Network+

Planning and Installing Networks

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Objectives

 Describe the elements and benefits of project management

 Manage a network implementation project
 Understand network management and the importance of baselining
to assess a network’s health
 Plan and follow regular hardware and software maintenance
routines
 Describe the steps involved in upgrading network hardware and
software

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Project Management

 Managing staff, budget, timelines, and other resources and

variables to achieve specific goal within given bounds
 Attempts to answer at least following questions:
 Is proposed project feasible?
 What needs must project address?
 What are project’s goals?
 What tasks are required to meet goals?
 How long should tasks take, and in what order should they be
undertaken?

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Project Management (continued)

 Attempts to answer at least the following questions (continued):

 What resources are required, and how much will they cost?
 Who will be involved and what skills are needed?
 How will staff communicate?
 After completion, did project meet stated need?

 Most projects divided into phases

 Milestone: reference point marking completion of major task or
group of tasks in project

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Project Management (continued)

Figure : Project phases

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Determining Project Feasibility

 Feasibility study outlines costs and benefits of project

 Attempts to predict whether it will yield favorable outcome
 Should be performed for any large-scale project before resources
committed

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Assessing Needs

 Needs assessment: process of clarifying reasons and objectives

underlying proposed change(s)
 Interviewing users
 Comparing perceptions to factual data
 Analyzing network baseline data

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Assessing Needs (continued)

 Needs assessment may address the following:

 Is expressed need valid or does it mask a different need?
 Can need be resolved?
 Is need important enough to allocate resources to its resolution? Will
meeting it have measurable effect on productivity?
 If fulfilled, will need result in additional needs? Will fulfilling it satisfy
other needs?
 Do users affected by the need agree that change is a good answer?
What kind of resolution will satisfy them?

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Setting Project Goals

 Project goals help keep project on track

 Necessary when evaluating whether project was successful

 Popular technique is to begin with broad goal, narrow down to

specific sub-goals
 Project goals should be attainable
 Feasibility study helps determine attainability

 Sponsors: managers and others who oversee resource allocation

 Stakeholder: any person affected by the project

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Project Planning

 Project plan: organizes details of a project

 e.g., timeline and significant tasks
 May use text or spreadsheet documents for small projects
 For large projects, use project management software
 Provides framework for inputting tasks, timelines, resource assignments,
completion dates, and so on

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Project Planning (continued)

Figure : A project plan in Microsoft Project

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Tasks and Timelines

 Project should be divided into specific tasks

 Divide large tasks into sub-tasks
 Assign duration, start date, finish date to each task and sub-task
 Designate milestones, task priority, and how timeline might change

 Allow extra time for significant tasks

 Gantt chart: popular method for depicting when projects begin and
end along a horizontal timeline

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Tasks and Timelines (continued)

Figure : A simple Gantt chart

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Communication

 Project manager responsible for facilitating regular, effective

communication among project participants
 Must communicate with stakeholders as well

 Must prepare users for changes:

 How access to network will be affected
 How data will be protected during change(s)
 Whether you will provide means for users to access the network during
change(s)
 Whether users will have to learn new skills

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Contingency Planning

 Even meticulously planned projects may be derailed by unforeseen

circumstances
 Contingency planning: process of identifying steps that minimize risk
of unforeseen events that could affect quality or timeliness of
project’s goals

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Using a Pilot Network

 Pilot network: small-scale network that stands in for a larger network

 Used to test changes before applying to enterprise
 Should be similar enough to closely mimic larger network’s hardware,
software, connectivity, unique configurations, and load
 Tips for creating realistic and useful pilot network:
 Include at least one of each type of device that might be affected by the
change
 Use same transmission methods and speeds as employed on your
network

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Using a Pilot Network (continued)

 Tips for creating realistic and useful pilot network (continued):

 Try to emulate number of segments, protocols, and addressing
schemes in current network
 Try to generate similar amount of traffic
 Implement same server and client software and configurations as found
in current network
 Test for at least 2 weeks

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Testing and Evaluation

 Test after completing each major step

 Must establish testing plan
 Including relevant methods and criteria

 Testing should reveal:

