[c-nsp] Datacenter Network Design

[root net]

John,

If you are going to build a Cisco network you should spend some time on
www.cisco.com and look at all of their configuration examples and
whitepapers for specific gear you are looking at or working on.  Here are
some books I would suggest:

Cisco Press:
Data Center Fundamentals
End-to-End QoS Network Design
Designing for Cisco Internetwork Solutions
Designing Cisco Network Architectures
Network Management Fundamentals

www.cisco.com: (Research)

HSRP
STP
InterVLAN routing
IEEE Bridging
BGP
OSPF
L2TPV3
MPLS / VPN
IOS information

Others:
Administering Data Centers

APC Data Center University (online classes)  Some are FREE some are not.

This is all I could think of since it's so late.  DR will come when you
start digging into the protocols and other information.  Far as
storage/backup iSCSI is your friend so build a GbE network.  OpenFiler,
NetApp, MyIVault.

>From the start your facility will need to handle your immediate needs and
growth or at least have the ability to scale (I would say maybe 10-20%
growth for small budgets).  Look at evironmentals, power, fire protection:
HVAC (spot coolers vs. ductless split systems vs. ducted systems, chilled
water vs. air cooled), Power Requirements (Single Phase, Three Phase 208V
/480V, UPS, Transfer switches, portable generators, generator), Raised
Flooring vs. Anti-Static VCT, Security monitoring, water monitoring,
temperature monitoring, and lastly Pre-action vs. plain wet system.

Getting a seperate Internet feed would be wise unless it's just cost
prohibitive.  Start out with maybe 10Mbit pipe and go from there.  This all
depends your customer's applications and servers.  What they will be
transfering and etc.

Look into open source products as these are FREE and can help you. (e.g.
nagios, jffnms, cacti, mrtg, syslog, linux,  RT,  rancid, and others)

Rule of thumb:  A good data center will have proactive measures and policies
in place to monitor, maintain, and procure.  With that said monitor
everything (I mean everything) and have all staff alerted on all levels SMS,
e-mail, phone if possible automatically.  It's not about downtime so much
it's how you procure the situation in a specific time frame.  Customer
serivce is a must.

You will need to make the call on the gear you use but I use a mixture of
Cisco, Extreme, and Juniper.  For data centers it's a must for hot swappable
gear so look in to carrier class gear with redundant process, power
supplies, hot swappable line cards.  I would recommend Cisco 6500 Series,
Cisco 7200 Series, Cisco ASA or Pix.  I am not to fond of the Juniper
firewall licensing.  BTW, Cisco 2800/3600 Series may even work.  Depends on
your throughput capabilities you are needing.  Research all aspects of your
gear from ram, flash, processor speeds, to throughput, modules, IOS, and hot
swappable needs.


The above will get you started.

rootnet08

On 9/10/08, John Ramz <sforcejr at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> We are looking into start hosting our customers' apps and data and would
> like for you to provide me link to internet resources (or books) to get me
> started on a network design that includes:
>
> - 3rd party Compliance (security for example)
> - Redundancy (routers, firewalls, switches)
> - load balancing
> - VLANS
> - Virtual servers
> - Backup- SANs-
> - Disaster recovery
> - How to keep customers separated from our regular network?
> - How to keep customers totally isolated from each other?
> - Access from our network to the Datacenter network for our developers to
> work with our customers? Also for our IT people to service, monitor and
> maintain that network

I have thought of getting an Internet pipe just for the Datacenter network
> and with all the above mentioned components and then figure out the way and
> procedures to connect our company network with that one for the different
> items I already mentioned.
>
> Has anyone been involved in a project like that could elaborate as much as
> possible on the subject?
>
Please shed some light with me on where to start and build from there?
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
>
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