Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!bagate!dsinc!telecom-request
From: delco@esun.att.com (Thomas P Capotosto)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: How Sophisticated Are Network Design Tools?
Message-ID: <telecom11.202.2@eecs.nwu.edu>
Date: 13 Mar 91 15:55:45 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 202, Message 2 of 15

When the internetworking of LANs goes from simple bridging of a few
LANs to a much more ambitious effort of inter-working many types of
LANs distributed over wide areas, how do network designers (e.g.,
network planners, router/LAN/etc. vendors, consultants) cope with the
complexity?  In other words, how sophisticated are the network design
tools being used?

Are these elaborate networks still designed by back-of-the-envelope,
rule-of-thumb or have sophisticated software-based tools evolved to
fill this need?  Most of the router/brouter vendors and consulting
firms are relatively small outfits - do they develop (or purchase)
design tools or are they able to base their designs on experience?
How much faith should I put into the network design recommendations of
router vendors and consultants, for example?  Or with how large of a
grain of salt should I take their input?  Are design tools
commercially available?


Thanks,
Fred

delco@esun.att.com   att!esun!delco