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campus network is a building or group of buildings that

connects to one network, called an enterprise network. Typically, one com-
pany owns the entire network, including the wiring between buildings. This
local area network (LAN) typically uses Ethernet, Token Ring, Fiber Dis-
tributed Data Interface (FDDI), or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
technologies.

The main challenge for network administrators is to make the campus

network run efficiently and effectively. To do this, they must understand cur-
rent campus networks as well as the new emerging campus networks.
Therefore, in this chapter, you will learn about current and future require-
ments of campus internetworks. We'll explain the limitations of traditional
campus networks as well as the benefits of the emerging campus designs.
You will learn how to choose from among the new generation of Cisco
switches to maximize the performance of your networks. Understanding
how to design for the emerging campus networks is not only critical to your
success on the Switching exam, it's also critical for implementing production
networks.

As part of the instruction in network design, we'll discuss the specifics of

technologies, including how to implement Ethernet and the differences
between layer 2, layer 3, and layer 4 switching technologies. In particular,
you will learn how to implement FastEthernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ether-
Channel, and Multi-Layer Switching (MLS) in the emerging campus designs.
This will help you learn how to design, implement, and maintain an efficient
and effective internetwork.

Finally, you will learn about the Cisco hierarchical model, which is cov-

ered in all the Cisco courses. In particular, you will learn which catalyst
switches can--and should--be implemented at each layer of the Cisco

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