We’ve just started working with a new client and after the first day of audit work I’ve been thinking about one of the, to date unwritten, design rules that we follow; Simplicity. By integrating simplicity into the network design the network can become not only more manageable, but also far quicker and easier to diagnose, repair and change when required. That’s certainly not to suggest that more complex networks are unnecessary, or indeed less manageable, simply that in my experience it is best not to over complicate things unnecessarily. Of course as design requirements themselves become more complicated and involved so too may the network design follow.

Now in no way am I casting judgement on the network we are working with, or the IT people who have gone before us. We have very little knowledge of the requirements and constraints under which they designed this network, and essentially no pre-existing documentation. We will quite likely discover, once we have uncovered the original design intent, that the solution in place is actually quite elegant and appropriate. On the other hand, we may not. Either way the point is that this process has made me think on the virtues of simplicity.