 Whether task was successful
 Unintended consequences
 Whether new needs exposed

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Network Management

 In broad terms, assessment, monitoring, and maintenance of all

aspects of a network
 Network management applications may be used on large networks
 Continually check devices and connections to ensure they respond
within expected performance threshold
 May not be economically feasible on small network
 Several disciplines fall under heading of network management
 All share goal of preventing costly downtime or loss

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Obtaining Baseline Measurements

 Baseline: report of network’s current state of operation

 Baseline measurements allow comparison of future performance
increases or decreases caused by network changes with past network
performance

 The more data gathered while establishing the baseline, the more
accurate predictions will be
 Several software applications can perform baselining

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Obtaining Baseline Measurements
(continued)

Figure : Baseline of daily network traffic

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Obtaining Baseline Measurements
(continued)

 Baseline assessment should address:

 Physical topology
 Access method
 Protocols
 Devices
 OSs
 Applications

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Performance and Fault Management

 Performance management: monitoring how well links and devices

are keeping up with demands
 Fault management: detection and signaling of device, link, or
component faults
 Organizations often use enterprise-wide network management
software
 At least one network management console collects data from multiple
networked devices at regular intervals
 Polling

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Performance and Fault Management
(continued)

 Each managed device runs a network management agent

 Collects information about device’s operation and provides it to network
management application

 Definition of managed devices and data collected in a Management

Information Base (MIB)
 Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP): TCP/IP protocol
used by agents to communicate

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Performance and Fault Management
(continued)

Figure : Network management architecture

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Performance and Fault Management
(continued)

 Network management application can present an administrator with

several ways to view and analyze data
 Network management applications are challenging to configure and
fine-tune
 Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG): command-line utility that uses
SNMP to poll devices, collects data in a log file, and generates
HTML-based views of data

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Performance and Fault Management
(continued)

Figure : Map showing network status

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Performance and Fault Management
(continued)

Figure : Graphs generated by MRTG

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Asset Management

 Identifying and tracking hardware and software on a network

 First step is taking detailed inventory of each node on network
 Asset management tool choice depends on organization’s needs
 Should ensure that asset management database regularly updated
 Simplifies maintaining and upgrading the network
 Provides info about costs and benefits of hardware or software

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Software Changes

 General steps:
 Determine whether change is necessary
 Research purpose of change and potential effects on other applications
 Determine whether change should apply to some or all users
 Notify system administrators, help desk personnel, and users
 Schedule change for off-hours, if possible

 Back up the current system or software

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Software Changes (continued)

 General steps (continued):

 Prevent users from accessing system or part of system being altered
 Keep upgrade instructions handy and follow them
 Make the change
 Test the system fully
 If successful, re-enable access to system
 If not, roll back changes

 Communicate changes made

 Record changes in change management system

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Patches

 Patch: correction, improvement, or enhancement to particular piece

of a software application
 Changes only part of an application
 Often distributed at no charge by software vendors
 Fix bugs
 Improve functionality

 Back up system before installing

 Install during off-hours
 Test after installing
 Regularly check with vendor for patches

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Client Upgrades

 Software upgrade: major change to a software package’s existing

code
 Designed to add functionality and fix bugs in previous version of the
client

 Typically overwrites some system files

 Installation may affect other applications adversely

 Test on single workstation before distributing to all users

 Workstation-by-workstation or network installation

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Shared Application Upgrades

 Apply to software shared by clients on network

 Same principles as modification of client software

 Usually designed to enhance application’s functionality

 Weigh time, cost, and effort against necessity

 For significant upgrade, may need to provide user training

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Network Operating System Upgrades

 Usually involves significant changes to way servers and clients

operate
 Requires forethought, product research, and rigorous testing before
implementation
 May require specific project plan

 Consider the following in project plan:

 Effect on user IDs, groups, rights, and policies
 Effect on file, printer, and directory access
 Effect on applications or client interactions
 Effect on configuration files, protocols, and services

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Network Operating System Upgrades
(continued)

 Consider the following in project plan (continued):

 Effect on server’s interaction with other devices
 Accuracy of testing in simulated environment
 How it will be used to increase efficiency
 Technical support arrangement with OS’s manufacturer
 Allotted enough time to perform upgrade
 Can reverse the installation if troubles arise
 Communicate benefits to others

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Network Operating System Upgrades
(continued)

 Basic steps for performing upgrade:

 Research
 Project plan
 Proposal
 Evaluation
 Training
 Pre-implementation
 Implementation
 Post-implementation

