In the previous exercise, you learned about network design in campus networks. A data center also requires a network architecture that provides the same features as a campus network.
Before you start to configure your devices in a data center network, you need to create a design that will be scalable, resilient, and manageable. Since a data center is the heart of a network , it is crucial to provide a very fast environment because there will be massive data transfers.
In this exercise, you will learn about a Cisco network topology called spine-leaf, which is actually a 2 tier design.
Describe the Characteristics of Spine-Leaf Network Topology
Your Devices
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Spine-Leaf
A spine-leaf network is composed of a number of spine and leaf switches.
Figure 9.1: Displaying a spine-leaf network architecture.
You can see from the above figure that a spine-leaf architecture is actually a 2 tier design. The leaf switches (access switches) are used to connect end devices like servers, firewalls, and edge routers, while spine switches are used to connect leaf switches.
In this design, you should have the following configuration:
Each leaf (access switch) must connect to every spine (distribution switch)
Spine switches shouldn’t be connected to each other
Endpoints only connect to the leaf switches
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Exercise 10 - SOHO and WAN
In previous exercises, you learned about enterprise solutions for LAN networks. But there are businesses that only have a limited number of users and network devices. These businesses use a network design known as a small office/home office (SOHO) network.
Enterprise networks are the opposite of SOHO networks. They usually need to interconnect LAN networks from geographically spread areas. WAN (Wide Area Network) is primarily used for this purpose.
In this exercise, you will learn about SOHO and WAN.