Super-Networking Blog

The well designed and well run network should basically run itself. Every hour of everyday the network should just hum along. People shouldn’t even realize that it is there. Users should be able to plug-in to a jack or hook-up to wifi without have to contact the IT dept. A well run network should handle spikes in traffic and growth in servers.

A well run network should allow your network administrators to watch what is traversing the network and not waste time watching the status of the network. There are things the come up now and then but if your network requires people to full time manage every aspect of the network just to keep it running you might want to rethink it.

This is not to say that there aren’t thinks to keep up like hardening your security procedures, updating code, updating acls, managing serverfarms, etc… You might have some sort of NAC product that will quarantine some users when they plug in but for the most part the network team should be transparent to 99% of users.

Also it is my belief that simplicity is the best design, the more complex you make your network architecture the harder it is going to be to secure and the harder it will be to maintain. KISS should your networks mantra.