Systems and Network Infrastructure Integration: Design, Implementation, Safety and Supervision

Preface
This book, a true independent learning tool intended principally for students of network and systems sectors, is a guide to understanding the various facets of a network and systems integration project by learning the underlying concepts and acquiring the skills necessary to implement such projects. It is aimed at helping students acquire technical skills stemming
from the analysis of needs, the specification of infrastructure characteristics, the definition of the equipment and components of the resulting networks, and their incorporation into the construction of a complete high-performance
infrastructure that will satisfy the needs of a client company. Moreover, the methodological and organizational skills needed to oversee this type of project in terms of various considerations such as cost and deadline are also necessary and will be furnished by this book. This book also addresses the concept of Green IT, in order to raise students’ awareness of environmental issues before they begin their professional lives, so that they will take these issues into account during the deployment of IT infrastructures.
The ultimate objective of this book is to enable students to learn how to design and develop network infrastructures for medium-sized and large businesses, and, more specifically, how to analyze needs and subsequently translate them into the design of the topology of a network that is fit for purpose. How do we define need in terms of interconnection equipment? How do we put an optimized addressing scheme in place? How do we determine the technologies, tools and manufacturers best suited to create a high-quality, high-performance network that is highly secure and accessible
while being eco-friendly and state-of-the-art at the same time?
This book is made up of nine chapters, set out in two complementary sections adapted for IT network technicians; specifically:
– A methodological and organizational section that will enable students to understand, from the first chapter, the concept of specifications, and how to decipher them and to acquire the knowledge needed to manage an IT project, that is, the corresponding approaches, methods and tools.
Indeed, it is vital to plan every stage of the implementation of an IT solution, to be familiar with its principal actors, and to know how to develop an efficient communication plan with regard to deliverables requested, milestone dates, etc.
This section will also provide an overview of the basic concepts of simulation in Chapter 2, and will more specifically introduce the GNS3 tool for the prototyping and testing of IT infrastructures before their on-site deployment. The use of this type of software protects an IT infrastructure integration project team for disrupting the operation of the production
network. In addition, GNS3 is highly prized for teaching purposes, particularly in the absence of network hardware.
This section will also present the aspects of the environmental impact of IT infrastructures, or Green IT, with the aim of introducing students to and increasing their awareness of this reduced energy consumption approach in all network infrastructure implementation projects.
– A technological section that will address the purely technical aspects of network infrastructures in an organically laid-out sequence based on the actual process of setup and implementation.
Chapter 4, which begins this section, gives a concise introduction to the main network services generally provided by IT infrastructures.
The design of these infrastructures is a vital stage in the process of their implementation, which is discussed in Chapter 5.
Chapter 6 is dedicated to the theme of security. Any infrastructure integration project must be sure to implement certain security mechanisms depending on the needs of the client company.
Chapter 7 focuses on virtualization and cloud computing, two interdependent paradigms that are omnipresent in every network infrastructure today.
Concepts dealing with the quality of service (QoS) and high availability increasingly demanded by modern IT infrastructures, in which the types of applications are extremely diverse and performance is more and more of a priority, are discussed in Chapter 8.
The final chapter is dedicated to the supervision of a network infrastructure and its various tools, with the objective of monitoring the infrastructure installed in order to mitigate and possibly prevent technical failures.
Each chapter ends with a mental map in the form of a visual summary of the main points of information discussed, in order to better structure them and facilitate their memorization.
–- Saida HELALI
June 2020