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C. 2 NETWORK DESIGN Best Practices For Alberta School Jurisdictions February, 1999 'iHm _/ d i bsrra EDUCATION NETWORK DESIGN Best Practices For Alberta School Jurisdictions February, 1999 Ahem EDUCATION ALBERTA EDUCATION CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA Alberta. Alberta Education. Network design : b est practices for Alberta jurisdictions. Available in electronic format on the World Wide Web: URL: http://ednet.edc.qov.ab.ca/technoloqv/ ISBN 0-7785-0324-0 Computer networks - A lberta - D esign. 2. Schools - C omputer networks - A lberta. 3. Internetworking (Telecommunication) - A lberta. I. T itle. TK51 05.5.A333 1 998 621 .381 Additional copies are available through: Learning Resources Distributing Centre 12360-142 Street Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5L 4X9 Telephone: 780-427-5775 Facsimile: 780-422-9750 For more information, contact: Bonnie Brooks School Technology Task Group Alberta Education 11160 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5K 0L2 Telephone: 780-427-9001 Facsimile: 780-415-1091 To be connected toll free outside Edmonton, dial 310-0000. The primary intended audience for this framework is: Administrators Counsellors General Audience Information Technologists Parents Students Teachers Copyright © 1999, the Crown in Right of Alberta, as represented by the Minister of Education. Alberta Education, School Technology Task Group, 11160 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5K 0L2. Permission is given by the copyright owner to reproduce this document, or any part thereof, for educational purposes and on a nonprofit basis. PREFACE This report has two different target audiences: school principals and technology co-ordinators. Since these two audiences often have very different levels of knowledge and understanding, this report will be too technical for some and not technical enough for others. Nonetheless, I h ope all readers will learn from it, a nd be in a better position to make informed decisions about issues that have an impact on network performance and design. Tools cited in this report are those available in the author's school jurisdiction and those that are inexpensive for the end user. The scope of this report does not include a review of software products. Therefore, the mention of any particular commercial product in this report is not intended as an endorsement. - Ralph Schienbein NETWORK DESIGN PREFACE iii IV NETWORK DESIGN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Alberta Education wishes to acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals: PROJECT DIRECTOR Terry Gunderson Superintendent Elk Island Public Schools Regional Division No. 14 AUTHOR Ralph Schienbein, PhD. Co-ordinator, Standards, Research and Development Elk Island Public Schools Regional Division No. 14 SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS DURING DEVELOPMENT John Travers (Chair) Alberta Education Peter Balding Black Gold Regional Division No. 18 Marika Bourque Calgary School District No. 19 Bonnie Brooks Alberta Education George Buck Universities Co-ordinating Council David Burch Alberta Home and School Councils' Association Edna Dach Elk Island Public Schools Regional Division No. 14 Jack Dale Calgary School District No. 19 Peter Darby Chinook's Edge School Division No. 73 John Darroch Palliser Regional Division No. 26 College of Alberta School Superintendents Dale Erickson Alberta School Boards' Association Chhs Farthing Edmonton Catholic Regional Division No. 40 Toni Hafso Alberta Education Gary Heck Lethbridge School District No. 51 Harry Henshaw Alberta Education Robert Hogg St. Albert Protestant Separate School District No. 6 The Alberta Teachers' Association Maurice Hollingsworth Palliser Regional Division No. 26 Judi Hunter Calgary School District No. 19 Glen Johnson Edmonton School District No. 7 Doug Knight Alberta Education Catherine Kullman TELUS Learning Connection Norma Nocente Universities Co-ordinating Council John Percevault Grande Yellowhead Regional Division No. 35 Archie Pick Alberta Chamber of Resources Doug Pudwell Medicine Hat School Division No. 76 Association of School Business Officials of Alberta Randy Rudd Pembina Hills Regional Division No. 7 College of Alberta School Superintendents Ralph Schienbein Elk Island Public Schools Regional Division No. 14 Jacqueline Skytt The Alberta Teachers' Association Ron Sohnle Alberta Education Gary Spence Wolf Creek School Division No. 72 Lonnie Springer Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No. 1 Mary Stephenson Alberta Chamber of Commerce Barbara Stevenson Calgary School District No. 19 The Alberta Teachers' Association NETWORK DESIGN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v Paul Stevenson Horizon School Division No. 67 Arwin van Voorthuizen Alberta College of Art Council of Presidents of Public Colleges and Technical Institutes of Alberta RESOURCE PERSONNEL John Hogarth ConsultNet Peter Wright University of Alberta vi NETWORK DESIGN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 1 Introduction 7 Performance Is An End-to-End Issue 7 Purpose and Objectives 7 End-to-End Performance 9 WAN Connection 11 Bandwidth Model 11 WAN Analysis 17 Tools 17 Packet Size 18 EIPS WAN Analysis— Packet Size 21 EIPS WAN Analysis— Performance Monitor 25 WAN Traffic— Content 27 WAN Equity 30 Shared Bandwidth — The Case for a Switch 33 Cache Server 34 Multiple WAN Connections 38 Subnets and Filters 39 Case Analysis — Listening to the Radio 41 Pornography, Hackers, and Other Unmentionables 43 Diagrams and Documentation 45 WAN Analysis Summary 45 Layers and Computer Performance 47 Central Processing Unit 47 CPU Metrics 48 State of the Art 51 Memory 53 Network Interface Card 53 Greening 59 Hard Disk Subsystem 60 Case Analysis: CD Server on HD 67 Graphics Subsystem 67 Motherboards 70 Layers and Computer Performance Summary 72 Summary : 73 Glossary of Terms 75 Appendix A: Useful Links 85 Appendix B: Alberta Education Web Site Home Page 87 Appendix C: NetMedic Output 89 Appendix D: HP OpenView 91 Appendix E: AGNPac Analysis 93 Appendix F: Technically Elite RMON Probe Mware Software 95 Appendix G: Firewall-1 Analysis 99 Appendix H: Ethernet Packet 101 Appendix I: Jurisdiction Documentation 103 Appendix J: Analysis of Internet Traffic With Over 500,000 Bytes: 107 Appendix K: Related Alberta Education Resources 109 NETWORK DESIGN TABLE OF CONTENTS vii viii NETWORK DESIGN