Administrative Subdivisions

The question of administrative subdivisions deals with matters of size and control. The more hosts and servers you have in a network, the more complex your management task. You may wish to handle such situations by setting up additional administrative divisions in the form of more additional networks of a particular class or by dividing existing networks into subnets. The decision as to whether to set up administrative subdivisions for your network hinges on the following factors:

• How large is the network?

  A single network of several hundred hosts, all in the same physical location and requiring the same administrative services, can be handled by a single administrative division. On the other hand, a network of fewer machines, divided into a number of subnets and physically scattered over an extensive geographic area, would be likely to benefit from the establishment of several administrative subdivisions.

• Do users on the network have similar needs?

  For example, you may have a network that is confined to a single building and supports a relatively small number of machines. These machines are divided among a number of subnetworks, each supporting groups of users with different needs. Such a case could call for an administrative subdivision for each subnet.

  Solaris Naming Administration Guide discusses administrative subdivisions in detail.