Lesson 1

Planning a Routing and Remote Access Strategy

5-3

Lesson 1: Planning a Routing and Remote Access Strategy

The common need to connect networks at different locations compounds the chal-

lenges that network designers and administrators face in planning, implementing, and

maintaining an internal network. As you learned in Chapter 3, “Planning Internet Con-

nectivity,” a connection between networks at remote locations requires a wide area

network (WAN) connection of some type and a router at each site. The WAN is essen-

tially a two-node network that serves only to carry traffic between the two sites, and

the routers determine what traffic is permitted to enter and leave each site. Computers

running Windows Server 2003 can function as the routers in this arrangement, using

RRAS to provide dynamic routing, traffic management, and security features.

After this lesson, you will be able to

■ Describe the characteristics of the WAN technologies most commonly used for remote

network connections

■ Decide whether to use static routing or dynamic routing on your network

■ Select the dynamic routing protocol most suitable for your network

■ List the components needed to route IP multicast traffic to an internetwork

Estimated lesson time: 15 minutes

Choosing a WAN Topology

When an enterprise consists of multiple networks at remote locations, connecting

them into a single large internetwork is nearly always desirable, but not always eco-

nomically practical. When deciding whether to connect the network sites, an impor-

tant part of the process is considering what topologies you can use for the

internetwork. Just as with LAN design, in which there are a variety of wiring topolo-

gies you can use to connect the computers, internetwork design lets you connect

your sites in several different ways.

When you have only two network sites, there is obviously only one topology available.

You install a router at each site and connect the routers using a WAN link, as shown in

Figure 5-1. In this case, you decide which WAN technology to use based primarily on

the bandwidth you need and the cost of the link.