Designing the Network

The first phase in the life of a network--designing the network--involves making decisions about the type of network that best suits the needs of your organization. Some of the planning decisions you make will involve network hardware; for example:

• Number of host machines your network can support

• Type of network media to use: Ethernet, token ring, FDDI, and so on

• Network topology; that is, the physical layout and connections of the network hardware

• Types of hosts the network will support: standalone and dataless

Based on these factors, you can determine the size of your local-area network.

Planning the network hardware is outside the scope of this manual. Refer to the manuals that came with your hardware, for assistance.

Factors Involved in Network Planning

After you have completed your hardware plan, you are ready to begin network planning, from the software perspective.

As part of the planning process you must:

1. Obtain a network number and, if applicable, register your network domain with the InterNIC.

2. Devise an IP addressing scheme for your hosts, after you receive your IP network number.

3. Create a list containing the IP addresses and host names of all machines that make up your network, which you can use as you build network databases.

4. Determine which name service to use on your network: NIS, NIS+, DNS, or the network databases in the local /etc directory.

5. Establish administrative subdivisions, if appropriate for your network.

6. Determine if your network is large enough to require routers, and, if appropriate, create a network topology that supports them.

7. Set up subnets, if appropriate, for your network.

The remainder of this chapter explains how to plan your network with these factors in mind.