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Reversing a Software Change

 Backleveling: process of reverting to previous version of software

after attempting to upgrade

Table : Reversing a software upgrade

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Hardware and Physical Plant Changes

 Often performed to increase capacity, improve performance, or add

functionality to network
 Proper planning is key to successful upgrade
 Steps for changing network hardware:
 Determine whether change necessary
 Research upgrade’s potential effects on other devices, functions, and
users
 Communicate change to others and schedule it
 Back up current hardware’s configuration
 Prevent users from accessing system

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Hardware and Physical Plant Changes
(continued)

 Steps for changing network hardware (continued):

 Keep installation instructions and hardware documentation handy
 Implement change
 Test hardware
 Preferably with higher than normal load

 If successful, re-enable access to device

 If not, isolate device or reinsert old device

 Communicate results of changes to others

 Record change in change management system

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Adding or Upgrading Equipment

 Difficulty depends largely on experience with specific hardware

 Networked workstation: simplest device to add
 Directly affects only a few users
 Does not alter network access for others

 Networked printer: slightly harder than adding networked

workstation
 Shared, unique configuration process
 Time required to install does not usually affect productivity

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Adding or Upgrading Equipment
(continued)

 Hub or access point:

 Only worry about downtime if upgrading or swapping out existing hub or
access point
 Must consider traffic and addressing implications

 Server requires great deal of foresight and planning

 Consider hardware and connectivity implications, as well as issues
relating to NOS
 Add while network traffic low or nonexistent
 Restrict access to new servers

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Adding or Upgrading Equipment
(continued)

 Switches and routers: often physically disruptive

 Affects many users
 Router or switch may have unintended effects on segments other than
the one it services
 Plan at least weeks in advance
 Keep safety in mind
 Follow manufacturer’s temperature, ventilation, antistatic, and moisture
guidelines

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Cabling Upgrades

 May require significant planning and time to implement

 Best way to ensure future upgrades go smoothly is careful
documentation of existing cable
 Upgrade cabling in phases
 Weigh importance of upgrade against potential for disruption
 Larger organizations rely on contractors who specialize in cabling
upgrades

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Backbone Upgrades

 Most comprehensive and complex network upgrade

 Upgrading entire backbone changes whole network
 Examples:
 Migrating from Token Ring to Ethernet
 Migrating from slower technology to faster one
 Replacing routers with switches
 May require upgrading cabling and hardware
 First step is to justify upgrade
 Second step is determining backbone design to implement

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Reversing Hardware Changes

 Provide a way to reverse hardware upgrades and reinstall old

hardware if necessary
 Keep old components safe and nearby

 Old hardware may contain important configuration information

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Structured Cabling

 Comprises of cables and associated hardware parts

 Provides an organized way of low voltage wiring
 Transmits data that is built in structured form
 Need of structured cabling:
 Consistency – Standard cabling systems for Data, voice and video
 Cost Reduction – Reduces the cost by reducing the number of cables
 Troubleshooting – Isolates and fixes the problem
 Mobility – Network resources are portable
 Supports upgrading – Supports future applications

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Design Considerations of Structured Cabling

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Structured Cabling - II

 Design Considerations of structured cabling

 Entrance Facilities – Connects the building with the outside world
 Equipment Room – Serves the users within the room
 Telecommunications Room – Accommodates the cabling system equipment
 Backbone Cabling – Interconnects telecommunications room, equipments
room and entrance facilities

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Structured Cabling - III

 Design Considerations of structured cabling

 Horizontal Cabling – Extends from the work area telecommunications outlet
to telecommunications closet
 Work Area – Components extend from the telecommunications outlet to the
stations equipment

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Cable Distance – I

 Horizontal Cabling Distance

 horizontal cabling distance is 99 meters (TIA/EIA-568A)
 6 meters of patch cable
 90 meters horizontal (routed in the wall)
 3 meters of station cable
 99 meters total (rounded off to 100 meters)

 Backbone cable Distance

 Depends on type of cable being used and on its location

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Pulling Cables - I

 While dealing with structured cabling you have to pull out the cables from
some conduits and punch down the free end of the cable
 Conduits are PVC or flexible plastic pipes used to organize the cables
 Pull twine through the conduits

