NETWORK DESIGN

A detailed network design consists of much more than a hardware and software Bill of Materials. To ensure that all client business and technology needs are addressed and to ensure a smooth and successful implementation a detailed low level design is required. A design meeting will be conducted to determine details concerning the current environment and the requirements of the new design. The deliverables from the design process consist of a detailed low level design document that describes the network topology, addressing, primary and redundant traffic flows, interoperability with remaining legacy components, a network security strategy, implementation plan, a training strategy and support strategy. The deliverables are then presented to the customer for final approval or revision. Many times major details such as IP addressing are considered too trivial to include in the design discussions. This is a primary cause of delayed and over budget projects. It is important to give each of the low level details consideration during the design phase to eliminate any unforeseen problems during implementation.