The Multivendor Networking Environments Computer Science

A multi-vendor networking is a network environment where computers and networks, hardware and software from different vendors are connected and provide remote as well as local network access.

In order to make a multi-vendor network work effectively you must ensure that the server's operating system, the client's operating system and redirectors are compatible and also to make sure that hardware is compatible to avoid problems like speed mis-match while you are working on a project.

Staff costs - It is impossible to find an expert who understands the different products from all the different vendors or who has the necessary qualifications therefore combining products from different vendors can result in higher personnel costs in order to cover all of the required knowledge to maintain the system.

Operating system from different vendor use different methods to accessing files across a network to promote file sharing there must be some sort of protocol so that the devices communicate.

The user interface for products from different vendors may vary in appearance such that it will become complicated to maintain or use the system because users will tend to become familiar with the most frequently used interfaces and may do things incorrectly or spend excessive time on the other parts of the system.

Windows use Common Internet File System Novell uses Netware Core Protocol, Linux and Unix use the Network File System.

All redirectors must be configured for every type of Server Operating System the client computer needs.

All shells or redirectors must be configured and working in order.

The network service clients need to be configured correctly and working on servers.

Gateway computers permit access between environments must be correctly configured and working.

Software and hardware design flaws - Companies often test their products as a system but seldom test with equipment from other vendors.  Design errors may cause devices to work only with devices from the same vendor.

Resource limitations - A device from one vendor may indirectly require resources to a certain degree from other devices that they are not able to provide.  One device may only expect 10 network sessions while the other may expect 200.

Undetected errors - Slight differences in protocol implementations can cause information to be changed and in some cases it is not caught by error detection features of the protocols.

Terminology differences - When trying to design and configure a system, two vendors may use different terminology or give a different interpretation to some specifications.  This can result in mis-configured systems or performance issues.

Form-factor mechanical issues - Products from different vendors may require different mounting hardware, racks, ventilation etc. It can be difficult to combine them into a single physical location or can result in inefficient use of space.

User interface problems - The user interface for products from different vendors may be so different that it becomes complicated to maintain or use the system.  Users will tend to become familiar with the most frequently used interfaces and may do things incorrectly or spend excessive time on the other parts of the system.

Upgrading and updating - Two different vendors may introduce changes or debug system at different periods of time and it may be necessary to wait for all the vendors to have compatible product updates or other products will be updated and become latest and others old and this will lead to a decrease in performance or mis-match in performance.

Parts costs - All of the devices from a particular vendor may have a common set of spare parts such as power supplies, CPU cards, or mounting hardware.  When multiple vendors are used it can drastically increase the cost for spare parts initially and the costs for maintaining and managing the inventory of spare parts.

Staff costs - It is impossible to find an expert who understands the different products from all the different vendors or who has the necessary qualifications therefore combining products from different vendors can result in higher personnel costs in order to cover all of the required knowledge to maintain the system.

Protocol incompatibilities - Two vendors may choose to implement a different subset of a standard or implement ambiguous standards in different ways. This will case devices to interfere with each other and this will promote poor output.

A good example is an environment in which one computer runs Windows XP with client for Microsoft networks, another running Linux with Samba and another Mac OS, and the server runs Windows Server 2003.You need to install all the different file access software so that all the clients can connect to the server.

MODULE : NETWORKINGASSIGNMENT TITLE : NETWORK COMPUTER AND THIN CLIENTSCENTRE : LATITUDE VARSITYSTUDENT NAME : FLORREN MOMBETABLES OF CONTENTS

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