IT FAMILIJA provides expert advices to organizations on how to best use information technology in achieving their business goals.

The IT network is the backbone of every modern company’s operations because it connects computers, tablets, smartphones, and all other endpoint devices, enabling employees to work more efficiently. Such a system must be properly designed and installed.

If you’re wondering how to design a network, turn to the professionals. Our services, depending on the scope of the project, include the following steps:

Determining requirements: This is the first step in planning and designing networks. Both technical and business requirements must be considered. Any factors that may limit the design should also be identified. In the case of an existing network, these restrictions can be linked to what is already in place to allow continuous operation. 

Technical requirements typically include the following items:

• Applications that need to run online
• Internet connections as well as connections between sites
• IP Addressing restrictions, for example, using private IP version 4 (IPv4) addresses
• Support for IP version 6 (IPv6) addresses
• Specific network protocols (for example, for dynamic routing)
• Structured cabling requirements
• High availability and redundancy
• Use of equipment and protocols according to corporately defined standards
• Existing equipment that must be integrated into the new design
• Required network services, including quality of service (QoS) and wireless connections
• How to integrate security into the network
• Necessary network solutions (for example, voice, video, data centers)
• Network management
• Support for existing applications in the phase of introducing new ones
• Required speeds in both access and backbone networks

Business requirements and constraints can be:

• Budget for investments (for new equipment) and operating (for running costs)
• Time limits for phasing out older applications and introducing new ones
• Human resources: who will install and manage the network, what skills they have, whether they need training, whether any of these tasks will be outsourced, etc.
• Legal issues: any restrictions on the use and storage of data, whether the organization has lease agreements, data centers, support and maintenance
• Experiences from previous projects: whether any person or parts of the organization will block changes or extensions
• Whether current organizational policies may constrain network design

The requirements must be clear and deterministic (verifiable), so that at the end of the project you can easily determine whether they have been met.

This is mandatory if a redesign and/or expansion is being done. The existing network is likely to constrain the design of the new one in some way, for example the existing cables may not be optimal but the requirement is that they must be retained for cost reasons. The client is expected to provide information and technical documentation on all projects already implemented online. In practice, it has been shown that, despite this, it is necessary to carry out an examination and check of the found state. In this way, the protocols used (both those known to work and those not reported), installed devices and their configurations, the purpose of these devices and the speeds on key WAN links are determined. Based on that, an analysis is made and what is good can be kept and what must be changed. If the organization is satisfied with some functionalities, that segment will not change.

Project design: This is an ongoing phase in which all requirements and limitations (including the budget) are considered and based on knowledge, experience and available technologies, one or more conceptual technical solutions are defined. Then consultations are held with the clients and the optimal solution is chosen together, which is later developed into the final design. A systematic approach should be taken by listing the characteristics of each solution and looking at how they fit into the design requirements.

Final design project: This represents the final detailed network design including block diagrams and drawings, specifications of necessary equipment and software, costing, IP address plans, configuration details and all other information required for implementation. The design can be verified by testing in a laboratory environment using test equipment, separate from the existing network.