network architecture

We see the concept of network architecture and its 4 basic characteristics for the network to work correctly.

We continue to see important data within our . Specifically, we will see what a network architecture is.

Before getting into the network architecture we have to highlight what a converged network is and its purpose.

Formerly the networks were divided depending on the type of devices that formed it, in this way a telephone network only served to communicate via telephone and a computer network to connect computer devices. Well, a new type of network appears that is convergent, which allows the use of a single network for various functions. This network needs a good network architecture for its operation and therefore it is extremely important to see what a network architecture is and its main characteristics.

The first thing we have to know is what we mean when we talk about network architecture, well, we are referring to the technologies that support the infrastructure, services and protocols that transmit messages through the network, so that it is reliable and work perfectly.

Currently, a good network architecture must meet 4 basic characteristics:

• Fault tolerance
• scalability
• quality of service
• Security

Next, we will detail each of them to make these characteristics completely clear.

Fault tolerance

A fault tolerant network is one that limits the impact of a software or hardware failure and can recover from such failure quickly. So that it is better understood, if we send a message and it gives us a routing error, what the network would have to do is immediately send the same message but through a different route in such a way that the recipient does not know about said error and receives it without problems the message. To apply this system we use what is called redundancy, and it is simply implementing various paths, solutions, etc. so that if one fails, we have more and the message always reaches its recipient.

scalability

This feature is none other than allowing the growth of networks without affecting their operation. To give you an idea, every week thousands of new users and Internet providers connect, so that this does not create performance problems, a hierarchical design of layers has been created for the physical structure and logical architecture. (We’ll look at this in more detail later.)

Quality of service

For a network to provide a good quality of service, it creates what are called priorities, so that, in this way, for example, a video stream is given more priority than a web page, since the latter does not require so many services to function properly. This is something that will be better understood throughout the manual.

Security

This is the characteristic that is currently being developed the most since it is the one that most worries today’s society. The confidentiality of the data is essential when sending messages through a network, and that is why, in my opinion, this characteristic is together with fault tolerance, they are the two most important and the ones that require further development and research.

As security systems, in networks we use encrypted password systems, firewalls, data encrypters, etc.

In the following article we will see what a network is made up of and its graphic representations.