Network Design for Homes and Businesses

Design considerations for computer networks cover a wide range of topics including layout, capacity planning, and security.

1. OSI Model (4)
2. Area Networks (6)
3. Cisco Networking (7)
4. Information Technology (51)
5. Network Protocols (38)
6. Network Certifications (9)
7. Network Software (30)
8. Network Storage (11)

Introduction to Network Topologies

Common network topologies include the bus topology, star, and ring. Learn more about these and other topologies in computer network design.

Computer Network Topology Diagrams

A computer network topology is the physical communication scheme used by connected devices. These pages illustrate the common computer network topologies with diagrams including bus, ring and star topology diagrams.

Visual Overview of the OSI Model

The OSI model provides a good conceptual framework for understanding the implementation of network protocol and services design. This page explains the OSI model through visual illustration.

Introduction to Area Networks

Besides LANs and WANs, other types of area networks like MAN and SAN also exist. Discover all the different forms of area networks and the roles they play in network design.

What Is a Mesh Network?

A mesh network is one kind of computer network topology. Mesh networks are becoming more widespread as outdoor wireless and community networks expand in popularity. Meshes are also found in home networks including home automation and whole house audio systems.

Bandwidth and Latency in Network Design

Two critical elements of network design are the bandwidth and latency a network supports.

Network Gateway

A network gateway joins two networks together through a combination of hardware and software.

QoS - Quality of Service

QoS technologies support levels of predictable performance for network systems. Elements of QoS include availability (uptime), bandwidth (throughput), latency (delay), and error rate.

The 5-4-3-2-1 Rule of Network Design

This rule of thumb proves useful especially when planning a business network layout.

What Is Attenuation?

In computer networking, attenuation is a loss of signal strength. Attenuation can occur over either wired or wireless network connections. Multiple factors can cause attenuation including connection distance and interference.

PAN - Personal Area Network

A personal area network (PAN) is a computer network organized around an individual person. Personal area networks typically include a mobile computer, a cell phone and/or a handheld computing device such as a PDA.

Symmetric and Asymmetric Networking

In a symmetric network, all devices normally can transmit and receive data at equal rates, whereas asymmetric networks support disproportianately more bandwidth in one direction than the other. Symmetric and asymmetric network designs also pertain to management of resources as in P2P and network encryption architectures.