Designing a new network from the ground up requires the input from many stakeholders of the project. Failure to follow a standard requirements analysis model often leads to network architectures and design that are outside of the scope of the project. For example, the resulting network may not be what the users expected, it may not support applications envisioned, and the technology the design is based on may not support certain devices. Failure to communicate during the requirements analysis process can end up with a network designer doing whatever he/she/ or they feel comfortable with. What the resulting product may become is a network based on proprietary technology of a single vendor, making the network difficult to expand or upgrade in the future. In this paper, the requirements analysis sections will be thoroughly discussed as they apply to the network design process, and how following each one to its completion improves the entire process. In addition, the specific tools for determining performance requirements and the importance of stakeholder input will also be addressed.
It is often the case that strict timelines and budgetary concerns result in shortcuts to the requirements analysis process, shortcuts that can become expensive headaches down the road. The process of analyzing requirements is composed of five sections that include gathering and listing requirements, developing service matrices, characterizing behavior, developing requirements, and mapping these requirements (McCabe, 2007). The gathering and listing requirements section is when statements about the intended product and its specifics are made. These statements describe what the product should do and how it should perform, in the case of networks it specifies how the network will function and its intended scope. Gathering requirements can be accomplished in a variety of ways to include