Network Design

Dr. Abdulmajid Al-Mqdashi

Lectures 1
Course Materials

 Slides

 Notes

 Text book
 Oppenheimer, P. (2011). Top-down network design.
Indianapolis, IN: Cisco Press.
 Mc. Cabe, D. James : “Network Analysis, Architecture and
Design: 4th Edition“ , Morgan Kaufmann
2
Grading Policy

Component Weightage
Mid-term Exam 20
Final Exam 50
Project and Presentation 20
Quizzes and Assignment 10
Introduction
 What is a Network?
 What is “Network Analysis and Architecture”?
 What is “Network Design”?
 Top-Down Network Design
 Network Development Life Cycle (NDLC)
 Network Analysis and Design Methodology
 Types of Network Design

4
What is a Network?

 Management view

 Technical view

5
 The Management View (1/3)
 A network is a utility
 Computers and their users are customers of the network
utility
 The network must accommodate the needs of customers
 As computer usage increases so does the requirements of
the network utility

 Resources will be used to manage the network

 The Network Utility is NOT free!
 Someone must pay the cost of installing and maintaining the
network
 Manpower is required to support the network utility
6
 The Management View (2/3)
 Utilities don’t bring money into the organization
 Expense item to the Corporation
 Cannot justify Network based on “Productivity
Improvements”

 As a network designer, you need to explain to

management how the network design, even with the
high expense, can save money or improve the
company’s business
 If users cannot log on to your commerce site, they will try
your competitor, and you have lost sales
 If you cannot get the information your customers are
asking about due to a network that is down, they may go
to your competitor
7
 The Management View (3/3)
 You need to understand how the network assists the
company in making money and play on that strength
when you are developing the network design proposal

 Try to show a direct correlation between the network

design project and the company’s business
 “Because you want a faster network” is not good enough,
the question that management sends back is WHY DO I
NEED A FASTER ONE?

8
 The Technical View (1/2)
 A “Network” really can be thought of as three parts and they
all need to be considered when working on a network design
project:
 Connections
 Communications/Protocols
 Services

 Connections
 Provided by Hardware that ties things together
 Wire/Fiber/Wireless Transport Mechanisms

 Routers

 Switches/Hubs

 Computers

9
 The Technical View (2/2)
 Communications/Protocols
 Provided by Software
 A common language for 2 systems to communicate with each other
 TCP/IP (Internet/Windows NT)
 IPX / SPX (Novell Netware 4)
 AppleTalk
 Other Network OS
 Services
 The Heart of Networking
 Cooperation between 2 or more systems to perform some function -
Applications
 telnet
 FTP
 HTTP
 SMTP
10
 Network analysis

 Network analysis, architecture, and design are processes used to

produce designs that are logical, reproducible, and defensible.

 Network analysis entails learning what users, their applications,

and devices need from the network.

 Network analysis also defines, determines, and describes

relationships among users, applications, devices, and networks.

 The purpose of network analysis is twofold:

 To listen to users and understand their needs;
 To understand the system. 1-11
 Network architecture

 Network architecture uses the information from the

analysis process to develop a conceptual, high-level, end-
to-end structure for the network.

 Network architecture process:

 determines sets of technology and topology choices
 determines the classes of equipment needed.
 determines the relationships among network

1-12
 Network design

 Network design provides the physical details to the

architecture

 Physical detail includes:

 Blueprints and drawings of the network
 Selections of vendors and service providers.
 Selections of equipment

Network design is also about applying the

trade-offs, dependencies, and constraints
developed as part of the network architecture 1-13
1-14
Traditional Network Design
 Based on a set of general rules
 “Bridge when you can, route when you must”
 Can’t deal with scalability & complexity

 Focused on capacity planning

 Throw more bandwidth at the problem
 No consideration to delay optimization
 No guarantee of service quality
 Less importance given to network RMA (Reliability,
Maintainability, and Availability) compared to throughput

