The first step in designing a Local Area Network (LAN) is to
establish and document the goals of the design. These goals will be particular to each organization or
situation. However, general requirements tend to show up in any
network design:
- Functionality -- The network must work. That is, it must allow
users to meet their job requirements. The network must provide
user-to-user and user-to-application connectivity with reasonable
speed and reliability.
- Scalability -- The network must be able to grow. That is to say,
the initial design should grow without any major changes to the
overall design.
- Adaptability -- The network must be designed with an eye toward
future technologies, and should not include elements that would
limit implementation of new technologies as they become available.
- Manageability -- The network should be designed to facilitate network monitoring and management, in order to ensure ongoing stability of operation.
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