Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Improve customer support
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Add new customer services
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Organizational constraints include budget, personnel, policy, and schedule. The company
might limit you to a certain budget or timeframe. The organization might require the proj-
ect to be completed in an unreasonable timeframe. It might have limited personnel to sup-
port the assessment and design efforts, or it might have policy limitations to use certain
protocols.
Te c h n i c a l g o a l s s u p p o r t t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n's o b j e c t i v e s a n d t h e s u p p o r t e d a p p l i c a t i o n s .
Te c h n i c a l g o a l s i n c l u d e t h e fo l l o w i n g :
Improve the network's response-time throughput
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Decrease network failures and downtime (high availability)
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Simplify network management
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Improve network security
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Improve reliability of mission-critical applications
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Modernize outdated technologies (technology refresh)
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Improve the network's scalability
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Network design might be constrained by parameters that limit the solution. Legacy appli-
cations might still exist that must be supported going forward, and these applications
might require a legacy protocol that may limit a design. Technical constraints include the
follow ing:
Existing wiring does not support new technology.
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Bandwidth might not support new applications.
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The network must support exiting legacy equipment.
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Legacy applications must be supported (application compatibility).
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Characterizing the network is Step 2 of the design methodology. In this section, you learn
to identify a network's major features, tools to analyze existing network traffic, and tools
for audit ing and monitor ing net work t raffic.
Steps in Gathering Information
When arriving at a site that has an existing network, you need to obtain all the existing
documentation. Sometimes no documented information exists. You should be prepared to
use tools to obtain information and get access to log in to the network devices to obtain
information. Here are the steps for gathering information:
