-: Common documentation. 2 2
In this lesson, we're going to cover the common documentation 3 3
that you're going to use in your enterprise networks. 4 4
This includes physical network diagrams, 5 5
logical network diagrams, wiring diagrams, 6 6
site survey reports, audit and assessment reports, 7 7
and baseline configurations. 8 8
First, we have physical network diagrams. 9 9
A physical network diagram is used to show 10 10
the actual physical arrangement of the components 11 11
that make up your network 12 12
including the cabling and the hardware. 13 13
Typically, these diagrams give you a bird's eye view 14 14
of the network in its physical space, 15 15
and it looks a lot like a floor plan, 16 16
but you may also see physical network diagrams 17 17
that show how things are going to be cabled 18 18
within an individual rack of a data center as well. 19 19
For example, if I have a physical network diagram 20 20
showing the floor plan of a small office, 21 21
I can notate on that floor plan 22 22
exactly where each IP-based CCTV is going to be installed. 23 23
Now, in this example, 24 24
you can see I have nine IP-based cameras 25 25
and how the cable is going to run back to a central point, 26 26
such as this network video recorder 27 27
that contains nine power over Ethernet ports 28 28
to run this camera system. 29 29
I could just as easily have another flow plan like this 30 30
showing where all my network jacks are going to be located 31 31
in an office and how the cables are being run back 32 32
to a patch panel, and from that patch panel 33 33
back to an edge switch that connects to all these devices. 34 34
Inside my data center, though, I'm usually more concerned 35 35
with how things are physically located 36 36
within one single rack. 37 37
And so I can create a rack diagram. 38 38
For example, here's a diagram showing a rack, 39 39
containing two storage area network controllers, 40 40
two firewalls, two switches, 41 41
three virtual machine host servers running ESXi, 42 42
a backup server, a modular smart array, 43 43
and a tape backup library. 44 44
From this diagram, you can clearly see where in this rack 45 45
each of those units is going to be located 46 46
and which network cables will connect to which ports 47 47
on which devices. 48 48
Another version of this type of diagram 49 49
may include a front view, 50 50
which also shows the location inside the cabinet. 51 51
And it can have the different device names 52 52
and the IP addresses for each of those devices, 53 53
but it won't show the actual network cables 54 54
and where they connect 55 55
because you're looking at the front of those devices. 56 56
Now, another type of physical network diagram we have 57 57
is used to provide documentation 58 58
for how our main distribution frame or MDF 59 59
and our intermediate distribution frame or IDF 60 60
are connected and cabled. 61 61
In this example, you could see a very generic MDF 62 62
and IDF layout for a typical three-story office building. 63 63
Here, we have the MDF on the bottom right corner 64 64
of the first floor, 65 65
and then a smaller IDF on the right corner 66 66
of each of the remaining floors. 67 67
There's an interconnection between each IDF and the MDF, 68 68
and each floor has a single network cable 69 69
running to a jack into an office. 70 70
Now, this of course is a very oversimplified diagram 71 71
or an overview diagram, 72 72
but we can also have additionally detailed diagrams 73 73
depending on how much work we want. 74 74
That could show each rack inside the MDF or the IDF 75 75
and what they would look like, 76 76
how they're cabled, including their edge switches, 77 77
patch panels, and other networking equipment. 78 78
The second type of documentation we need to cover 79 79
is logical network diagrams. 80 80
Unlike the physical network diagrams 81 81
that show exactly which port or cable 82 82
is going to connect it to and how it's ran 83 83
on the physical floor plan or the rack layout, 84 84
we use a logical diagram. 85 85
We're going to use this to illustrate the flow of data 86 86
across a network and it's going to be used to show 87 87
how devices are communicating with each other. 88 88
These logical diagrams will include things like the subnets, 89 89
the network objects and devices, 90 90
the routing protocols and domains, voice gateways, 91 91
traffic flow, and network segments within a given network. 92 92
Traditionally, network diagrams were drawn by hand 93 93
and using symbols to represent the different network devices 94 94
like routers, switches, firewalls, 95 95
intrusion detection systems, and clients. 96 96
In this example, I'm using the standard Cisco notation 97 97
to demonstrate how the various switches and routers 98 98
are being connected to form this network. 99 99
On the logical diagram, we also include the IP addresses 100 100
and the interface identifiers such as G0/1 101 101
or gigabit Ethernet 0/1 or ATM1/0, 102 102
which is for an ATM interface for our routers and switches. 103 103
Notice the routers are being represented by a circle 104 104
with four arrows, two pointing inward, 105 105
and two pointing outward. 106 106
Switches are going to be represented by a square 107 107
with four arrows, all pointing outward. 108 108
Servers like a DHCP, DNS, or TFTP server 109 109
are represented by a large rectangle server icon. 110 110
And the computers are going to be shown 111 111
using a computer icon. 112 112
Another symbol you may see included 113 113
is an intrusion detection system 114 114
