Network Design
•Simplified Troubleshooting - The device collapsed backbone, by connecting the workgroups through a manageable device, provides not only simplified troubleshooting, but the ability to detect some backbone faults before they become network failures.
•Extensive Control - The device collapsed backbone provides the highest level of network control. Workgroups and devices on the backbone can be included or bypassed with the click of a mouse or through the use of a terminal session. Physically adding workgroups to the network will still require the connection of facility cabling and jumper cables, but, as with the standard collapsed backbone, the usefulness of planning ahead cannot be
One danger of the device collapsed backbone is the existence of a single point of failure: the backbone device. If the backbone device fails, the backbone network will not operate. For more information on single points of failure and avoiding their creation in a network, refer to the Fault Aversion section of this chapter.
Choosing Backbone Technologies
The selection of a backbone technology is a similar process to the selection of workgroup technologies. As with the selection of a workgroup technology, make sure you are familiar with the operation of each type of technology, the strengths and shortcomings of those technologies, and the special design considerations that each technology imposes on the network. You may, again, wish to refer to the training information of this Networking Guide for initial instruction.
The selection of a backbone technology requires a careful examination of the needs of your facility and the ways that the various technologies and organization styles can fit those needs. It is the job of the Network Manager or persons designing the network to determine which factors of the network design are the foremost requirements.
The determining factors in selecting a backbone network technology are the same as those used in selecting workgroup technologies - performance (speed of operation), reliability, ease of configuration, troubleshooting, and cost. In the backbone network, it is quite common to plan far ahead, providing more bandwidth than you think you will need. If this is done correctly, it will facilitate the upgrading of the technologies of the outlying workgroup networks without requiring an immediate rebuilding of the backbone network.
For this reason, once you feel you have selected a suitable technology, do further research on that technology to resolve any questions about its operation or the means by which a network is created using that technology. Contact your Cabletron Systems Sales Representative for information, or read any of the technical books available of the subject matter.
The Workgroup in the Larger Network |
