Designer Viewpoint (6)
Congestion
- can occur in switches, routers, ports, buffers, transmission links, processors
- cannot be avoided
- blocking: - the user traffic is blocked when congestion occurs
- Storage and queuing - data is stored in buffers in order it was received until there is sufficient bandwidth to transmit it
Maintainability
- network must allow to maintain its operating efficiency
- how to expand/modify in future when requirements increase
- easy software upgrades
- built-in tools for network monitoring, troubleshooting