What is Network Configuration?

• Network Configuration Definition

  Network Configuration Definition

  Network configuration focuses on managing a network and its devices by applying the right set of policies, controls, and configurations. It encompasses activities from device discovery to configuration backups for efficient network administration.
• What are the types of network configuration?

  What are the types of network configuration?

  Network administrators maintain a well-organized information repository of the network devices with details, such as device location or network address and device settings, as part of configuration management. This configuration database works as a guiding source for admins while making updates and changes in the network.

  Generally, network topologies denote various types of network configuration. Network topology refers to the systematic arrangement of nodes or devices in a network that allows them to exchange information.

  Network topologies are of two types—physical and logical. Physical topology depicts the linkages between physical devices via cables, wires, etc., in a network. In contrast, logical topology denotes how information is transferred through a network. The way devices interact in a network is also a part of the logical topology.

  Some of the popular physical network topologies are as follows:

  • Bus: Every node or device in the network is connected in a linear order with a unidirectional data flow. Bus topology is cost-effective, but it can break down quickly when there’s high network traffic.
  • Ring: Nodes are connected circularly, while data can flow in one or both directions as per needs. Ring networks are easy to set up and expand, but troubleshooting is often challenging.
  • Star: A central server or node manages all other nodes with point-to-point communication. Star topology is commonly used in local area networks because of benefits such as centralized control, better security, and easy configuration. However, the entire network can crumble if the central server fails.
  • Mesh: Nodes are linked in a web-like structure with point-to-point connections with every other node in the network. Data transmits through routing (shortest-path approach) and flooding methods (broadcast approach). Mesh networks are highly reliable but expensive to set up and maintain.
  • Tree: Nodes are interconnected in hierarchical order with at least three levels. Tree network is an extension of star topology and is used in wide area networks (WANs).
  • Hybrid: Hybrid combines two or more topologies. Organizations looking for flexibility in their IT infrastructure prefer hybrid networks.
• Network configuration key areas

  Network configuration key areas

  Device discovery and management: Configuration management discovers devices in your network and stores their critical details such as port configuration and interface details in a network inventory. Having up-to-date inventory also helps you generate reports quickly using filters such as device type, device vendor, and device location. Centralized inventory makes management easy.

  Configuration backup and restore: A network disaster can happen at any time, so an organization should regularly take network backups to stay future-ready. Regular backups allow you to quickly recover from unexpected scenarios such as equipment failure by uploading the most stable versions of your device settings.

  Change management: Maintaining accurate change records helps you identify the network engineers behind a particular configuration modification in your network. While this doesn’t necessarily reduce network problems, it can accelerate the error resolution process. Standardization of change management practices, a crucial part of configuration management, ensures modifications across the network are well documented, prompt, and traceable.

  Policy management and compliance audits: Before making configuration changes, network administrators must formulate robust network policies to demonstrate compliance with various security standards such as PCI DSS and DISA STIG. Network security policy creation and regular compliance audits of device settings are vital in configuration management.

  Network automation: Automation of network administration tasks such as device backups, firmware updates, and access rights modification is among the configuration management best practices. This boosts your network teams’ productivity in addition to eliminating repetitive tasks and human errors.
• Why is it important to back up network configurations?

  Why is it important to back up network configurations?

  Network device backups using automation tools help you quickly roll back to the previous stable configurations in scenarios like equipment failure, human errors, and power loss. With regular backups, you can drastically cut down on network downtime or business interruptions during peak hours. Further, you can avoid configuring network devices from scratch after a recent failure using backup files or archived data. Likewise, keeping track of all the configuration changes becomes simpler with data backups, allowing you to solve network errors at the user end quickly.
• How to automate configuration management using software

  How to automate configuration management using software

  Manual configuration management activities are often error-prone, slow, and costly. Automation tools can streamline network management operations by allowing your network teams to execute multiple tasks from a single interface. Automation tools can also strengthen your overall network security by restricting unauthorized access to sensitive configuration files or data through access control.

  Outlined below are some ways to automate configuration management activities:

  • Robust network assessment: Automation tools can perform device discovery to populate your network inventory with crucial device details like IP address, serial number, etc. This saves your IT staff from hours of manual work compiling and storing device information. Storing critical device data such as end-of-life information allows your network administrators to identify and replace damaged devices quickly, helping avoid costly network downtime. Ultimately, such tools streamline network assessment activities with bulk data collection, analysis, reporting, and visualization.
  • Easy configuration backup and restoration: Network configuration backup means safely storing critical network device information, so you can quickly recover from network failure or disaster with minimum service disruption. With network backup software, instead of visiting network devices individually to save their most recent configurations or settings, you can schedule automated backups for all of them. You can also organize backups in the archive by applying filters such as device type and quickly restore them in case of interruptions. Such tools provide timely alerts for failed backup schedules, allowing you to fix errors rapidly.
  • Real-time configuration change alerts for improved security: The frequency of configuration changes across dynamic networks is often high. Continuous monitoring of such changes is crucial to minimize their impact on other systems or processes. With network automation tools, you can receive real-time alerts or notifications of every change in your network with details such as change time, persons involved, etc. Real-time monitoring also ensures every corrective action taken complies to your internal and external policies.
  • Baseline configuration and drift management: A baseline configuration is the most optimal setting of a device. Applying baseline configurations to network devices helps ensure they run without performance issues. Network automation tools simplify baseline configuration management by allowing administrators to set up, view, and compare baseline configurations with the current configuration of devices. This makes tracking new changes in device settings and reversing unauthorized alterations simpler. Admins can also compare running and startup configurations to identify unsaved changes.
  • Network vulnerability detection: Network automation tools can scan firmware vulnerabilities in your network devices and subsequently fix them via upgrades. For example, you can detect common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) in iOS and Cisco network devices and rectify them via patches and updates using automation tools.