Network Design Principle Reliability – ZNDP 063

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In this show, we are covering a Network Design Principle Reliability. What is it and how to solve it! How do we know if our networks are reliable? Let’s get right into it!

Network Design Principles are critical to helping Designers create valid networks.  Not all Network Design Principles will be leveraged or used in each situation but as a Designer, you should know them, and make the decisions if you need to address it or not for your customers.

Reliability is one of the Network Design Principles that have become an “unstated requirement”.  I like to compare this to power and plumbing in a house. In most cases today, power and plumming are unstated requirements.  This is the for some of our Network Design Principles.

What is The Network Design Principle Reliability? 

“I like to define this as how much of the network data gets from source to destination locations in the right amount of time to properly be leveraged correctly.”

Zig Zsiga

When I think of reliability for some reason I always think of video games, maybe an FPS were when I shoot my rifle at another player, do I hit that other player, or is my network connection not reliable enough?  Does my data not arrive in the correct time frame to be leveraged appropriately? If it doesn’t, in most cases I will lose the game.  

My son has been playing a ton of Minecraft over the last few years and we have a Realm Server, so we can play together as a family anywhere. Sometimes I noticed horrible “lag” with my character’s actions.  This right here is a perfect example of the Network Design Principle Reliability not being maintained properly.

A reliable network is going to maintain a very high percentage of this data reaching its destination in the right time frame. We talk about the four nines (99.99) and the five nines (99.999) here which is in essence uptime.

The “Uptime” Nines!

Business Perspective for the Network Design Principle Reliability:

From a business perspective, we would see this in the form of a Service Level Agreement, or SLA.  An SLA is a form document guaranteeing specific reliability for that customer or application.  A lot more goes into an SLA than just reliability but the idea here is that there is a business document and process that should be written to govern reliability 

Technical Perspective for the Network Design Principle Reliability:

How do we ensure the network is reliable from a technology perspective? We as Designers can leverage a number of solutions such as Quality of Service, MPLS Traffic Engineering Tunnels, and Software-Defined Application Routing to maintain the reliability of the network.

Modern Network Design Perspective for the Network Design Principle Reliability:

Here is the single take away.  Out of everything else in this episode take this statement.

It is on you as a designer to determine if reliability is something you need to design for.

In most cases, customers will no longer state they need a reliable network, they assume this is a requirement. Just like I assume I will have power and running water in a new house I build. Because they assume this, they may never tell you it’s a requirement.  This is one of the hard parts of being a Good Network Designer, you have to infer reliability is a requirement.  Specifically which level of reliability, that’s the hard part.

Want More Network Engineer Content?

• Check out Zigbits Network Design Podcast – Business Priority episodes here:

• Need more Consultative Leadership in your life? Check out our YouTube Playlist here!

• Want to hear more about Network Design, here is our Network Design YouTube Playlist!

Content Update – New Show Called Daily Zigbit!

For those needed some motivation in your daily life, checkout our new weekday show called Daily Zigbit.

I started a New Video Series last week called Daily Zigbits!​ Yep, I did it, I did the thing! 🤓

My Daily Zigbit Series is all about helping you in every aspect I can. It’s not just focused on IT, Networking, Design, or Career. It is truly focused on every aspect of our lives. Each video in this series is a short (approximately 5 minutes) installment that you can watch as you drink your coffee in the morning! #CoffeeWithZig

In each Daily Zigbit video:

1. I cover a critical leadership topic to help you in your daily life!
2. I provide a real-world (in the wild) situation in my life to provide you direct context around the highlighted leadership lesson. How have I used it and why!
3. I come up with a quick action for you to take right now to leverage this leadership lesson!

The publishing schedule for Daily Zigbit is every weekday between 5 am – 7 am EST (the weekends are dedicated to my family 😉).

I’m branding these videos as #AttackTheDay, #AttackYourGoals, and #MakeProgress!

You can view the first few Daily Zigbit Videos here!

I am publishing a New Zigbits Network Design Podcast episode and a new YouTube video weekly! That’s two new pieces of content for you to consume every week! Feel free to reach out with any content ideas and we will make sure to add them!

Resources

• We are creating a Network Design Course: Let’s Make you The Best Network Designer! If you want to find out more info join the waitlist here.

• Do you watch YouTube Videos? We have our own Zigbits YouTube Channel here! Make sure you subscribe and click the bell to stay notified when we create new content. You don’t want to miss anything!

• You can always join the Zigbits Email list to stay in the know!!

• We have created a new page on our site to have one location for all resources: Zigbits Resources page!

Provide Feedback

• You can leave a comment on the blog!
• You can email me at Zig@zigbits.tech

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Transparency:

This post may contain affiliate links to products or services where I may receive a level of compensation from your actions by following those links. This is seamless to you and does not add any additional cost to the products or services in question. In addition, I do not let any affiliate relationship cloud my judgment or my recommendation of a product or service. My recommendations will always be above reproach.  This is my commitment to you Ziglets!