Campus network

A campus network block is the part of the network where the users connect to the network. This can be considered to be the edge of the network, where all users would connect to the network. The primary function of the campus network block is to provide connectivity to the end users.

This connectivity could be over a wired or a wireless infrastructure. A good campus design would ensure that the users get the same experience, regardless of the mode of connectivity, and the design would scale out as the number of users grows. A good campus network would follow a hierarchical network design consisting of the core, distribution, and access tiers. It is not essential to start a network with all three tiers, but the design should enable you to scale up to the three-tier model if the network expands to accommodate more users. An example of a campus network that starts small, but scales to a three-tier design is shown in the following figure:

The functions of the campus network block include:

• Providing physical ports or wireless connectivity to the IT end point such as laptops, desktops, IP phones, printers and so on
• Providing physical ports or wireless connectivity to any IoT systems, surveillance cameras, sensors, and so on
• Aggregating the traffic from similar users and keeping the traffic from different groups isolated from each other
• Allowing only authorised users to access
• Marking the traffic for prioritization of different types of traffic and prioritizing the traffic as it flows from the edge of the network to the core, or vice versa
• Providing Netflow information that can be used for analytics of traffic

The campus network block can be as small as a local area network consisting of a couple of users, and as large as a campus of a few thousand users spread across multiple buildings in the campus. Hence, there is not a single design that can be applied to all campuses. We will discuss the different design options for the campus in Chapter 4, Understanding and Configuring Campus Network Technologies. We will cover the wireless aspects of campus design in Chapter 5, Understanding and Configuring Wireless Access Technologies.