Build your Network with the Vertical Campus Implementation Guide

Designing a large campus network can be a daunting task. It is certainly a complex undertaking. It can be especially difficult if you have to configure equipment that you haven’t worked with before. You might find yourself wishing that someone would write a how to guide. At Juniper Network we hear you and that’s why we’ve published another one of our Implementation guides. This one is for the Vertical Campus. It will show you the way to set up Juniper LAN, WLAN, and security devices and help you get up and running in a shorter time, with a tested and proven design.

The Vertical Campus Implementation Guide
The Juniper Networks® Vertical Campus Implementation Guide provides a simple, tested, step-by-step process for rapidly deploying a large campus solution. The design incorporates the most commonly used enterprise network technologies to provide a simple and scalable network architecture that includes LAN, WLAN, and security components. The guide presents a specific configuration of Juniper Networks hardware and software platforms that have been tested and provide a reliable foundation on which to base a customized network for your business.

Vertical Campus Design Objectives
The tested implementation is created with the following design objectives:
• Easy to deploy – Consistent deployment approach for all products included in the design.
• Resilient – Simple and robust design, maximizing user productivity by protecting traffic against unplanned outages.
• Flexible – Adapted for modular expansion so that users can scale and adapt the network without requiring extensive changes or forklift upgrades.
• Solid foundation – Easy support for additional technologies, such as video, collaboration, and other real-time traffic demands.

Advantages of Using the Guide
Some of the advantages include:
• Modular design – each technology presented can be deployed independently of the others
• Efficient and cost-effective deployment using a standardized design methodology
• Redundant, highly available infrastructure for wired, wireless, and Internet connectivity
• Deployable by IT professionals with a moderate amount of technical experience
• Easy to manage, with few logical devices and protocols to configure
• Standardized methodology to reduce deployment time
• Reduced number of hardware and software platforms to learn, maintain, and spare

Scope of the Implementation Guide
This implementation guide presents a sequential construction and configuration of a tested design that you can successfully reproduce. The first part of the document describes the network elements used and their operation. It also includes a scheme for a common Layer 2 (L2) and Layer 3 (L3) set of boundaries and network interfaces. The implementation portion contains the specific configurations used to create this network.

Intended Audience of the Guide
This guide is intended for network designers and administrators who:
• Have a network that supports 1,000 or more connected employees
• Require wired and wireless access for their employees
• Need a simplified, resilient network infrastructure
• Need a high-performance network that can be easily expanded and adapted to support new technologies
• Are new to Juniper Networks products
• Are system engineers who need a standardized process to design and deploy networks that comprise Juniper Networks LAN, WLAN, and security products

Design Considerations Used
The Juniper Networks Vertical Campus tested design is based on Juniper Networks switching, wireless LAN, and security products. It presents an overall design with configurations to construct a campus network for 1,000 or more users. This tested design is intended to be a starting point for configuring your own network and incorporates the most commonly used enterprise network technologies. For information on additional functionality for each product, appendixes are provided at the end of the document.

Design Components
The network detailed in the implementation guide is divided into three separate functional modules—LAN and switching infrastructure, wireless, and security. These sections highlight the design choices and main features implemented for each component. Although each section can stand on its own, the sections are presented in the logical sequence in which the network would be deployed. The equipment and software that was used to verify this design and its included features is listed in a table for your reference to ease your build out of a comparable network.

The End Result
By following this guide you will have built a base Vertical Campus network infrastructure providing the most commonly used enterprise network technologies such as redundant Ethernet, WLAN, and firewall services. This design incorporates a simple and scalable network architecture that provides a reliable foundation on which to base a customized network for your business. The Juniper Virtual Chassis technology makes it easy to manage because there are few logical devices and protocols to configure. The modular approach allows you to expand and adapt the network without requiring extensive changes or forklift upgrades. The infrastructure supports technologies such as video, collaboration, and other real-time traffic demands that you use over your network.

For more information you can download the guide on Juniper.net here, Vertical Campus Implementation Guide. or read it on-line below.