Regarding Software Architecture

[Kailash331]

Hi,

So I am currently a grade 12 student interning with an IT and network consulting company. For the past week I've been strengthening my networking concepts, and one of the topics I covered was network architecture. Now I've been assigned to look at the arrangement of switches in the company and figure out the type of architecture they use (normal, spine and leaf, three-tier, etc.) Can anyone tell me how one can decipher the type of architecture by looking at the switches? I've searched everywhere for videos on this but people only discuss the theory behind it all the time.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

"Looking" in this instance doesn't include viewing device configurations? If so, you might be able to exclude some architectures, but doubt you would be able to be fully certain what the operational architecture actually is.

[Richard Burts]

I agree with Joseph that we need to know more about what you are looking at - what resources do you have? Are you looking at diagrams that someone else built? Are you looking at archived configs? Are you able to access the switches and to execute some show commands?

I would suggest that the first step should be to find (or to develop) a diagram of the topology of the network. What does each individual switch connect to? (most especially what other network devices does the switch connect to). Pay special attention to connection to other switches (or routers). If a switch has a single connection to another switch, then the switch you are looking at is pretty clearly an access switch. If it has 2 or more connections to other switches it might be functioning as access or might be functioning as a distribution/aggregation switch. Another thing to look at might be whether trunks on the switch are carrying vlans but some of those vlans do not have any ports assigned to them on the switch. This is an indicator that the switch is providing transit for other switches and is an indicator that it is not much of an access switch.

HTH

Rick