Cabletron Systems bridges, switches manual Network Design

Network Design

As the creation of workgroups based on departmental organization mirrors the operation of the company, the expandability of the network is simplified; since departmental growth can often be predicted in stable or growing companies, the network can be designed to allow for simplified expansion in the departments most likely to grow.

Without the use of management software to monitor the operation of workgroups determined by departmental organization, troubleshooting and fault recovery can be difficult in a network of this kind. As the end users are not necessarily located in the same area, faults which affect the workgroup must be looked for in several locations.

An even trade-off is made in reliability in networks organized in this fashion. While the organization of the network into departmental workgroups increases the inherent complexity of the network by creating several segments based on function, the loss of a workgroup will disrupt the operation of only that workgroup, allowing the operation of other workgroups to continue with no disruption other than the loss of communication with the faulty workgroup/department.

The Role of the Workgroup 5-5