YEAR 9 - SCALABILITY

​Network Scalability

This is how well a computer can cope if it suddenly needs to move a lot more data between devices.

​Factors to consider when asessing network scalability

3 major factors need to be considered:
a) Security
b) Storage Solution
c) Accessibility of data

If the network becomes unstable due to a rapid increase in the number of devices connected to it, the amount of data being transmitted could cause network hardware to fail. It is important to ensure that the network can handle the increased load without compromising security.

Cyberattacks: It could be a threat idea to use multiple firewalls. For example, in a school environment, it would be a good idea to have a firewall for staff offices and a separate firewall for student computers. This would limit the amount of data flowing through a single firewall at any time.

​Security

If the network is not scalable, then adding more devices that are transmitting a lot of data around the network could have an impact on the speed of data transmission, as the bandwidth has to be shared between all the devices. This could also make the network unstable, causing devices to become disconnected from the network. This may mean that some users may not be able to access their data.

​Accessibity of data

File server: If there are lots more devices on the network that need to store files, the file server would need to be expanded so that the impact of having more users is avoided. To improve scalability of storage, it would be important to consider adding either more storage capability to the current file server or another file server into the network.

Storage solution