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Pulling cables - II

Elements
required for
pulling cables

Scale and
Fish Tape Twine Conduits Patch Panel
Tape

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Pulling Cable Tools

Fish Tape Twine Conduit

Scale &
Tape
Patch Panel

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Cables

 Two or more wires bound together, in protective jacket or sheath

 Different types of cables:
 Twisted pair cable
 Coaxial cable
 Optical fiber cable
 Shielded and Unshielded cable

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Cable Connectors – I

 Part of cable which plugs into port or interface to connect one device to
another
 Connectors: Male and Female
 DB-15 connectors - Commonly used on electronic and computer equipment
 RJ45 Connectors – Used in networking to connect computer to network card
 BNC Coaxial Connectors – Used with coaxial cables or used with Ethernet
system

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Cable Connectors – II

 210 Patch Plug – Uses internal pair isolation, pair-to-pair compensation and
layered contacts
 Token-Ring Data Connector – Used on end of a shielded twisted pair cable

 Distinguishing Wires
 Color coding makes identification each wire or pair of wires in the cable
easier
 Tip and ring – Identifies plus wire and minus wire

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Cabling Tools

 Used in networking to work with wires or devices or to connect wires and

devices to each other
 Different tools used are:
 Punchdown Tools
 RJ45 Crimping Tool
 Coaxial Cable Crimping Tool
 Pin Crimping Tool
 Cable stripper

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Working with Cables – I

 Installation works in three stages:

 Running cable from central point to the room
 Wall jacks are mounted and cables ended into jacks
 Wire cables from the central end to switchboard

 Color Coding
 Helps to classify different types of wires
 Patch cable and cross over cable can be differentiated on the basis of
colour coding

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Working with Cables – II

 Tools and materials required for crimping cable:

 RJ45 Crimping Tool

 Wire stripper

 Wire cutter

 RJ-45 plugs

 Cat-5 UTP cables

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Working with Cables – III

 Straight through Cable

 Same pin out connections at both ends
 Used to connect dissimilar devices

 Crossover Cable
 Modify pin out connections at one end
 Used to connect similar types of devices

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Working with Cables – IV

 Weak Link
 Mostly, weakest link is the station cable, which runs from wall to desktop
 Information Outlet
 Protect horizontal wiring from physical handling that cables receive
 Keep installation neat and eliminate unsightly snake pit of unused cables
coiled on floor
 Station Cable
 Runs between information outlet
and network node e.g. PC

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RJ45 Modular Outlet

 Device used to connect shielded or unshielded cables

 Acts as extension where wires are fixed on the either side of modular
connector

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Closet

 Main point in an organization where major networking cabling come together

 Equipment in a wiring closet includes:
 Patch panels for vertical wiring
 Patch panels for horizontal wiring
 Wiring hubs
 Uninterruptible Power Supplies
 Types of wiring closets:
 Intermediate Distribution Frames (IDF)
 Main Distribution Frame (MDF)

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Closet Details

 Typical equipment in a wiring closet are:

 Backbone wiring cross-connect device
 Horizontal wiring cross-connect device
 Patch cables
 Wiring hubs
 Backup power for wiring hubs
 Router and modems
 Access server

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Cross-Connect Devices - I

 Make easy to reconfigure horizontal and backbone wiring

 Terminates cable or group of cables
 Make terminations available for interconnection to other cables
 In data networks – Small cross-connect device will terminate backbone
cable and make it available for connection to wiring hub
 In wiring hub – Larger cross-connect device will terminate horizontal wiring
before it enters hub

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Cross-Connect Devices - II

66M Punch Down Patch Panel

Block

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Cabinets and Racks - I

 Patch panels and wiring hubs can mount on wall in brackets, stand in
racks or reside in full cabinets that are racks with doors
 If small installation – Mount patch panels and wiring hubs on wall

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Cabinets and Racks - II

Full
Distribution Equipment Rack
Rack Cabinet
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Neat Cables

 Used to avoid damage to cable pairs and used to tie the cables
 Ties come in many sizes and materials

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Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)

 Equip network file servers with backup

power
 Allow wiring hubs to go without power
during power failure

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Conduits

 Plastic pipes that run through wall plate between wiring closets
 If space left:
 Used to pull a new cable
 Used as replacement for a bad one
 For added capacity

