Build a Redundant Three-Tier Campus Network

Brightleaf Community College is re-cabling its campus core. Cable the access, distribution, and core tiers so a single switch or link failure never isolates a building.

N10-009: 1.6 (verify) APNET: 3.2.C APNET: 3.1.B

Topology workspace

Cable from port

to port

Design brief

Give every access switch an uplink to both distribution switches.
Give every distribution switch an uplink to both core switches.
Run one backbone cable between the two core switches.
No extra cables — a clean design has exactly the links above.

Task checklist

Design questions

Q1 — Surviving a failure

A custodian accidentally powers off one distribution switch. Because each access switch was cabled to both distribution switches, what happens to user traffic?

It stops campus-wide until the switch is restored. It keeps flowing over each access switch's surviving second uplink. It reroutes only if the core switches are also meshed to access.

Q2 — Layer roles

Which tier's main job is fast transport between distribution blocks rather than enforcing per-user access policy?

Access Distribution Core

Q3 — Topology trade-off

Why cable each access switch to two distribution switches instead of one?

It uses less cable and is cheaper to maintain. It removes the single point of failure, trading extra cabling for fault tolerance. It is required before any VLAN can be created on the switch.

Submit

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