1. Plan your hardware requirements and network topology

Determine the types of equipment that you need and the layout of this equipment at your site.

• For general network topology questions, refer to Determining the Network Hardware.

• For IPv6 topology planning, refer to Preparing the Network Topology for IPv6 Support.

• For information about a specific type of equipment, refer to the equipment manufacturer's documentation.

2. Obtain a registered IP address for your network

Your network must have a unique IP address if you plan to communicate outside your local network, for example, over the Internet.

Refer to Obtaining Your Network's IP Number.

3. Devise an IP addressing scheme for your systems, based on your IPv4 network prefix or IPv6 site prefix.

Determine how addresses are to be deployed at your site.

Refer to Designing an IPv4 Addressing Scheme or refer to Preparing an IPv6 Addressing Plan.

4. Create a list that contains the IP addresses and host names of all machines on your network.

Use the list to build network databases

Refer to Network Databases

5. Determine which name service to use on your network.

Decide whether to use NIS, LDAP, DNS, or the network databases in the local /etc directory.

Refer to Selecting a Name Service and Directory Service

6. Establish administrative subdivisions, if appropriate for your network

Decide if your site requires that you divide your network into administrative subdivisions

Refer to Administrative Subdivisions

7. Determine where to place routers in the network design.

If your network is large enough to require routers, create a network topology that supports them.

Refer to Planning for Routers on Your Network

8. If required, design a strategy for subnets.

You might need to create subnets for administering your IP address space or to make more IP addresses available for users.

For IPv4 subnet planning, refer to What Is Subnetting?

For IPv6 subnet planning, refer to Creating a Numbering Scheme for Subnets