Networking Security
Network Architecture
Designing networks that scale and survive: requirements, hierarchy, redundancy, performance and operations.
- 13 notes
- 112 minutes of reading
- Designing network systems: bandwidth, requirements, design goals and methodologyHow to plan a network: what bandwidth really means, what users and businesses need, the four design goals (scalability, availability, security, manageability) and a step-by-step design method. 8 min · Intermediate
- Designing a secure corporate network: scalability, redundancy, hierarchy and device selectionHow to plan a secure corporate network: what a design must document, designing for scalability and redundancy (STP, EtherChannel), the role of each hierarchical layer, choosing switches, routers and security appliances, and segmenting with subnets. 9 min · Intermediate
- Network performance, RAID, load balancing and backupsHow network performance is measured, the RAID levels (0, 1, 5, 6, 10), NIC teaming, load-balancing methods, asset management, full vs differential vs incremental backups, and what a SAN is. 9 min · Intermediate
- Change and configuration management, IT audit, business continuity and disaster recoveryHow network change and configuration management (NCCM) keeps devices consistent, what an IT audit checks, the difference between business continuity and disaster recovery, business impact analysis, and the main causes of data loss and how to prevent it. 9 min · Intermediate
- Network monitoring, maintenance and IT policies: SNMP, schedules, AUP, DR/BCP and change managementHow networks are monitored (SNMP, alerts, resource monitoring), how to plan regular maintenance, and the key policies every organisation needs: acceptable use, security awareness, information security, disaster recovery and change management. 9 min · Intermediate
- Campus and data centre architectures: three-tier, collapsed core and spine-leafHow enterprise networks are laid out today: three-tier and collapsed-core campus designs, why data centres moved to spine-leaf fabrics, oversubscription, overlays such as VXLAN, and how to choose an architecture. 8 min · Intermediate
- Network planes and software-defined networking (SDN)The data, control and management planes inside every network device, how SDN separates and centralises control, controllers and their northbound and southbound APIs, underlay and overlay, and intent-based networking. 8 min · Intermediate
- Zero trust architecture and network segmentationWhy the old castle-and-moat model fails, the principles of zero trust, macro- and micro-segmentation, network access control with 802.1X, zero trust network access (ZTNA) replacing VPNs, and a practical roadmap. 8 min · Intermediate
- Enterprise network domains: campus, WAN, data centre, cloud and edge as one architectureHow a modern organisation's network splits into domains (campus access, branch and WAN, data centre, cloud, edge and remote users), what each domain is designed for, and how identity and policy tie them together end to end. 8 min · Intermediate
- Capacity planning and dependency mapping: bandwidth, growth and critical pathsHow to plan network capacity from measured baselines and growth forecasts, size links and oversubscription sensibly, and map the dependencies and critical paths that an application relies on so you know what a single failure would break. 9 min · Intermediate
- Service provider network architecture: access, aggregation, core, peering and transitHow internet service providers and carriers build their networks: customer premises, access, aggregation and core layers, points of presence, peering and transit, internet exchange points, content caches, and how an enterprise connection fits in. 9 min · Intermediate
- Cloud computing for network engineers: characteristics, service and deployment models, and connectivityThe five essential characteristics of cloud computing, the IaaS, PaaS and SaaS service models and the public, private, community and hybrid deployment models, explained from a network engineer's point of view, with how sites connect to the cloud. 9 min · Beginner
- Overlay networks explained: underlay, tunnels, VXLAN, LISP and when to use themWhat underlay and overlay networks are, the main overlay technologies (GRE, IPsec VPNs, DMVPN, VXLAN, LISP and SD-WAN), how a VXLAN tunnel works, and the benefits and costs of overlays, including MTU and troubleshooting. 9 min · Intermediate