LAN design involves an understanding of your physical environment, its operation, and how people will react to even small aesthetic changes. Understanding the Physical Layout of your Building Unfortunately, when buildings are designed, the LAN is seldom taken into account. For example, many schools, colleges, and libraries have added computer labs in recent years in rooms that were not designed with such a purpose in mind. These rooms tend to have inadequate electrical and ventilation supplies, and lack a raised floor for cable runs. Since most people do not have the luxury of planning their LAN alongside an architect designing a new building, we have to examine ways of getting the most out of existing structures.
Many people implement LANs with very little planning or foresight.
This inevitably leads to difficulties later on such as the nightmare of looking at fifty identical wires and trying to determine which one leads to Andy s office. For a network of as few as ten workstations, it becomes difficult to know where every wire is, where it came from, and where it goes. Simple ways to avoid such confusion are to make sure that everything is clearly mapped, labeled, and documented. A network map should be an evolving document. All network administrators should have at least two separate network maps.