One of the most complicated decisions to make for an IT department concerns the architecture for a multi-site voice/data network. Should the network be based on simple T1 point-to-point bandwidth circuits? How about burstable DS3 bandwidth or maybe a single OC3 bandwidth cloud? No matter the bandwidth chosen .... the most efficient design should base the communication backbone on a MPLS configuration (Multi-Protocol Label Switching).
To get there, first and foremost in deciding about the WAN architecture of any organization communication network you must determine ....
- How many locations you would like to connect?
- Architecture - hub and spoke or mesh architecture?
- What applications would be run on this network .... Voice, Video, Data, all of the above?
- Precisely which applications will be run in case of Data?
- What will be the % each will take up of your QoS, the total of all three should be 100%?
- Voice is the premium level QoS and hence the most expensive as it is a real time communication, followed by video and then data.
- How many users precisely will be using the network at a given point of time at each location?
- What will be the concurrency factor? Are you are looking for 100% concurrency or you can manage with lesser concurrency?
- What is the scope of scalability at each location and hub location?
- Will the access to internet also be given to users?
- Internet at a central location can help you in implementing and enforcing various security policies of your organization.
- Do you want to give access to the network resources to a mobile user?
The answer to all these questions will help in arriving at the MPLS bandwidth required at each hub and spoke location.
Honestly speaking no organization should ideally try to do this calculation themselves. Instead they can hire a consultant or a telecom service provider to do this activity as they are experts in designing this solution. With their help you can easily decide upon the bandwidth for each location, select suitable router, make redundancy plans, routing the traffic on Atlantic or pacific routes, blah blah.
For help walking through the analysis .... and determining the best solution .... take advantage of the free help at DS3-Bandwidth.com.
Ideally I also recommend to give the freedom of providing and managing the routers at each location to the Telecom service provider. Then it becomes a managed solution and the service provider can easily monitor your network in the event of an outage. They then can remotely login into the routers and manage your complete network giving you higher uptimes and SLAs.
In the end .... take a deep breath and work through the steps above. Following this simple game plan will get you to the right decision for your organizations network architecture.
| Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including DS3-Bandwidth.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Lemm |
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