Cisco® Networking All-in-One For Dummies®

Chapter 2: Exploring Cisco Network Design

In This Chapter

Checking out Cisco’s three networking methodologies

Wading through the layers of Cisco’s networking model

Reviewing the benefits of these methodologies

Networking devices can be a complex task to get just right. Although anyone can plug two devices together, doing so randomly without thinking through the connection’s affect on the whole can produce a network with a less than desirable performance — or bring the entire network to a grinding, screeching halt.

This chapter identifies the methodologies that help you create stable and reliable networks, including how Cisco designs networks and the building blocks that Cisco uses to divide networks. Rather than designing the network as a single entity, Cisco breaks the overall network down into components, and designs each component separately, which makes up the network building blocks or modules. Because reviewing many of these topics in detail would involve several volumes of text, I focus on the most important principles that are necessary to make informed decisions about your network design.

By modularizing the network, you simplify how you work with and identify the components ...