It is difficult to overestimate the importance of communications and networking in the life of a modern, successful company. Today, the problem of selecting network equipment is becoming increasingly important when building a reliable and easily scalable infrastructure for organizations.
As a rule, for large and small organizations, there are a number of typical tasks to create computing and telephone networks, such as:
Creating a local network within an office or building
Combining a group of disparate branches into a single network
Creating a single center for switching computer and telephone networks
Increasing the security and control of the existing network
Integration of various data transmission channels into a single network (fiber channel, Ethernet, wi-fi, 3g, wimax).
Today the network solutions market is represented by a great variety of equipment, from usb-nethernet adapters to multitasking modular routers of enterprise level.
Kinds of active network equipment and their application for different tasks:
Layer 2 Network Switches or (switch) – devices used to combine computers within one network. Suitable for creating a local network in an office or combining several offices within one building.
Layer 3 switches – a special type of network equipment, capable of combining multiple different networks, requires specialized configuration, but in some cases, can replace such a device as a router, more expensive in cost and service. Suitable for combining multiple branches into a single network with different subnets in a stable network topology.
Routers are mostly enterprise-class devices capable of dynamically merging different networks, filtering, broadcasting and encrypting data transmitted over the network. Routers are the highest level devices used by Internet Service Providers and large organizations to consolidate and control a group of networks. Today, the market leader in this type of device is Cisco.
In addition to the expensive routers, there are some inexpensive specialized devices – Media Converters – for solving the problem of combining the different means of signal transmission. They can be used to convert optical data channel to digital and vice versa. The advantages of such devices are low cost, easy installation and use.
Access points for wireless networks (wi-fi, 3G) are separate inexpensive devices, which can be added to the existing wired network. Such a solution will be convenient when implementing a wireless network within the office and will save on installation costs when moving.