Plotting Ports and Pleats: The Cross-Stitch Between Style and Systems

 

Hi friends,

It’s been almost two months since I started this blog, and what a ride it’s been. Between school, work, and everything life has thrown at me, it’s taken much longer than I planned to sit down and write this second post. But here we are, finally, and I’ve brought something a little different this time.

After wrapping up my first semester at Altschool Africa, I took advantage of the short break to experiment with some of the networking basics we learned in class.

And since I’m a fashion designer stepping into the world of tech, this post is a mix of both. Think fashion, think tech, and a whole lot of sketching.

At first glance, sketching a dress and drawing a network diagram might seem like two completely unrelated things. But when you look closer, you’ll find they actually share a lot in common. Both require creativity, structure, planning, and yes, sketches. Whether you're laying out a sleek silhouette or configuring VLANs in Cisco Packet Tracer, you’re essentially building something that’s meant to work beautifully.

So if you’re into fashion, curious about how networks work, or just want to see how these two worlds can connect, keep reading. There will be style references, a bit of network jargon, and a few screenshots to help paint the picture.

Let’s get into it.

Just like no designer starts cutting fabric without a sketch, no network engineer begins connecting devices without a plan. In networking, that plan is called a topology. It’s the blueprint that shows how everything connects, where data moves, and how it all fits together.

Here’s a look at my own little “runway layout,” captured straight from Cisco Packet Tracer. No fabric in sight, but plenty of cables, IP addresses, and carefully stitched connections.

image 1.1

Imagine walking into a buzzing fashion studio. In one corner, designers are sketching. In another, tailors are cutting fabric. Interns are busy organizing materials, and somewhere in the background, sewing machines hum steadily. Everyone is working on the same collection, but each team has its own space, tools, and focus.

That’s exactly how this network works.

This setup is called a partial mesh topology. Think of it as a studio where all the team leads — the routers — are connected to one another. If one person can’t deliver a message directly, there’s always another path it can take. There’s no confusion or traffic jams, just smooth and flexible communication.

Inside the studio, the space is divided into four dedicated rooms, also known as VLANs:

• VLAN 10 is the main design floor: busy, creative, and full of energy.

• VLAN 20 is the quiet brainstorming lounge: smaller, focused, and calm.

• VLAN 70 is the tailoring room: tidy, steady, and practical.

• VLAN 100 is the VIP suite for servers handling all the behind-the-scenes magic.

Each room has its own purpose and address. The routers act like studio managers, making sure every message gets to the right place. That way, everyone stays in their lane, the workflow stays organized, and the final collection comes together just right.

Behind the Backstitch: How the Network Holds Its Shape

Now that we’ve toured the studio layout, let’s step a little closer to the workstations — the switches and routers. These are the real stylists and managers of the network floor. Switches decide who’s seated where and who gets to chat. Routers? They’re a mix of receptionist and security guard. They make sure messages leave properly, land in the right department, and follow all the house rules along the way.

Think of a network switch like the front desk assistant in a fashion house — polished, fast, and always in the know. Every time a designer (like a PC or server) plugs in, the switch memorizes their MAC address, just like putting a name to a face. So when it's time to pass a message or deliver data, it knows exactly where to send it without wandering through the studio in confusion.

Here’s how things are styled backstage:

• 🎯 Access Ports: These connect to end devices like PCs and servers and are assigned to specific VLANs. Think of it as giving each team its own dress code.

• 🚪 Trunk Ports: These link the switches to the router and carry traffic from multiple VLANs. It’s like a shared hallway used by different departments without running into each other.

• 🧵 VLAN Assignments: Devices are grouped by their roles. VLAN 10 might represent the buzzing design floor, VLAN 70 the tailors’ table, and VLAN 100 the locked-up server vault.

image 2.1

The image above is a screenshot showing the running configuration on one of the switches — Switch4, viewed from the command-line interface (CLI).

Let’s break down what the commands mean:

interface FastEthernet0/1  
 switchport access vlan 70  
 switchport mode access  

This tells the switch:
“Only traffic from the tailoring team (VLAN 70) should pass through this port.”
It’s like assigning a sewing station to just one department — no mix-ups allowed.

Now look at this:

interface GigabitEthernet0/5  
 switchport trunk allowed vlan 10,20,70,120  
 switchport mode trunk  

Here, we’re saying:
“You’re a shared hallway between switches and routers. Let VLAN 10 (Design), VLAN 20 (Patterning), VLAN 70 (Tailoring), and VLAN 120 (Admin) pass through. Block the rest.”

That’s important because trunk ports can carry traffic from many VLANs, but this command specifies exactly which VLANs are allowed. It keeps things organized — like a backstage pass that only works for certain rooms.

Routers: The Network’s Wardrobe Stylists

If switches handle seating charts, routers handle communication between departments. They’re the wardrobe stylists of the network — making sure the right pieces go together, and that everyone talks only when necessary.

Without routers, VLANs are completely isolated. Imagine the design team trying to send fabric notes to tailoring — and getting no reply. Total chaos.

