| Lesson 2 | Defining roles |
| Objective | Identify the team members involved in determining the network architecture. |
Defining Roles for Network Architecture
Developing and enhancing the network infrastructure is the primary responsibility of the technical team within the web deployment team. The
technical team is responsible for integrating the hardware, the software, the method of connection and the protocols of the network. Within
the technical team, the iGeneration job titles directly responsible for this work are:
- Internet Application Developer
- Database Application Developer
- Database Administrator
- LAN Manager
- Network Security Consultant
- Network Engineer
- Network Architect
- WebTeam: Explore the workspace of a WebTeam Technical team member. Click the desk to reveal the member's work area, and move your cursor over the workspace material to learn more about the WebTeam member.
- Team Effort: All of WebTeam's members work together to support the business objectives of the client's Web site. Each of them will contribute his or her expertise to help integrate and optimize the hardware and software components required for the project.
How 1)App Developers, 2) Database Devs and 3) DBAs influence Network Architecture
While the network architecture is primarily designed and implemented by network engineers or IT specialists, all three roles you mentioned can influence it to varying degrees:
In summary:
Their combined input helps ensure the network architecture effectively supports the overall system's functionality and data management requirements.
In the next lesson, you will learn about useful tools and documents for your network and Internet-related requirements.
- Application Developers (responsible for software):
- Limited influence:
- Application developers are primarily focused on the functionality and logic of the software they're building.
- Their influence on network architecture might be limited to specifying requirements related to network bandwidth, latency, or security needs of the application they're developing.
- Potential considerations:
- They might need to understand the network topology to ensure their application can communicate with other systems or databases effectively.
- They may identify the need for specific network protocols or APIs to be supported by the network infrastructure.
- Limited influence:
- Database Application Developers:
- Moderate influence:
- Database application developers are more involved with data access and retrieval.
- They might have a say in how the database server is positioned within the network and how it communicates with the application.
- Potential considerations:
- They might influence decisions about network segmentation, placing the database server in a secure zone with restricted access from other parts of the network.
- They might advocate for specific network features like Quality of Service (QoS) to prioritize data traffic between the application and the database server.
- Moderate influence:
- Database Administrators (DBAs):
- Moderate to high influence:
- DBAs are responsible for the health, performance, and security of the database.
- The network architecture can significantly impact these aspects, so DBAs have a more significant voice in its design.
- Potential considerations:
- DBAs might recommend placing the database server on a dedicated network segment for better security and performance isolation.
- They might influence decisions about network redundancy and failover mechanisms to ensure database availability in case of network outages.
- They might require specific network configurations like firewalls or VPNs to secure access to the database server.
- Moderate to high influence:
In summary:
- Network architects or IT specialists have the primary responsibility for designing the network architecture.
- Application developers have minimal but crucial input regarding the network's ability to support their software's needs.
- Database application developers and DBAs have a more significant influence, considering the network's impact on database performance, security, and communication with applications.
Their combined input helps ensure the network architecture effectively supports the overall system's functionality and data management requirements.
In the next lesson, you will learn about useful tools and documents for your network and Internet-related requirements.