Cisco Catalyst LAN Switching
This chapter covers the following key topics:
VLANs The chapter begins with a range of virtual LAN (VLAN)-related topics from using VLANs to create a scalable design to pruning VLANs from trunk links.
Spanning Tree Covers important Spanning Tree issues that are essential to constructing a stable network.
Load Balancing Discusses the five techniques available for increasing campus network bandwidth.
Routing/Layer 3 Switching Discusses issues such as MLS (routing switches) and switching routers.
ATM Examines valid reasons for using ATM in your campus network and how to deploy it in a scalable fashion.
Campus Migrations Provides recommendations for migrating your campus network.
Server Farms Covers some basic server farm design principles.
Additional Campus Design Recommendations Discusses several other design issues such as VTP, port configurations, and passwords.
This chapter is designed to be a compendium of best practice for campus design. It draws on the collective wisdom of many people and many attempts at achieving the elusive goal of a perfect campus design. It is intended to be a concentrated shot of what has been proven to work well, and what has been proven to be a flop. The hope is that it will serve not only as an eye-opener, but as something that you will return to whenever you face campus design decisions.
The material in other chapters has, in some form, implied many of the items discussed in this chapter. Therefore, this chapter does not attempt to fully explain the background of every point (that is the job of the previous 14 chapters!). Instead, each point is fairly concise and uses references and pointers to other chapters for more detail.