Cabletron Systems switches User Manual

Page of 132
Network Design
5-6
The Role of the Workgroup
Common Function
Segmentation by common function is often used to provide further division of the 
network within larger overall departments, or to facilitate the use of certain 
network applications by specific end users common throughout much of the 
department. An example of this might be the creation of a Documentation 
workgroup in a corporation within which each department had a dedicated 
Documentation person handling recording and reporting. This would create 
workgroups of the members of each department (R&D, Sales, Receiving, etc.) and 
one workgroup which encompassed only the Documentation personnel of each 
department, who, although working in different departments, all require access to 
the same functions through the network.
Figure 5-3. Common Function Workgroups
The creation of workgroups based on common function enhances the 
performance of those dedicated functions at a cost to the performance of the 
network as a whole. In addition, the management demands placed on a network 
by common function networks distributed across an entire facility or corporation 
are much the same as those of a corporate organization workgroup scheme, but 
even more intense. 
: Sales Workstations
: Research Workstations
: Receiving Workstations
: Workgroup A
: Workgroup B
: Workgroup C
: Documentation Personnel
: Workgroup D