Designing a network can be a challenging task as it

involves more than just connecting computers.
A network requires many features for it to be reliable,
manageable and scalable network.
Principles of Network Design

Good designs should:

o Deliver services requested by users
o Deliver acceptable throughput and response times
o Be within budget and maximize cost efficiencies
o Be reliable
o Be expandable without major redesign
o Be manageable by maintenance and support staff
o Be well documented
Networks: key issues
o Network criteria

• Performance
• Throughput
• Delay
• Reliability
• Data transmitted are identical to data received.
• Measured by the frequency of failure
• The time it takes a link to recover from a failure
• Security
• Protecting data from unauthorized access
Network Structure/Network Design Model/
Topology
Physical Topology

• Refers to the physical lay out of a network

• Two or more devices connected to a link, two or more links form a topology.
• Topology is the schematic description of a network arrangement, connecting
various nodes (sender and receiver) through lines of connection
• The topology of a network is the geometric representation of the relationship
of all the links and linking devices (usually called nodes) to one another.
• There are four basic topologies possible: mesh, star, bus and ring
 MESH Topology
• It is a point-to-point connection to other nodes or devices.
• Traffic is carried only between two devices or nodes to which it is connected.
Types of Mesh Topology
• Partial Mesh Topology : In this topology some of the systems are
connected in the same fashion as mesh topology but some devices are only
connected to two or three devices.
• Full Mesh Topology : Each and every nodes or devices are connected to
each other.
 MESH Topology
Features
• Fully connected.
• Robust.
• Not flexible.
Advantages
• Each connection can carry its own data load.
• It is robust.
• Fault is diagnosed easily.
• Provides security and privacy.
Disadvantages
• Installation and configuration is difficult.
• Cabling cost is more.
• Bulk wiring is required.
STAR Topology
• In this type of topology all the computers are connected to a single
hub through a cable.
• This hub is the central node and all others nodes are connected to the
central node.
STAR Topology
Features
• Every node has its own dedicated connection to the hub.
• Acts as a repeater for data flow.
• Can be used with twisted pair, Optical Fibre or coaxial cable.
Advantages
• Fast performance with few nodes and low network traffic.
• Hub can be upgraded easily.
• Easy to troubleshoot.
• Easy to setup and modify.
• Only that node is affected which has failed rest of the nodes can work
smoothly.
Disadvantages
• Cost of installation is high.
• Expensive to use.
• If the hub is affected then the whole network is stopped because all the nodes
depend on the hub.
• Performance is based on the hub, that is it depends on its capacity
 BUS Topology

Bus topology is a type of network connection in which every computer

and network device is connected to single cable.
 BUS Topology
Features of Bus Topology
• It transmits data only in one direction.
• Every device is connected to a single cable
Advantages of Bus Topology
1. It is cost effective.
2. Cable required is least compared to other network topology.
3. Used in small networks.
4. It is easy to understand.
5. Easy to expand joining two cables together.
Disadvantages of Bus Topology
• Cables fails then whole network fails.
• If network traffic is heavy or nodes are more the performance of the
network decreases.
• Cable has a limited length.
• It is slower than the ring topology
 RING Topology
•It forms a ring as each computer is connected to another computer, with the
last one connected to the first.
•Each device has a dedicated point to point connection with only the two
devices on either side of it
•Exactly two neighbours for each device.
•When a device receives a signal intended for another device, its repeater
regenerates the bits and passes them along
RING Topology
Features
• A number of repeaters are used and the transmission is unidirectional.
• Data is transferred in a sequential manner that is bit by bit.

Advantages
1. Transmitting network is not affected by high traffic or by adding more
nodes, as only the nodes having tokens can transmit data.
2. Cheap to install and expand

Disadvantages
3. Troubleshooting is difficult in ring topology.
4. Adding or deleting the computers disturbs the network activity.
5. Failure of one computer disturbs the whole network.
 HYBRID Topology
• It is a types of topology which is a mixture of two or more topologies.
• For example, if in an office, one department ring topology is used and in
another star topology is used, connecting these topologies will result in
Hybrid Topology (ring topology and star topology).
HYBRID Topology
Features
• It is a combination of two or topologies
• Inherits the advantages and disadvantages of the topologies included
Advantages
• Reliable as Error detecting and troubleshooting is easy.
• Effective.
• Scalable as size can be increased easily.
• Flexible.

Disadvantages
• Complex in design.
• Costly.
Network Technology
There are generally two primary categories of network technology:

• local area network (LAN) – covers an area less than 2 miles

• wide area network (WAN) - can be worldwide

Network of a size in between are normally referred to as

metropolitan area network (MAN) - span tens of miles.