Network Consultants Handbook

Book excerpt: A complete resource for assessing, auditing, analyzing, and evaluating any network environment With "Network Consultants Handbook, you will Learn from network audit and evaluation guidelines that aid in data gathering and analysis of network environments Work with tables and calculations that help provide near-real-time answers to internetworking issues and challenges Learn network diagramming tips that aid consultants and engineers in preparing consistent drawings for in-house documentation Discover how specific internetworking technologies fit into a design to create a networking solution for your customer Network consultants and engineers in today's industry continually face the challenge of assessing, auditing, and reviewing existing networks. Documenting, reviewing, and analyzing these changes in a customer's network is more challenging today than in the past, partly because of the explosive growth of converged applications and the Internet. Consultants and engineers often reinvent the wheel to gather and analyze relevant network information, particularly when examining a client's network while having little or no background information. "Network Consultants Handbook is a complete resource for assessing, auditing, analyzing, and evaluating any network environment. Intended for anyone who designs, manages, sells, administrates, or desires to understand various internetworking technologies, "Network Consultants Handbook demonstrates where and how to gather relevant information and how to analyze and document this information. Technology overviews peel away each layer of the network to provide a complete assessment. This book prepares you with form templates to completeduring a network audit, necessary device commands to aid in obtaining necessary information, and consistent forms to aid in documentation. Networks are like snowflakes: No two are alike. This is the challenge that network consultants, engineers, managers, designers, and anyone else involved with networks must face every day. Network Consultants Handbook provides the resources you need to evaluate and design networks, either as a desktop reference resource or in the field where the tables and calculations help provide near-real-time answers to internetworking issues and challenges. Companion Web Site The companion Web site for the book contains fully downloadable versions of the data gathering and analysis templates. These templates offer an easy-to-complete solution to gathering the data you need to complete your analysis of network environments. This book is part of the Cisco Press Networking Technologies Series, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.