1. Network Design Overview
Valencia Community College
Office of Information Technology
Frequently, presenters must deliver material of a technical nature to an audience unfamiliar with the topic or vocabulary. The material may be complex or heavy with detail. To present technical material effectively, use the following guidelines from Dale Carnegie Training®.
Consider the amount of time available and prepare to organize your material. Narrow your topic. Divide your presentation into clear segments. Follow a logical progression. Maintain your focus throughout. Close the presentation with a summary, repetition of the key steps, or a logical conclusion.
Keep your audience in mind at all times. For example, be sure data is clear and information is relevant. Keep the level of detail and vocabulary appropriate for the audience. Use visuals to support key points or steps. Keep alert to the needs of your listeners, and you will have a more receptive audience.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018
Copyright 2001 © Valencia Community College

2. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
Introduction
Bruce Marshall, Network Manager
Manages all Network Operations for Valencia’s 7 campuses
Joel Burrow, Network Engineer
Responsible for monitoring and tuning network performance
In your opening, establish the relevancy of the topic to the audience. Give a brief preview of the presentation and establish value for the listeners. Take into account your audience’s interest and expertise in the topic when choosing your vocabulary, examples, and illustrations. Focus on the importance of the topic to your audience, and you will have more attentive listeners.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

3. Valencia’s Design Criteria
Needed a high-speed data network to support emerging technologies
Needed network management for pro-active troubleshooting and repair
Single vendor was considered a plus
Initial expense was not a major consideration— we were looking for ROI
If you have several points, steps, or key ideas use multiple slides. Determine if your audience is to understand a new idea, learn a process, or receive greater depth to a familiar concept. Back up each point with adequate explanation. As appropriate, supplement your presentation with technical support data in hard copy or on disc, , or the Internet. Develop each point adequately to communicate with your audience.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

4. Overall Network Configuration
All Cisco Equipment
6500 cores, 7200 ATM routers
ATM WAN Links, Gigabit Ethernet Intercampus, and 100 MB switched to the desktop
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

5. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
WAN Configuration
Each campus (except CJI) has a Cisco router that encapsulates Ethernet in ATM cells.
East and West campuses have OC-3 connections to the internal cloud (155MB). All other campuses have DS-3 connections (45MB).
We use a full mesh configuration for redundancy.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

6. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
WAN Configuration
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

7. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
LAN Configuration
Each campus has a Cisco 6500 as its core.
All buildings are connected by Gigabit Ethernet over fiber—most are home-runned to the campus core.
Buildings with high port density have multiple fiber links configured as an Ether Channel.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

8. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
LAN Configuration
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

9. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
Network Monitoring
We use a variety of tools, each with a specific function. Most use SNMP.
Overall network performance—HP OpenView and What’s Up Gold
Switch level monitoring and control— Cisco’s Campus One
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

10. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
Network Security
At the Internet ingress and egress points, we have Cisco PIX 520 firewalls
We use a Cisco 3030 VPN concentrator for internal network access from the internet
We use several tools for intrusion detection and forensics
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

11. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
Network Systems
A network is not just switches and routers. We maintain and design other portions of the network infrastructure required for an Enterprise network. These systems include:
IP structure of internal network
Currently, we have a private class B network.
We are slowly migrating to a private class A.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

12. Network Systems (continued)
With private internal IP addresses, internet access requires address translation (NAT). We use the PIX firewalls for address translation. Externally accessible servers are statically translated, and everything else is dynamically translated.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

13. Network Systems (continued)
DNS and DHCP—we host our own Domain Name Services. There is a local (internal) DNS server at each campus, and two external DNS servers at the internet access points (East and West). DHCP servers are at each campus with lease times >3 days (we have a practically infinite IP address pool).
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

14. Network Systems (continued)
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

15. Network Systems (continued)
Another major function of Network Operations is delivering the mail. has become a mission critical operation.
We have two external mail relays, that relay our mail into a single-purpose virus scanner, and then to our systems.
Our main system is GroupWise. We have a backup mail server running sendmail on Linux, and we’re piloting a new general purpose system that is a component of the new Campus Pipeline Web Portal.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

16. Network Systems (continued)
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

17. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
Future Directions
We are piloting new distance learning classrooms, which are very bandwidth intensive—must use the QOS features of Cisco equipment to guarantee performance.
Wireless is coming—we’ve been running pilot projects for over a year. We’re waiting on ACS and a for a general rollout.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

18. Future Directions (continued)
General deployment of VLAN’s college-wide.
New IP structure (to support VLAN’s).
Moving server farm to Gig to the core.
First 10 Gig cards have been released for the series. We’ve already laid single-mode dark fiber on all campuses.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

19. Future Directions (continued)
Evaluating alternatives to ATM— bandwidth needs will never stand still.
Alternatives are lighting our own or leased fiber and using Native Ethernet.
We’ve also looked into direct microwave links.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018

20. Valencia Community College--Network Operations
Closing Remarks
New high-speed network, providing a better user experience to our end-users
Network design and improvement is never done, and you will never be appreciated. Consider yourself a plumber—as long as the toilet works, nobody thinks about you; but if it clogs, you’re knee-deep in crap and everyone is yelling at you.
Determine the best close for your audience and your presentation. Close with a summary; offer options; recommend a strategy; suggest a plan; set a goal. Keep your focus throughout your presentation, and you will more likely achieve your purpose.
Valencia Community College--Network Operations
9/20/2018