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Analyzing Technical Requirements

This chapter is from the book

Chapter 2: Analyzing Technical Requirements

Objectives

This chapter covers the following Microsoft-specified objectives for the Analyzing Technical Requirements section of the Designing a Microsoft Windows 2000 Network Infrastructure exam:

Evaluate the company's existing and planned technical environment and goals.

  • Analyze company size and user and resource distribution.

  • Assess the available connectivity between the geographic location of work sites and remote sites.

  • Assess net available bandwidth and latency.

  • Analyze performance, availability, and scalability requirements of services.

  • Analyze data and system access patterns.

  • Analyze network roles and responsibilities.

  • Analyze security considerations.

This objective will help you determine how to translate the goals of the business into a technical design. You will learn how to assess the existing network infrastructure from a technical point of view and compare it to the proposed goals to determine which Windows 2000 features will need to be included in your design.

Analyze the impact of infrastructure design on the existing and planned technical environment.

  • Assess current applications.

  • Analyze network infrastructure, protocols, and hosts.

  • Evaluate network services.

  • Analyze TCP/IP infrastructure.

  • Assess current hardware.

  • Identify existing and planned upgrades and rollouts.

  • Analyze technical support structure.

  • Analyze existing and planned network and systems management.

This objective addresses the considerations that must be made to determine the impact of a new network infrastructure design on the existing network infrastructure. Windows 2000 was designed to be deployed gradually. To successfully deploy, you must fully understand the areas where changes to the existing infrastructure will be the most disruptive and plan accordingly. You must also be able to identify the areas of the existing network infrastructure requiring improvement or change.

  • Analyze the network requirements for client computer access.

  • Analyze end-user work needs.

  • Analyze end-user usage patterns.

The primary function of any network infrastructure is to support the needs of the end users. This objective will help you learn to identify the needs of the end-user community and focus your network infrastructure design on meeting those needs.

Analyze the existing disaster recovery strategy for client computers, servers, and the network.

This objective helps you examine the disaster recovery strategies that exist to support the current network infrastructure. You will need to consider these strategies and determine whether they are sufficient for the existing infrastructure as well as for the new network infrastructure design.

Outline

  • Introduction

  • Evaluating Technical Environment and Goals

    • Analyze Company Size and User and Resource Distribution

    • Assessing Available Connectivity

    • Assessing Bandwidth and Latency

    • Performance, Scalability, and Availability

    • Data and System Access

    • Network Roles and Responsibilities

    • Security Considerations

      • Physical Security

      • Internal Access Security

      • External Access Security

  • Analyzing the Impact of Infrastructure Design

    • Applications

    • Network Infrastructure, Protocols, and Hosts

    • Network Services

    • TCP/IP Infrastructure

      • The IP Addressing Scheme

      • The IP Address Assignment Process

      • The Host Name Registration Process

      • The Host Name Resolution Process

    • Hardware

    • Upgrades and Rollouts

    • Technical Support Structure

    • Network and Systems Management

  • Analyzing Client Computer Access Requirements

    • End-User Work Needs

    • End-User Usage Patterns

  • Analyzing Disaster Recovery Strategies

    • Tape Backup Strategies

    • Hardware Failure Recovery Strategies

    • Power and Other Environmental Failure Recovery Strategies

    • Data Line and Cable Failure Recovery Strategies

    • System Code Failure Recovery Strategies

    • Ultimate Recovery from Acts of God

  • Chapter Summary

  • Apply Your Knowledge

Study Strategies

The material in this chapter is not necessarily Microsoft-specific. The approach to network analysis that you take in this chapter will serve you well on any network project. Remember as you learn these techniques that many of them can be transferred to other non-Microsoft projects.

Much of the material in this chapter dealing with basic networking was previously covered on the MCSE 4.0 exam Networking Essentials. Because Microsoft has eliminated this exam requirement in the MCSE 2000 track, I recommend reviewing Network+ Certification Guide (New Riders Publishing, ISBN 073570077X) and Network+ Fast Track (New Riders Publishing, ISBN 0735709041).

Pay particular attention to the Case Study that we develop in this chapter. Case studies are an excellent way to learn and begin to understand network design concepts.

As you read the material presented in this chapter, try to associate it with events in your own experience. Think about network projects that you have been involved with, and try to determine if any of the steps described in this chapter were performed for those projects. What was the outcome as a result of design planning strategies?

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