Recognize proposed changes to the network

Exam: Cisco 200-301 - Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)

This chapter will discuss about how to recognize proposed changes to the network. It is an important topic that you will find under the main topic of “network principles”. If you are preparing for the CCNP exam then you will definitely find this chapter as a very useful one. We hope that this chapter will help you to prepare better for the exam.

As a network administrator you will often face situations where there will be a need to change the network as per the new proposed changes. The networking world is a very dynamic world that keeps changing and new improvements are often made for better performances.

You must be well aware of how this change must be managed so that the change can happen smoothly and without causing much problem in the overall performance of the network.

Some of the advantages of planning the changes to the network is that:

It will considerably reduce the downtime.
It will ensure that the changes are recorded and are also evaluated properly.
The whole process of change can be documented and reviewed in a good manner if the change is a planned process.

Most of the industries are completely depended on the IT. IT helps them to reach their goals. IT with the help of network ensures that the functioning of these industries is smooth and fast. Online business is coming up in a strong way this also ensures that the network we are using become critical for the business.

This is exactly why the network needs to be updated from time to time. Even a little malfunction on the part of the network can lead to heavy losses for the industries. As a network administrator you must ensure that the networks are working smooth and the changes made in the network are managed and handled in a professional manner.

The customers have different needs and the needs keep changing with time. This is one reason that the network has to be changed. Sometimes the network is changed to include new functions and features and sometime the network is changed just to ensure that it functions better.

Changes are also made to reduce the exposure to risks that increase once the network in left unchanged for a long time. Change also ensures that the impact of a disruption can be minimised.

In IT infrastructure the changes can be of much type like environmental changes, application changes, hardware changes, etc. We in this chapter will concentrate only on network change. You must make a step by step model of the change that is to be made. Then make a detailed process in a chronological manner. Now set the responsibility that each person will share. Set timescale in which the actions must be completed by the people who have been given the responsibility.

There should be a proper escalation process in place to ensure that if there is any problem implementing the changes action can be taken immediately. The authority must be set so that there is no confusion. As a last step the quality must be measured to see how the change is actually working.

Changes to routing protocol parameters

The routing protocols are maintained in the routing tables. They may be changed from time to time. These changes are a major change in the network. You must plan these changes and ensure that they are done in a planned and professional manner.

The routing protocols can be of two types and these are reactive and proactive. How the different protocols are used determines the performance of the network as a whole. This is exactly why the changes to these protocol parameters is given so much of importance in proposed changes to the network.

Migrate parts of the network to IPv6

Another common change that you may often have to handle in a network is to move the parts of the network to IPv6. It is true that adopting IPv6 can be very useful for the networks but the transition is a complex one and needs a very deep planning.

The main challenge is that during the transition the users will have to support a dual network architecture which may be a challenge especially if we are dealing with a large network. The IPv6 has many advantages over the Ipv4 this is why the transition is absolutely justified. Most of the organisations have to make this shift as it is the customer requirement to move to the IPv6. The change is not only at the network level but in the application level too.

The IPv4 and the IPv6 cannot be considered as interoperable. This transition is possible only when a smart plan is in place. There are many tools that are used in this migration process by the various organisations. F5 BIG – IP products have such tools that can help in this migration.

These tools ensure that the service providers looking for this migration can transparently manage the performance, security, delivery and availability of both IPv4 and IPv6 at a central location. This makes the whole process of migration much simpler.

Routing protocol migration

Another common change that you will often have to handle is the routing protocol migration. One method that is often followed for this migration is to use the administrative distance. Another way you can deal with this migration is redistributing the moving boundary.

When you are using the AD method then the two routing protocols are ran at the same time with the same routes. This can be done assuming that there is sufficient memory and that the bandwidth can support the running of the two protocols.

In the redistribution method the migration is handled in steps. In each of this step you will have to convert a part of the network from the old to the new routing protocol. AD is mostly used in a large network and in a simple network the redistribution method is used.

We hope that this chapter will help you to prepare better for the CCNP exams. These are some of the aspects of the topic that you must know well in order to prepare for the exam. We hope that you will do well in the exam. The exam is a closed book one so the better you prepare the topics the better will be your chance to get a good score.

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