Cisco Layered Campus Network Design

Greetings to all my wonderful LinkedIn Connections!

In today's post, I will talk about the #Cisco #Campus #Network #Architecture #Design. We will be discussing the Tiered/Layered Approach to designing a Network.

Let's have a look at the below-attached design:-

What have you identified that we have divided the whole network architecture into three different Tiers or Layers i.e.; Core, Distribution & Access Layers? So what are these three layers and why they are needed in Networking let us deep dive into them.

First of all, let us understand what are these three Layers.

1.?????Core Layer or Layer-3: By the name, Core means the main backbone of your entire network where all your backbone switches will be running, it is also known as layer-3 because it takes care of the Layer 3 (IP Packets, SVIs, Routing). Here we will mostly procure #layer3 switches such as C9400, C9500, C9600, etc. It is one of the most important layers in your network if something goes wrong here it can bring down your whole Network. Here you need to take care of routing all the VLANs or SVIs traffic, these SVIs will be the gateways in your network. Also, you need to be cautious in choosing the following:

? #Key Factors are:

a.??????Switch Model

b.?????Redundancy

c.??????Routing Protocols

d.?????Power Consumption

e.??????Type of cable (speed)

f.???????Route Processors

g.?????SUP engine

h.?????environment temperature

2.?????Distribution Layer or Layer-2: By the name, Distribution means it deals with distributing the network let's say you have multiple floors or departments so for each department you will be procuring a different switch or will do some calculation of your organizational requirements as per your need. For example, we have a total of 10 departments in our organization so, in this case, I will procure 2 switches and connect 5 of the department to switch-1 as an Active switch and the other 5 to the same switch as stand-by. Now on Switch-2, I will connect the standby of switch-2 as an Active and Active of Swicth-2 as a Standby. So, it depends on the size and users in your organization/campus. Mostly we don’t configure any routing here only we distribute the traffic to different access layer switches.

? #Key Factors are:

a.??????Switch Model

b.?????Redundancy

c.??????Power Consumption

d.?????Type of cable (speed)

e.??????SUP engine

f.???????environment temperature

3.?????Access layer or Layer-1: Here in this layer, we mostly deal with the L2 switching VLAN port assignment technologies we use here such as trunking 802.1q to carry multiple VLANs traffic, STP spanning-tree protocol for keeping the network loop free, Port level security as no one gets unauthorized access to the network. We need to identify the total no of endpoints that need to be connected as per that we will plan for the no of required switches. ??

#Feel #free to share your suggestions. It would be great learning for the community.

Nipun Net Solutions Pvt Ltd

#Tier-3 #Network_Architecture_Design #Campus_Network_Design #Layered_Approach #Core #Distribution #Access