Lesson 4

Locating Network Resources

1-31

Lesson 4: Locating Network Resources

One important part of the network infrastructure design process is creating a blueprint

that specifies the locations of network components. After you have selected the proto-

cols that the network will use, you have a lot of the information needed to plot the

locations of network resources, such as the maximum lengths for your cables and the

number of hubs you can use on each LAN. To complete the blueprint, you need a dia-

gram of the site where the network is to be installed, as well as some idea where the

furniture and other fixtures will be located.

After this lesson, you will be able to

■ Understand the criteria used to determine network component locations

■ Plan locations for workstations, peripherals, cables, connectivity devices, and servers

on your network

Estimated lesson time: 20 minutes

Determining Location Criteria

Creating a network blueprint is not the concern of the IT department alone. Although

certain technical aspects of the network design would be lost on most people—such as

the locations of servers and routers—the network blueprint also determines where the

workstations for the network’s users will be located, and this obviously concerns the

people responsible for the office floor plan.

The criteria you must consider when planning the locations for network components

are various. Chief among these is access by users to the equipment they need to per-

form their jobs. This means that users must have convenient access to workstations

that are appropriate to their tasks, as well as access to peripheral devices such as

printers and scanners. However, although user convenience is important, equipment

must also be easily accessed by technical support and maintenance staff. For network

infrastructure equipment, such as servers, hubs, and routers, the physical security of

the devices is another vital factor when creating the blueprint. Finally, there are the

requirements of the business and its owners, such as cost, appearance, portability,

and expandability.

Locating Workstations

Assuming that a floor plan for the site already exists that includes the location of users’

desks and other furniture, it may seem as though locating workstations is simply a mat-

ter of putting a computer on each desk. Actually, there is a good deal more to it than

that. Planning also includes determining what type of computer is needed and exactly

where the equipment should be located in relation to the desk.