Network Design, Essay Example

Network design is an undeniably critical decision.  By looking at the design and structure of a network, users will be able to grasp the overall value of the network itself.  With strong marks in these critical areas, a business or personal user can significantly benefit from the network.  As it relates to a business, such as choice – in the design and structure of a network – can be just as much a technological decision as a business decision.

Technologically speaking, the network design must have a number of positive features.  For instance, it must be incredibly reliable.  Another major must-have can be found in terms of its speed.  Other considerations can be pivotal for a company, such as the compatibility between systems on the network, its safety, and a long list of other items.

Additionally, choosing a network can be a business decision as well.  Perhaps the business in question isn’t sure of what computer upgrades will be made, in terms of hardware or software, which could have implications on the chosen network strategy.  Inevitably, price will come into the picture, which could lead to some interesting trade-offs in the quality of a network design and choice.  The design of the network could translate to increased productivity and reliability, which can directly impact the business.

An Example

Amazon offers a promising network setup for businesses.  With their Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC), users can take advantage of one example of a solid network design.  In this example, a number of benefits can be seen from a technological and business perspective.

A couple of advantages are worth noting from a technological perspective.  This VPN is incredibly customizable, allowing users to create a public-facing subnet for webservers or a Hardware VPN for the VPN to become an extension of a current corporate datacenter.  Plenty of other options are available as well, such as attaching Elastic IP address in the VPC.

Another advantage can be found in terms of security.  Users can specify a private IP address range with the scalable infrastructure available with complete freedom of range.  Public or private subnets can be divided from a VPC.  Security groups and other network lists, storage of data on Amazon’s S3 and restricted access features, as well as additional software for increased isolation are examples of other security features.

From a business perspective, this network design has further advantages that can attest to the business aspect of such a decision.  For instance, this network design is completely scalable, which could help startups and businesses undergoing changes.  With this simple feature, such a design could be an appropriate stepping stone, so to speak, for a business.

Conclusion

The choice of network design is a crucial one.  It is not difficult to see how such a technological decision can bring together a wide range of considerations.  Much more than a technological choice, network design can have a profound impact on the business as well.  The speed, reliability, compatibility, and other technological aspects of a network can directly impact the business in a number of ways.

These sorts of dynamics are certainly relevant for the previous example.  Bringing a scalable solution to users, Amazon VPC could be a strong choice as a temporary or permanent solution.  It has crucial implications for the stability and performance of a network, and thus the performance of the business and its operations.