Planning Your LAN Infrastructure for a New Office

Factors to Consider For a Good LAN Infrastructure

When setting up a new office today, many people think about the physical space and the furniture that will go with it. It is however unfortunate that many will only think of the LAN (local area network) infrastructure when they are already seated and looking for a way to get the systems up and running. This often leads to random LAN infrastructure setup where anything goes as long as people connect to the internet. This is not the right way to go since connecting to the internet is often not the most important goal when building a network.

• How many devices do you need to connect?
• Do you need to connect wirelessly?
• Is your phone system IP based?
• Are your data bases locally hosted or not?
• Do you need to integrate your security surveillance with your local networked devices?

LAN setup in the modern-day includes aspects such as the data bases with company information, company security, phone systems and finally the internet link from your ISP (internet service provider). All these things are interconnected since they rely on a steady LAN infrastructure to serve their purpose. Whether it is access control systems, surveillance systems or even the IP internet Protocol) phone systems and even the enterprise Wi-Fi, you must plan for a stable cable infrastructure on a CAT6 back bone.

One must therefore find systems that can easily integrate with each other on the network. With your server on the same network as your PBX (private branch exchange) system and even the surveillance and security system, you should make sure nothing goes wrong on this network. For that reason, it is even further advisable to have the same team looking at all these systems. With that kind of arrangement, that team is tasked with the responsibility of making sure nothing goes wrong. IP address conflicts could easily freeze all your devices making it impossible to make calls, access your data bases or even access your premises if the conflict affects all the devices.

Deciding on a Proper Layout Plan

The layout plan of your network is important. This includes the choice of places to terminate your network points, the choice of a server room, positions of your switching cabinets and even the power source for the cabinets. Clean power for your core switches and all other switches and APs (access points) is very important. If you have phones and laptops for users, you do not want a situation where there is a blackout but you cannot connect to your important resources through your laptops because the routers and APs have gone down as well.

You should choose good and strategic positions for your APs to make sure no persons are left out of the coverage areas. When you are designing for a big organization over a wide area, you must always think enterprise Wi-Fi and especially software controlled options. This is because it is easier to manage such systems as compared to stand-alone APs. Also make sure the hardware you use such as modules and patch panels are of best quality to last longer. You would not want a situation where you have to solve connectivity issues as a result of bad hardware during the course of ordinary infrastructure use. It is however worth pointing out that proper labeling of your data points, voice and even patch panels will make it easier to maintain the LAN infrastructure in the long-term.

Once you have your infrastructure backbone done in solid copper and fiber links, it is time to look at the security of your data bases within the local area especially at the point you introduce a router to link you to the wide world web. Because this happens through your ISP (internet Service provider), you must consider routers with secure firewalls and even antivirus systems to ensure you safeguard against possibility of unauthorized intrusion on your system. At this point you might have to look deeper into the pros and cons of having hardware or software based firewall systems.