or intrusion prevention system, 115 115
which is going to be a rectangle 116 116
that contains a circle inside of it 117 117
with two arrows crossing over the circle. 118 118
A firewall is usually represented by a brick wall 119 119
and an access point is going to be represented 120 120
by a rectangle with a series of radio waves going out of it 121 121
from the left to the right. 122 122
Now, as you look at various network diagrams 123 123
on the internet, you may come across some more 124 124
modern network diagrams that remove the symbols 125 125
and instead use pictures of networking equipment 126 126
that's going to be used in the diagrams instead. 127 127
In this example, you can see the router 128 128
connected to the switches and those switches are connected 129 129
to the client PCs. 130 130
Next, we have a wiring diagram 131 131
and this is something we already looked at briefly 132 132
as part of our physical network diagrams. 133 133
Wiring diagrams can occur with both physical 134 134
and logical network diagrams, 135 135
as long as they are clearly labeled, 136 136
which cable is connected to which port. 137 137
The more in-depth wiring diagrams 138 138
are going to include a floor plan or a rack diagram, 139 139
so you can see exactly where the cables are being run 140 140
in the physical environment. 141 141
Next, we have site survey reports. 142 142
These are often conducted as part of a wireless survey 143 143
or an assessment. 144 144
Now, a wireless site survey sometimes 145 145
called an RF or radio frequency site survey, 146 146
or a wireless survey 147 147
is the process of planning and designing a wireless network 148 148
to provide a wireless solution 149 149
that will deliver the required wireless coverage, 150 150
data rates, network capacity, roaming capability, 151 151
and quality of service or QoS. 152 152
In this example, you could see a floor plan that includes 153 153
the locations of each wireless access point being shown. 154 154
Then rating out from each access point, 155 155
you see bands of color, going from green to yellow 156 156
to orange to red. 157 157
And this indicates the strength of the wireless signal. 158 158
Now, when you see green, that's a strong signal. 159 159
When you see red, that's a weaker signal. 160 160
Wired site surveys are also conducted sometimes, 161 161
but in these cases 162 162
it's usually done as part of a preparation 163 163
for a major upgrade or installation. 164 164
With a wired site survey, 165 165
the installation team is going to come out 166 166
and look at your MDFs, your IDFs, and your data centers 167 167
to determine if you have the right power, space, and cooling 168 168
to support whatever new equipment 169 169
you're going to be installing as part of that upgrade. 170 170
For example, if I was going to install three new racks 171 171
of equipment in your data center, 172 172
I need to go out there and look at it 173 173
and make sure you have the physical space required 174 174
to hold those three racks. 175 175
In addition to that, I need to make sure 176 176
you have a powerful enough HVAC system 177 177
to remove all the extra heat that my new equipment 178 178
in these three racks is going to produce. 179 179
I also want to make sure your site has the right power 180 180
and backup generators and battery backups 181 181
that you can handle all the extra power 182 182
that's going to be drawn by all this new equipment. 183 183
Next, we have audit and assessment reports. 184 184
Audit and assessment reports 185 185
are delivered to your organization 186 186
after a formal assessment has been conducted. 187 187
These reports will contain an executive summary, 188 188
an overview of the assessment scope and objectives, 189 189
the assumptions and limitations of the assessment, 190 190
the methods and tools used during the assessment, 191 191
a diagram showing the current environment and systems, 192 192
the security requirements, 193 193
a summary of findings and recommendations, 194 194
and the results of the audit. 195 195
Essentially, this report is going to contain 196 196
all the issues the audit team found with your organization, 197 197
as well as anything your organization 198 198
is already doing right, 199 199
and things they should continue to keep doing. 200 200
Finally, we have baseline configurations. 201 201
The documented baseline configurations 202 202
are the most stable versions of a devices configurations. 203 203
These baseline configurations 204 204
are documented set of specifications 205 205
for information system or a configuration item 206 206
within that system, that has been formally reviewed 207 207
and agreed on at a given point in time, 208 208
and which can now only be changed 209 209
through change control procedures. 210 210
So, if you want to change the baseline 211 211
due to an operational need, you need to follow 212 212
the proper configuration management procedures 213 213
to request those changes. 214 214
Those changes will then be properly tested and approved, 215 215
and they become part of the new baseline 216 216
for those devices moving forward. 217 217
As you can see, there is a bunch of documentation 218 218
that you're going to use in your enterprise networks, 219 219
including your physical network diagrams, 220 220
logical network diagrams, wiring diagrams, 221 221
site survey reports, audit and assessment reports, 222 222
and baseline configurations. 223 223
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