15
 Application Characteristics
Applications Message Message Delay need Reliability
Length arrival rate need

Interactive Short Low Moderate Very high

terminals

File transfer Very long Very low Very low Very high

Hi-resolution Very long Low to High Low

graphics moderate

Packetized Very short Very high High Low

voice

16
 Application Bandwidths

Transaction
100 Bytes Few Kbps
Processing

Word Processing 100s Kbps Few Mbps

File Transfers Few Mbps 10s Mbps

Real-Time Imaging 10s Mbps 100s Mbps

17
A Look on Multimedia Networking
Video standard Bandwidth per WAN services
user

Digital video 1.2 Mbps DS1 lines ISDN

interactive H11, Frame Relay,
ATM

Motion JPEG 10 to 240 Mbps ATM 155 or 622

Mbps

MPEG-1 1.5 Mbps DS1 lines ISDN

H11, Frame Relay,
ATM

MPEG-2 4~6 Mbps DS2, DS3, ATM at

DS3 rate 18
Some Networking Issues

 LAN, MAN and WAN

 Switching and routing
 Technologies: Ethernet, FDDI, ATM …
 Wireless/Mobile networking
 Internetworking
 Applications
 Service quality
 Security concerns

19
Network Design: Achievable?

Response Time Cost

Reliability Business Growth

20
Where to begin?

WWW Traffic
Addressing
Access Patterns

Campus Users Dial in

Users

Network
Security
WAN Management
21
Traditional Network Design Methodology

 Many network design tools and methodologies that

have been used resemble the “connect-the-dots”
game

 These tools let you place internetworking devices on

a palette and connect them with LAN or WAN media

 Problem with this methodology:

 It skips the steps of analyzing a customer's
requirements, and selecting devices and media based
on those requirements

22
Top-Down Network Design Methodology (1/2)

 Good network design

 Recognizes that a customer’s requirements embody
many business and technical goals
 May specify a required level of network performance,
i.e., service level
 Includes difficult network design choices and tradeoffs
that must be made when designing the logical network
before any physical devices or media are selected

 When a customer expects a quick response to a

network design request
 A bottom-up (connect-the-dots) network design
methodology can be used, if the customer’s
applications and goals are well known 23
Top-Down Network Design Methodology (2/2)

 Network designers often think they understand a

customer’s applications and requirements.
 However, after the network installation, they may
discover that:
 They did not capture the customer's most important
needs
 Unexpected scalability and performance problems
appear as the number of network users increases

24
Top-Down Network Design Process (1/2)

 Begins at the upper layers of the OSI reference

model before moving to the lower layers
 Focuses on applications, sessions, and data transport
before the selection of routers, switches, and media
that operate at the lower layers

 Explores divisional structures to find the people:

 For whom the network will provide services, and
 From whom to get valuable information to make the
design succeed

25
Top-Down Network Design Process (2/2)

 It is an iterative process:
 It is important to first get an overall view of a
customer's requirements
 More detail can be gathered later on protocol behavior,
scalability requirements, technology preferences, etc.
 Recognizes that the logical model and the physical
design may change as more information is gathered

 A top-down approach lets a network designer get

“the big picture” first and then spiral downward into
detailed technical requirements and specifications
26
Network Development Life Cycle
Analysis

Management Design

Simulation/
Prototyping
Monitoring

Implementation

27
Network Design and Implementation Cycle

28
Network Design and Implementation Cycle (1/3)

 Analyze requirements:
 Interviews with users and technical personnel
 Understand business and technical goals for a
new or enhanced system
 Characterize the existing network: logical and
physical topology, and network performance
 Analyze current and future network traffic,
including traffic flow and load, protocol
behavior, and QoS requirements
29
Network Design and Implementation Cycle (2/3)

 Develop the logical design:

 Deals with a logical topology for the new or
enhanced network
 Network layer addressing and naming
 Switching and routing protocols
 Security planning
 Network management design
 Initial investigation into which service
providers can meet WAN and remote access
requirements
30
Network Design and Implementation Cycle (3/3)

 Develop the physical design:

