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The Role of the Workgroup 5-5
Network Design
As the creation of workgroups based on departmental organization mirrors the
operation of the company, the expandability of the network is simplified; since
departmental growth can often be predicted in stable or growing companies, the
network can be designed to allow for simplified expansion in the departments
most likely to grow.
Without the use of management software to monitor the operation of workgroups
determined by departmental organization, troubleshooting and fault recovery can
be difficult in a network of this kind. As the end users are not necessarily located
in the same area, faults which affect the workgroup must be looked for in several
locations.
An even trade-off is made in reliability in networks organized in this fashion.
While the organization of the network into departmental workgroups increases
the inherent complexity of the network by creating several segments based on
function, the loss of a workgroup will disrupt the operation of only that
workgroup, allowing the operation of other workgroups to continue with no
disruption other than the loss of communication with the faulty
workgroup/department.