Sidebar: What's a Layer 2 Network?

A Layer 2 network is like what you might use in your office - it's a flat network where all the participating machines can communicate without the need for a router, said Matthew Prough, Multi-jurisdictional Public Safety Information System administrator.

"In contrast, a Layer 3 network is one in which separate networks exist, each with their own unique address space," he said. "To make a host on one network talk to a host on a different network, you need to have routers."

In cases where different locations are connected, a Layer 3 network setup is common, with individual networks and different network addresses at each location.

However, a Layer 3 network takes additional work to manage because of the multiple networks involved, Prough said. And in the instance of a server failure, the backup server would need to be reconfigured.

That's not the case in a Layer 2 network environment, where the backup server would automatically assume the same address as the primary server.

"Having a Layer 2 network across our sites makes management easier, because no matter which city you are in, you are on the same network subnet. This becomes very beneficial when you start talking about business continuity," said Prough.