• Understand Business Requirements: Meet with stakeholders to understand the organization's goals, such as performance, security, scalability, or compliance.

• Identify Key Focus Areas: Determine the specific areas of the network to review (e.g., data centers, WAN, LAN, cloud integration, or security policies).

• Set Review Goals: Clearly define the outcomes of the review (e.g., improving performance, enhancing security, or planning for future growth).

• Collect Network Diagrams: Gather up-to-date network diagrams that outline the current architecture, including physical and logical topologies.

• Obtain Device Configurations: Collect configuration files from key devices such as routers, switches, firewalls, and load balancers.

• Review Network Policies: Analyze network security policies, routing tables, access control lists (ACLs), and quality of service (QoS) rules.

• Document IP Addressing Scheme: Ensure the IP addressing plan is clear and includes details on subnets, VLANs, and addressing strategy.

• Gather Performance Metrics: Obtain historical data on network performance, including bandwidth usage, latency, packet loss, and throughput.

• Audit Security Measures: Review security features such as firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and encryption protocols.

• Evaluate Physical and Logical Design: Assess the network's physical layout (e.g., cabling, hardware placement) and logical architecture (e.g., IP addressing, subnets, VLANs).

• Check Network Redundancy: Verify that there are sufficient redundant paths and failover mechanisms (e.g., backup links, dual-homed devices) to prevent single points of failure.

• Assess Network Segmentation: Ensure that the network is appropriately segmented to isolate traffic (e.g., separating guest networks, data centers, or critical applications).

• Evaluate Scalability: Review the network's ability to scale, considering bandwidth capacity, IP addressing space, and the ease of adding new devices or locations.

• Assess Routing Protocols: Examine routing protocols in use (e.g., OSPF, BGP, EIGRP) for efficiency, scalability, and redundancy.

• Check Routing Tables: Verify the accuracy and efficiency of routing tables, looking for routing loops, suboptimal routes, or unnecessary static routes.

• Evaluate VLAN Configuration: Ensure that VLANs are properly configured for traffic segmentation, performance, and security.

• Analyze QoS Policies: Review Quality of Service (QoS) configurations to ensure that critical traffic (e.g., VoIP, video) is prioritized and delivered without delay.

Review Network Security

• Firewall Rules and ACLs: Examine firewall configurations and access control lists (ACLs) to ensure they provide adequate protection without overcomplicating access.

• Intrusion Detection/Prevention (IDS/IPS): Evaluate the effectiveness of IDS/IPS solutions in detecting and mitigating threats.

• Encryption Protocols: Ensure that sensitive data is encrypted both at rest and in transit (e.g., IPSec, SSL/TLS, VPN).

• Authentication and Access Control: Review the use of authentication protocols (e.g., RADIUS, TACACS+) and ensure role-based access control (RBAC) is in place to limit access to critical systems.

• Compliance with Security Standards: Ensure the network meets compliance requirements (e.g., PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR) based on the organization’s industry.

• Evaluate Cloud Networking: If the organization uses cloud services, ensure the network supports secure and efficient communication between on-premise and cloud environments (e.g., AWS, Azure).

• Review Data Center Architecture: For data centers, examine high availability (HA) and disaster recovery (DR) setups, ensuring redundancy, load balancing, and backup procedures are in place.

• Cloud Security: Check how data is protected during transfers to and from the cloud, reviewing encryption, VPNs, and security policies for cloud-based resources.

• Network Monitoring Tools: Assess the tools in use for real-time monitoring, fault detection, and performance analysis (e.g., SolarWinds, PRTG, Nagios).

• Review Logging and Alerting: Ensure that logs are collected from key devices (e.g., firewalls, routers) and that appropriate alerts are configured for abnormal activity.

• Analyze Network Documentation: Verify that all network configurations, policies, and topologies are properly documented and kept up to date.

• Automated Network Management: Review any automation tools (e.g., Ansible, Cisco DNA Center) used for network provisioning and management, ensuring they are properly configured.

• Prepare a Review Report: Document the findings from the review, including network performance metrics, identified gaps, and proposed solutions.

• Meet with Stakeholders: Present the review findings to key stakeholders, including IT teams, business leaders, and decision-makers, ensuring alignment on the next steps.

• Provide Next Steps: Clearly outline the immediate actions required, as well as any long-term strategies for maintaining a robust network architecture.