Network Design Patterns Flashcards
Hierarchical Model
One of the most widely used network design patterns. It divides the network into three layers:
The core layer provides high-speed connectivity and routing between different network segments.
The distribution layer aggregates and controls the traffic from the access layer devices, such as switches and routers.
The access layer connects the end users and hosts to the network, such as PCs, servers, and printers.
The hierarchical model:
simplifies network management,
enhances security, and
improves fault isolation.
What are the benefits of the Hierarchical Model?
Simplifies network management, enhances security, and improves fault isolation.
Spine-Leaf Model
especially for data centers and cloud environments. It consists of two layers: spine and leaf. The spine layer is composed of high-performance switches that interconnect the leaf switches. The leaf layer is composed of switches that connect to the end devices, such as servers, storage, and firewalls. The spine-leaf model offers high
- scalability,
- redundancy, and
- bandwidth.
It also reduces
- latency and
- eliminates bottlenecks.
What are some of the benefits of the spine leaf model
scalability, redundency, bandwith
alignment with modern application requirements such as microservices and containerization. These technologies often require heavy east/west traffic (where communication occurs between servers within the same data center). Spine/leaf is well-suited to handle this type of traffic efficiently, ensuring low latency and high throughput, which are critical for the performance of these applications.
Hub-and-Spoke Model
connects multiple remote sites to a central site, such as a headquarters or a data center. The central site acts as the hub, while the remote sites act as the spokes. The hub provides the services and resources that the spokes need, such as Internet access, email, and file sharing. The spokes communicate with the hub through dedicated or shared links, such as WAN, VPN, or MPLS. The hub-and-spoke model simplifies network administration, reduces costs, and enhances security.
What are some of the benefits of the hub and spoke model?
administration, cost, security
commonly used in WANs. Many organizations have centralized traffic flows where there generally isn’t any traffic between branches, only towards DC, HQ, and towards the internet.
The hub and spoke topology is simpler than a full mesh and also makes it easier to insert for example inspection devices into traffic flows.
What is the Mesh Model?
network design pattern that connects every device to every other device in the network. This creates multiple paths for data transmission and ensures high availability and resilience. The mesh model can be either full or partial. In a full mesh, every device has a direct connection to every other device. In a partial mesh, some devices have direct connections, while others have indirect connections through intermediate devices. The mesh model increases network performance, reliability, and flexibility.
