Planning a Network

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Overview

Planning and designing is the first phase of any network and involves making decisions about the type of network that best suits the needs of the organization. The first consideration to make in designing a network is the network hardware that will be involved. Take for example:

• Number of host machines your network will need to support.
• Type of network hardware media to use - Ethernet, FDDI, token ring, etc.
• The physical layout and connections of the network - (Network Topology).
• Type of hosts the network will need to support - standalone, diskless, dataless, etc.

Factors Involved in Planning a Network

The above factors can be helpful in determining the size of your local-area network. Once this is complete, it is now time to continue the planning phase from the perspective of the software to be used. Consider the following:

• Obtain a network number and, if applicable, register your network domain with the InterNIC.
• After receiving a IP network number, you will need to devise an IP addressing scheme for all hosts on the network.
• Document a list of all host names and IP addresses that will make up your network. You will use this information while building your network.
• Determine which name service to use on the new network - NIS, NIS+, DNS, LDAP, or the network database files in the local /etc directory.
• If appropriate, establish administrative subdivisions for your network.
• If appropriate, determine if your new network is large enough to require routers to support your network topology.
• If appropriate, setup subnets for your network.