 Specific technologies and products to realize the
logical design are selected
 The investigation into service providers must be
completed during this phase

 Test, optimize, and document the design:

 Write and implement a test plan
 Build a prototype or pilot
 Optimize the network design
 Document your work with a network design proposal

31
Another Perspective

 Data collection
 Traffic
 Costs
 Constraints
 Design process
 Performance analysis
 Fine tuning
 A painstaking iterative process

32
PDIOO Network Life Cycle (1/3)
(Cisco)
 Plan:
 Network requirements are identified in this phase
 Analysis of areas where the network will be installed
 Identification of users who will require network services

 Design:
 Accomplish the logical and physical design, according
to requirements gathered during the Plan phase

 Implement:
 Network is built according to the Design specifications
 Implementation also serves to verify the design
33
PDIOO Network Life Cycle (2/3)
(Cisco)
 Operate:
 Operation is the final test of the effectiveness of the design
 The network is monitored during this phase for performance
problems and any faults, to provide input into the Optimize
phase

 Optimize:
 Based on proactive network management which identifies
and resolves problems before network disruptions arise
 The optimize phase may lead to a network redesign
 if too many problems arise due to design errors, or

 as network performance degrades over time as actual

use and capabilities diverge
 Redesign may also be required when requirements change
34
significantly
PDIOO Network Life Cycle (3/3)
(Cisco)

 Retire:
 When the network, or a part of the network, is out-of-date, it
may be taken out of production

 Although Retire is not incorporated into the name of the life

cycle (PDIOO), it is nonetheless an important phase

35
One More Look
Business Network Implement Operations
Planning Design Network
Develop Operations
Define Objectives Develop Create
Policies and
and Requirements Architecture Implementation Plan
Capabilities

Create Initial Develop Detailed Procure Resources Fault

Solution Design and Facilities Management

Define Deployment Create Build Configuration

Stage and Install
Strategy Documentation Management

Review and Review and Verify Certify and Hand-off Change

Approve Design to Operations Management

Performance
Management

36
Information Flows between Network
Analysis, Architecture, and Design

37
Network Analysis and Design Methodology
- Overall Characteristics -

 Requirements (business, application, and data)

definition is required prior to network design activities
 Expected compliance with requirements in a Request
For Proposal (RFP) by both in-house personnel and
outside consultants
 Activities from various stages often take place
simultaneously and backtrack to previous activities is
sometimes needed
 This methodology is an overall guideline to the
network development process rather than “cookbook”
instructions
38
Network Analysis and Design Methodology
- Critical Success Factors of the NDLC (1/3) -

 Identification of all potential customers and

constituencies
 All groups must be consulted

 Political awareness:
 Corporate culture: hierarchical, distributed, or open
 Backroom politics can play a role in systems design
 Find ways to ensure objectivity of the analysis and design
process (e.g., measurable goals)

 Buy-in:
 Reach consensus on the acceptability of results of each stage
 Approved results of one stage become the foundation or
starting point for the next stage
39
 Makes the final presentation smoother
Network Analysis and Design Methodology
- Critical Success Factors of the NDLC (2/3) -

 Communication:
 With all groups
 Write memos, communicate with key people in person,
etc.

 Detailed project documentation:

 Prepare agendas
 Take meeting minutes
 Action items
 Use a project binder for all the above

40
Network Analysis and Design Methodology
- Critical Success Factors of the NDLC (3/3) -
 Process/Product awareness:
 Stay focused: what is the process/product at each
stage?
 Keep meeting on track: no off-subject discussions
 Be honest with yourself:
 Be your own harshest critic (no one else knows the
potential weaknesses or areas for improvement in your
proposal better than you)
 Use peer reviews
 Not all weaknesses can be corrected (e.g., financial or
time constraints)
41
Network Analysis and Design Methodology
- Overall Guidelines -
 Start with a clearly defined problem:
 Identify affected parties and representatives
 Held brainstorming sessions to define problems and
requirements of a solution
 Understand strategic business objectives defined by
senior management
 Collect baseline data from customer groups about
the current status of the system and network
 This is used to measure eventual impact of the
installed network
 Perform a feasibility study: problem definition and
associated alternative recommendations for further
study

