.

The following is the discussion recommendation for the two technologies; the first is full support of networking devices such as routers. In this case, we have switches, firewalls and routers as our recommendation. A network has many other devices that are connected. The switch acts as the bridge between these devices. Then for these devices to communicate, the Internet is needed, and it is where a router comes in. The work of the router is to receive an internet connection from the internet service providers. To ensure that the internet connection from the ISP is secure, firewall comes in. A firewall acts as a defensive wall between the Internet and the router, ensuring all the incoming links are secure. Besides, the third-party plugin comes in when we need additional features other than the available ones. Here small programs are installed to support the additional required features. These small programs are third-party plugins. Under network virtualization, network resources and software functionality are combined. For example, switches and adapters are combined to come up with network interface cards. Firewall, routers and switches also go under this virtualization process.  Virtualizing networking devices reduces physical configuration. Moreover, (SDN) software-defined networking means physical separation of network control plane from forwarding plane (Xie et al., 2018). The Control plane is the central plane in SDN; therefore, SDN controls the network device's control plane. One of the main benefits is that the complexity of the network devices is reduced; hence, the functioning of these devices is made more manageable, and there is security provision.

Automation means, most of the network tasks are done and conducted by the machine; hence human assistance is highly minimal. Automation reduces the chances of network failure brought by lack of automation; thus, the performance is efficient. Automation plays a significant role even in terms of network reliability, security and also overall performance. When we come to Edge systems, these are the endpoints in a network. Edge points provide entry points into a network. Then there are core systems; a core system will act as the backbone of a network.  For example, a core switch establishes a connection between it and the server, and it is available in variable sizes for efficiency. On the other hand, an edge switch ensures connectivity between the client device and the network. Some factors affect these recommendations, one of them being attacks from malicious programs; these are programs that will significantly affect the performance of devices such as a router. Routers are the main target of these programs since they carry the configuration of a network; hence when their security is interfered with, the whole network fails. To minimizes and prevent these attacks, keep every device updated and scanned to remove any threat. When the number of technicians is high, the output performance of the work is also good. Working as a big team will increase the work's efficiency; hence, I would prefer a big group to a small one. I would decide to recommend them four technicians and automate all their systems to ensure the network's reliability.

Reference

Xie, J., Yu, F. R., Huang, T., Xie, R., Liu, J., Wang, C., & Liu, Y. (2018). A survey of machine learning techniques applied to software defined networking (SDN): Research issues and challenges. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 21(1), 393-430.