IT Network Design: Redundancy, Layer 3, STP, EtherChannel

This report provides an analysis of IT network design, focusing on key aspects such as redundancy at the distribution and core layers, the differences between Layer 3 switches and routers, routing capabilities and limitations of Layer 3 switches, advantages and disadvantages of using STP, and the advantages of EtherChannel. The report also includes a comparison between PAgP and LACP protocols. The student explores redundancy issues and solutions, including Layer 2 and Layer 3 redundancy, and evaluates the performance and capabilities of different network components. The report draws on relevant academic sources to support its findings and provides a comprehensive overview of the topics discussed. This assignment provides a deep dive into the technical aspects of network design, offering insights into various protocols and technologies used in modern network infrastructure. The report also includes references to academic resources to support the analysis.

Running head: IT NETWORK DESIGNING
IT NETWORK DESIGNING
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1IT NETWORK DESIGNING
1. Redundancy issue at distribution and core layer:
Distribution layer:
While choosing the optimal power facility, the data managers should be considered with
the different possibilities f optimal solutions.
During the design of the configuration of electrical power distribution, data managers
should considered the present and future demand of the power supply.
The right power distribution load balance should be created before the facility so that it
can help to run a data centers efficiently in a cost efficient way.
Core layer:
The fully meshed topology at the core layer does not provide full convergence in case if a
link or node fails. Peer adjusting issue is present in fully meshed design (Cheng et al.,2015).
Configuration and scaling of routing is complex. The cost of changes in the network increases
making the network more complex.
Solutions for layer 2 and layer 3 redundancy:
The layer 2 redundancy can be achieved by the Hot Standup Group protocol or Virtual
Router redundancy protocol setup (Dunbar et al.,2015). The distribution layer switches has to
assign with individual IP addresses. The two VLANs should be organized in to Standby Group
and will generate virtual IP and virtual MAC address. One of the distribution switch will be
active for taking the responses and the other switch will be in waiting for the activation.

2IT NETWORK DESIGNING
Aggregation switch can be presented by a router(layer 3) and a switch as the primary
component. The whole foundation is supported by a firewall load balancer and SSL module and
IDS module (Akela et al.,2017). The communication between routing and switching component
is done through service module.
2.Difference between layer 3 switches and routers:
Characteristics Layer 3 switch router
Subnet definition Layer 2 switch domain port
Forwarding architecture hardware software
RMON support yes no
Price low high
Forwarding performance high low
Policy performance High low
WAN support no yes
3.Routing capabilities and limitations of layer 3 switch:
 Layer 3 switch connects the devices with the same IP subnet or virtual LAN and
the performance of connecting device is done at wire speed.
 Layer 3 switches acts as a router without WAN connectivity. The routing is done
by the IP routing intelligence built on it. It supports protocols like OSPF and RIP.
Limitations:

3IT NETWORK DESIGNING
 It has the lack of WAN interface so that it is unable to connect to the outside world.
1. Advantages and disadvantages of using STP:
Advantages:
 It is resistance to interface
 The data transmission speed through STP is fast.
 The transmitted data is more secure in the STP cable.
Disadvantages:
 STP is not flexible to use and it has thicker diameter.
 STP cable is not cost efficient.
 It is difficult to install and maintain.
4.Advantages of EtherChannel:
 EtherChannel provides better bandwidth.
 The wiring is scalable in this system.
 Ethernet is transparent to the network application and users can understand the
logical structure even if they have no knowledge (Pai, Hooda &
Jones,2016).EtherChannel merges all the traffics coming from the active ports.
Comparison between PAgP and LACP:
Parameter PAGP LACP
Stands for Port aggregation protocol Link aggregation protocol
Standard CISCO Open standard
Modes of configuration  Auto  Active

4IT NETWORK DESIGNING
 Desirable  Passive
Supported by EtherChannel EtherChannel and 802.3ad
Year of introduction 1990 2000

5IT NETWORK DESIGNING
References
Akella, A., Hooda, S., Maiga, M., Shen, J., & Kumar, S. (2017). U.S. Patent No. 9,577,939.
Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Cheng, Y., Yu, F. X., Feris, R. S., Kumar, S., Choudhary, A., & Chang, S. F. (2015). An
exploration of parameter redundancy in deep networks with circulant projections.
In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (pp. 2857-
2865).
Dunbar, L., Mack-Crane, T. B., Hares, S., Sultan, R., Ashwood-Smith, P., & Yin, G. (2015). U.S.
Patent No. 9,160,609. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Pai, N. M., Hooda, S. K., & Jones, P. G. (2016). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/632,070.