42
 Customer’s Requirements
- Understanding the Customer -
 A good network design must recognize the customer’s
requirements - need to make sure your design meets
THEIR needs and not just YOURS!
 The “Customer” may be your own firm, the “who” you are
designing the network for
 Need an overview of a customer’s requirements
 The best designed network will fail miserably without
the support of people

43
Customer’s Requirements
- Users’ Needs -
 What do the users want?
 Services
 What do the users need?
 What don’t they know but they need?
 Organize and Prioritize Requirement

44
Customer’s Requirements
- How they are used -
 User Requirements 
Performance Requirements
• Timeliness
Delay
• Interactivity
• Reliability
• Quality Reliability
• Security
• Affordability
• User Numbers
Capacity
• User Locations
• User Growth
45
Analysis and Design Processes
 Set and achieve goals
 Maximizing performance
 Minimizing cost
 Optimization with trade-offs
 Recognizing trade-offs
 No single ‘best’ answer
 Hierarchies
 Provide structure in the network
 Redundancy
 Provides availability & reliability

46
Approaches Used for Design
 Heuristic – by using various algorithms
 Exact – by working out mathematical
solutions based on linear programming, etc.,
minimizing certain cost functions
 Simulation – often used when no exact
analytical form exists. Experiments are
conducted on simplified models to see the
performance of a network

47
Design and Study of a System

48
Art or Science?

The Art of Network Design

• Technology choices
• Relations to business goals

The Science of Network Design

Understanding of network technologies
 Analysis of capacity, redundancy, delay …

49
Types of Network Design
 New network design

 Re-engineering a network design

 Network expansion design

50
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

51
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

52
Network Expansion Design
 Network designs that expand network
capacity

 Technology upgrades

 Adding more users or networked equipment

53
This Whole Thing is Messy
This Whole Thing is Messy

 Ambiguous Requirements

 The network will only transport IP

 The application requires Novell IPX

55
This Whole Thing is Messy

 Conflicting Requirements

 Keep costs down

 High performance costs money

56
This Whole Thing is Messy

 Lack of Design Tools

 Lack of Management Tools

 Lack of Vendor Interoperability

57
This Whole Thing is Messy

 Lack of Documentation

 Existing network

 How things should be done (e.g., wiring)

 Vendor information

58
This Whole Thing is Messy

 Network Management

 More management uses more bandwidth

 Every vendor has their own management tools

 Vendor tools may conflict with each other

59
 This Whole Thing is Messy
Security
 What is enough security?
 What is too much security?
 Security and management can not be dealt
with as ‘afterthoughts’. It is not an add-on
feature, it has to be integrated within.

Firewall
200Kbs

10Mb/s 10Mb/s
T1 1.5Mb/s
Ethernet Ethernet
60
This Whole Thing is Messy

 Evolving Network Technologies

 Everything is a moving target

 Products are put onto the market before
standards are approved
 Everyone is a computer “expert”

61
 Operations, Administration, Maintenance, Provisioning
(OAM&P)
Network
Management

Network Network Network

Provisioning Operations Maintenance

Planning Fault Management / Service Restoration Fault Management

Design Configuration Management Trouble Ticket

Administration
Performance Management / Traffic Management
Network Installation
Security Management
Network Repairs
Accounting Management
Facilities Installation
Reports Management & Maintenance
Routine Network
Inventory Management Tests

Data Gathering & Analyses

62
Figure 1.21 Network Management Functional Groupings
 Functional Flow Chart

Network

Users

Management Configuration Data

Decision

TT Restoration
New Performance & Traffic Data
Technology

Engineering Group Operations Group I & M Group

NOC
- Network Planning & -Network Installation &
Design - Network Operations Maintenance

Fault TT

Installation

63

Figure 1.22. Network Management Functional Flow Chart