 Fish tape
 An equipment which is part of any installers toolbox
 Consists of a reel of wire stiff enough to push its way through the conduit

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Cable Trays

 Provide large cable system

 Wire rack designed to carry the weight of the cables
 Common in modern wiring closets and in building infrastructure spaces such
as basements, airshafts, and ceiling
 Point to note when cables run inside ceilings and walls

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Configuring Backbone Cable

 Wiring closet that contain patch and cross-connect panels which connect to
horizontal wiring
 Backbone wiring link each wiring closet to cross-connect point or (MDF)
 Locating the closet
 Different parameters to keep in mind when going for closet

 Backbone Cable
 Modern installations use UTP or fiber-optic cable for the backbone

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Installation of Racks

 Explains how to place networking equipments and accumulate different

small equipment on the plate of the rack
 Factors to be considered while installing the rack:
 Location to install the rack
 Installation holes marking
 Installation of the rack nuts
 Mount the different rails onto the rack
 Mount the different devices onto the rack

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Managing Cables

 Cables:
 Should not run over desk

 Should not be entangled

 To manage cables:
 Free space on the desk where the cables will run
 Holes at top of desk
 Mount to protect cables

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Wire Manager

 Used to mange wires that are common to one place

 Tools used to manage wires:
 Cable ties
 Conduits
 Twines
 Cable manager
 Labels
 Spiral wraps
 Unitags

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Labeling Cables

 Used to identify path of the cables

 Distinct color and pattern of code of cable label helps identify cables
 Labels can be written with a pen or a pencil
 Cables labeled using Label templates

Labels on Outlet

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Case Study 1

The network administrator of the Mumbai branch of

MoneyMaker bank is facing difficulties in
maintaining the network. In case the network goes
down due to some hardware failure, identifying the
source of the problem and troubleshooting it is very
time consuming. The layout of the network has not
been changed since the time it was set up.

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Problem

The maintenance and troubleshooting of the network

is problematic and time consuming

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Solution

 Deploy a dedicated closet

 Use full equipment cabinet
 Use rack and configure the hardware
 Use appropriate cable and crimp the cable
 Define maximum backbone cable length and horizontal cable length
 Use different wire manager
 Use modular outlet and I/O plate
 Use third party hardware monitoring or the troubleshooting devices

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Summary

 Project management is the practice of managing staff, budget,

timelines, and other resources and variables so as to complete a
specific goal within given bounds
 A feasibility study determines whether a proposed project fits within
an organization’s budget, time, and staff restrictions
 A needs assessment is the process of clarifying the reasons and
objectives for a proposed change
 Project goals help keep a project on track

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Summary (continued)

 A project plan describes how the details of a managed project are

organized
 The best way to evaluate a large-scale network or systems
implementation is to first test it on a small scale on a pilot network
 Network management involves assessing, monitoring, and
maintaining network devices and connections

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Summary (continued)

 Baselining includes keeping a history of network performance,

physical topology, logical topology, number of devices, OSs and
protocols, and number and type of applications
 An asset management system includes an inventory of the total
number of components on the network as well as each device’s
configuration files, model number, serial number, location on the
network, and technical support contact
 A patch is an enhancement or improvement to a part of a software
application

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Summary (continued)

 A software upgrade represents a major change to the existing code

 The process of upgrading an NOS should include research,
proposal, evaluation, training, pre-implementation, implementation,
and post-implementation phases
 Hardware and physical plant changes may be required when your
network has problems
 The most comprehensive and complex upgrade involving network
hardware is a backbone upgrade

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Summary - I

 Structured cabling system is a set of cabling which interconnects different

equipments in an organization in a structured manner
 Cable connectors are used to connect the cables
 Cabling tolls are helpful to make connection between the cable and the
connector
 Colour Code helps to identify the types of wires
 Cat5 cables are punched into Information outlet (IO) as per the colour
coding
 Jack Panel is used to connect horizontal cabling to network

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Summary - II

 Straight through cables have the pin out connections similar at both the
ends
 Cross over cable change the pin out connections at one end
 Installing the rack explains how to place networking equipments and
accumulate different small equipment on the tray of the rack
 Wire manager can organize the disorganized cables and makes it easy to
access
 Labeling the cables help you to identify the path of the cables and makes
the troubleshooting easy

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