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setting up a network - PLZ HELP ASAP

864 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  JohnWill 
#1 ·
Hi,

This is my first post :) and I'm new to networking.

I have 100PCs that need to be set up in a networktn and they should be able to share the internet. My current setup is as follows:

five 24 port, 10/100Mbps switches, with say around 20PCs connected per switch.
Each of the five switches connect to a router (ie there are 5 routers).
All of the five routers connect to a main switch.
The Server, printer and another router (connection to the internet) connects to the main switch.

1. Can I have the same type of switches for all the switches (where the main switch is configured to a higher speed than the rest)?

2. Am I correct in assuming that the speed of the main switch must be greater than the 5 switches?

3. Can I have the same type of routers for all the routers
(where the router that connects to the internet is configured to a higher speed than the rest)?

4. Am I correct to assume that the speed of the router connecting to the internet must be greater than the 5 routers?

5. Does 10/100Mbps mean that I can configure the speed to a range from 10 to 100Mbps?

6. Do you have any suggestions?????

PLEASE HELP MEEEEE!!!!! :(

Sorry for the longgg post.
 
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#2 ·
You kind of sound like you are in over your head. I am not quite sure why you are worried about the speed of the switches and routers. They should Auto Negotiate there speeds, unless you want to cap some bandwidth on the routers.

10/100 basically means the Network device can run at 10Mbps or 100Mbps.

I would first figure out your physical network and then how you are going to subnet this network out.
 
#3 ·
First off, what kind of Internet connection do you have? What kind of routers are you thinking of?

What is the real need here? Are you planning on just sharing the Internet, or doing file/print sharing between systems? You do realize that there is a 10 client connection limit for workstation versions of W2K and XP-Pro, correct?

Personally, I'd connect the 5 24 port switches to a single 8 port switch, and then connect that to the router, assuming you only have a single Internet connection.

Since we have very few real facts to go on, it's pretty hard to design a network. :)
 
#4 ·
I'm new to all this, so quite confused. This is for an assignment I have to do (second year uni).

All we've been given is an organization with 100PCs, so we have to use our imagination and state all the assumptions.

What I thought was to divide the organization into five departments, say A, B, C, D, E. So Departiment A will have 24PCs, B will have 20, C will have 20, D will have 20, and C will have 16 for example. So, each department would be a subnet of my network. Each subnet will have a server PC and client PCs and a printer.
That is why I thought I need 5 routers connecting to another switch (main), so that computers in each subnet can be uniquely identified rather than connecting the "5 24 port switches to a single 8 port switch"

I was considering a Dell server to connect to the main, switch which is for a small organization under 400 employees. The server will be mainly for file/print and internet sharing.
The routers I was considering was 10/100Mbps.
The switches I was considering was 10/100Mbps and 10/1000Mpbs for the main switch OR all 10/100Mbps switches, I'm not sure which is the right choice.

Regarding the internet connection, we have to decide on which one to buy and justify it, which I haven't quite looked at yet.
Is there any important specifications in general about a network internet connection I should consider?

Also, Johnwill, I don't understand what you mean by "You do realize that there is a 10 client connection limit for workstation versions of W2K and XP-Pro".
I was looking at buying 'Microsoft Small Business Server 2003" which comes with the Dell server. This comes with 5CAL, and $99 for additionals and I was unable to find a limit to the number of additonal client CALs.
And the other thing is, the Small Business Server 2003 software will be installed in the Sever PC in each subnet, am I correct?
The main server usally (Dell) will have it's own configuration software, am I correct?


As I said, I'm really confused with all this and don't have a good technical knowledge.

If my solution sounds too stupid, please suggest a nice and simple solution.
Any help is appreciated.

Thanks a lot guys.
 
#5 ·
Well, I doubt I'd want all those servers to maintain for a 100 client network. I think one really decent one, and perhaps some sort of backup, would be plenty.

Of course, the object of this exercise really is for you to research how LAN's are designed, and then come up with a viable design. If I come up with the configuration, you won't learn that much I would imagine. :D
 
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