The Network Shokunin

(#4 of 7) To continue the  series , this post talks at a high level about principles you should consider when you're looking at the security aspects of your network design.  Be aware I am not a cyber security guy.  But I do know what security elements you should consider when you build a network design, so this is what I'm discussing herein.  If you want more on cyber security, you could find a lot worse starting point than fellow #CiscoChampion Zoë Rose's blog  https://www.zoërose.com  or follow her on Twitter  @5683Monkey . [Disclosure: Zoë proof read this post for me to help keep me honest - thank you!] As every security course ever taught points out, there are three fundamental goals of any security design: Confidentiality - ensuring that data is not accessible by parties from whom it should be hidden.  Most network security mechanisms are concerned with this in some way - including access control; network segmentation; policy ...

(#1 of 7) Whilst studying for the CCDE , you stumble across new design methodologies all the time, each of which set out some fundamental principles by which you should look to adhere when building your network solutions - the one that springs to mind is Chapter 1 of Russ White's book "Optimal Routing Design" .   The idea is that you bear those simple ideas in mind as you go through the design process, checking back in with them to make sure that the design you produce will lead to a network which is robust and manageable, but still meets customer requirements. Through an iterative process of my own, I have arrived at five principles I try and embody in my work, and over coming blog posts, I'll go into more detail on how I look to apply each of them.   They are: Availability … is the fundamental desirable property of a network, its raison d'être.   The network exists as the transport to deliver apps to users, make data available to apps, and coll...