Cisco 3 Chapter 1-4 Reviewer

1. Access layer is to provide a means of connecting devices to the network and controlling which devices are allowed to communicate on the network. 2. The distribution layer controls the flow of network traffic using policies and delineates broadcast domains by performing routing functions between virtual LANs (VLANs) defined at the access layer. 3. The core layer of the hierarchical design is the high-speed backbone of the internetwork. The core layer is critical for interconnectivity between distribution layer devices, so it is important for the core to be highly available and redundant. 4. Benefits of Hierarchical Network: * Scalability – can be expanded easily * Redundancy - Redundancy at the core and distribution level ensure path availability * Performance –Link aggregation between levels and high-performance core and distribution level switches allow for near wire-speed throughout the network. * Security – Port security at the access level and policies at the distribution level make the network more secure. * Manageability – Consistency between switches at each level makes management more simple * Maintainability – The modularity of hierarchical design allows network to scale without becoming overly complicated. 5. Network diameter is the number of devices that a packet has to cross before it reaches its destination. 6. Bandwidth aggregation is the practice of considering the specific bandwidth requirements of each part of the hierarchy. 7. Link aggregation allows multiple switch port links to be combined so as to achieve higher throughput between switches. 8. A Converged Network is one where voice and video communications have been combined on a single data network. 9. Traffic Flow Analysis is the process of measuring the bandwidth usage on a network and analyzing the data. 10. User community analysis is the process of identifying various groupings of users and their impact on network