Routers solve this through Inter-VLAN routing, which lets devices in different VLANs exchange information through subinterfaces — secure, virtual doorways that separate and direct traffic.

Let’s take a peek inside Router1’s CLI and see how it’s configured.

image 2.2

From the image above, the command line:

interface GigabitEthernet0/2.120

 encapsulation dot1Q 120

 ip address 192.168.120.1 255.255.255.240

This simply means:
“This is the entry point for VLAN 120. Any traffic from that zone must come through here with no exceptions.”

In setups like this, where a partial mesh includes multiple routers, these “studio managers” use routing protocols to decide how data travels. They can be static, which are manually set, or dynamic, which adjust automatically based on the network. It’s like sending models down the quickest runway with no wardrobe malfunctions.

In this case, the protocol used is OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) — a dynamic routing method that helps routers find the fastest and most efficient path between VLANs.

 End Devices: When the Machines Start Talking

Now that the switches are patched and the routers are ready to go, it’s time to shift the spotlight to the real stars of the studio: the end devices. These include the tools teams use every day — design PCs, tailoring terminals, admin systems, and more.

Think of each device as a member of the fashion house — designers sketching, tailors sewing, and administrators keeping things running. But in this setup, they’re not chatting about fabric. They’re exchanging data. And how do we check whether they can talk to each other across the studio floor, or across VLANs? We use a simple tool called ping, the digital version of tapping someone’s shoulder to ask, “Hey, can you hear me?”

Let’s take a look at what happened when PC7, located in VLAN 10, tried to reach out to its colleagues.

image 3.1

First Up: VLAN 20

PC7 pinged:

• 192.168.20.10

• 192.168.20.12

Reply?
"Destination host unreachable" from 192.168.10.17.

This wasn’t just silence — it was a locked door. The data didn’t even make it out of the room. Why?

An Access Control List (ACL) had been applied, acting like a security badge that says, “Designers aren’t allowed in the Tailoring room.” So even though the router is capable of routing between VLANs, the ACL explicitly blocks that path.

Next: VLAN 120

PC7 pinged:

• 192.168.120.3

The replies came back quickly and cleanly — no hiccups. Designers and Admins are clearly on good terms.

 

Finally: VLAN 70

PC7 pinged:

• 192.168.70.6

The replies showed low latency and zero packet loss. The Design team and the Tools team can communicate — which makes sense for real-time production feedback.

Access Control Lists are like fabric-cutting guides: precise, intentional, and non-negotiable. In this setup, they’ve been used to enforce strict departmental separation. Designers in VLAN 10 aren’t allowed to “walk into” the Tailoring VLAN, possibly to maintain workflow structure, data privacy, or simply to avoid unnecessary crossover.

Additional Notes on the Network Topology

1. Why is there an orange dot on Switch3 at F0/5 in image 1.1?
   This orange dot is perfectly normal. It’s Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) doing its job. In a redundant topology like this, STP identifies loops and blocks one of the redundant paths. The orange port is not dead, it’s a backup. If the main path fails, STP will unblock the port automatically.

   (Quick reminder: the root bridge is the central switch all others look to for guidance. It’s chosen based on the lowest bridge ID, which is made up of the switch’s priority and MAC address.)

2. Why are the switches connected if inter-VLAN routing is handled by the router?
   Great question. When VLANs span multiple switches, those switches need to be connected so they can:

• Share VLAN membership across devices

• Pass VLAN-tagged traffic using trunk ports

• Allow devices on the same VLAN but different switches to communicate

  The router handles inter-VLAN routing (Layer 3), but switches handle VLAN connectivity (Layer 2). Trunk links between switches are what make this work.

3. Why do routers have two WAN IPs?
   Each router connects to two neighboring routers, and each shared connection uses a different subnet. This means no router has two IPs from the same subnet, which is important. If it did, the system would flag that as an IP overlap  and the network wouldn’t function properly.

4. What type of IP routing is used here?
   The setup uses a dynamic routing protocol — OSPF (Open Shortest Path First). Since this is a partial mesh with redundant paths, OSPF is ideal. It automatically manages the best routes and reroutes traffic when a path fails. That means the network can adapt in real time, without you manually updating the configuration. Efficient, resilient, and very runway-ready.

Wrapping It All Up

From sketching VLANs to tailoring trunk ports, this whole setup proves that behind every well-functioning network is a mix of planning, intention, and a touch of style. Just like in fashion, the structure behind the scenes matters just as much as what people see on the surface.

The switches figured out who sits where. The routers made sure the right conversations happened, and that boundaries were respected. The end devices played their parts, communicating when allowed and staying quiet when the rules said so.

If you're someone who loves fashion and is starting to explore tech, or you're already into networking and just enjoy a fresh perspective, I hope this post helped make the technical side feel a bit more approachable.

Have questions about the setup? Curious how Cisco Packet Tracer works? Want to hear more tech lessons inspired by life in the studio? Feel free to drop a comment, share the post, or reach out — I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time, keep creating, keep learning, and stay connected.

Cheers,

Ibukunoluwa

Writer | Slow Fashion Advocate | Cloud Security Newbie