Chapter 10: Selecting Technologies for the Network Design

Selecting technologies is the first part of the network design process. We will use all of the material we have developed through the analysis and architecture processes to make these technology choices. Technology selection, along with interconnecting technologies, provides the details needed for a network design.

10.1 Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn the process of selecting network technologies for your design. You will learn to apply the various sources of information that you have gathered, derived, and developed, including requirements, flows, goals, criteria, and guidelines, to making technology selections. Developing a set of design goals and evaluation criteria are critical to making technology choices, and most of this chapter focuses on these areas. You will also learn about tools to help with the technology selection process, in particular how to segment a design into areas and how to apply the black-box method to focus on each area of the design.