New network topologie on old networks ruins

[Eiseps]

Hi! My native language is not English!

So the company where i work just got green light from its mother company to "upgrade" its network and I was asked to make it happen(NOTE I AM NOT SYS ADMIN, WE HAVE NONE, but i watch Linuss and TechSyndicate so boss thinks i could do it and it is cheaper and I WILL GET NICE BONUSS).

First thing i did is got faster internet. 10/10 dsl wasnt good. I got best awayable(affordable) ISP to give 100/100 Mbps fiber. WINN!?!?

Next thing to do is put in use all hardware that was sent to us.

We got six D-link DES-1100-24 24port switchs and nine Asus WIFI AP. and ofcorse cate5 cabel ~ 1km.

 

THe thing is.... Building is old... and I i will have to use as much of old setup as possible(cable channels, and holes in the wall)

 

I am asking if this type of topologie will not creat some kind of "slowdowns", "bottlenecks"? No cabel will be longer than ~60 meters.

 

There is no server in this building. Cloud FTW. No network printer. And phone is different ISP.

 

On WIFI AP there will be no more than 10 users pre AP, because many employes are not "social" and will not use their phones to surf web. And AP's are WPA2 password protected. Ofcorse NAT.

 

p.s. All i had was cissco packet tracer so dont look at brand name but at topologie.

[TJStamp]

if possible each 2950 should be directly connected to the router, if you chain them like that there will be a huge bottleneck on the link between switch2 and the router

[Eiseps]

Router is custom-build pc with Microtik routerOS 3.30.. it has only two NIC, one going in and one going out... Mybe better way would be to connect all switches to Switch 2? Like this?

[InVis]

I cant help at wonder why on earth you would have so many switches and no redundancy? 

 

Is it because you have ethernet in all rooms and needed more than 1 port on those locations and therefore installed som unmanaged cheap switches?

 

 

if possible each 2950 should be directly connected to the router, if you chain them like that there will be a huge bottleneck on the link between switch2 and the router

I agree, it makes no sense to connect all the switches together like that, they will be handling a shit ton of packets when the switch floods all ports and your general transfer speed will never be able to exceed your weakest link (from switch 2 to main router).

Switching betweeen the clients connected to the same switch will ofc be the speed of the switch.

[Eiseps]

So its bad idea to do anything and it should remain as it is? Multiple 8 port 10/100 switches...

 

 

 

edit: DES stands for Decent Ethernet Switch?

[InVis]

Router is custom-build pc with Microtik routerOS 3.30.. it has only two NIC, one going in and one going out... Mybe better way would be to connect all switches to Switch 2? Like this?

 

 

I would do somthing like this:

[InVis]

You can always add another router or maybe more ports to your current router to add redundancy and more spped

[Eiseps]

You can always add another router or maybe more ports to your current router to add redundancy and more spped

more ports add more speed? But your topologie looks promising if i had more pci slots in router so i could add more NIC.. but.. Life is life (Na na nanana)

[InVis]

more ports add more speed?

You would always want to break the network at a router and not chain too many links together.

 

If you had more ports in your router, you would connect your switches to that to avoid too much chatter on your network.

Or have a main switch (layer 3, better, faster than the other ones) and have that one take care of vlans and basic routing.

 

The links between the switches on my drawing are trunking ports 

[InVis]

Also I would change those wireless APs you have to either Open-Mesh, xclaim or ubiquiti (with an AWS cloud) for easier management

I think xclaim or open-mesh will suit your comany well

[InVis]

This would actually be a bit better:

[dzonidev]

-snip-

 

I have a few ideas how to setup the network. But it would be good if you can be more specific about what gear you are running (aside from the switches). Also, can you purchase new switches/access points/routers or just use the old ones and reconfigure them so they perform better?

[TJStamp]

why not change the router NIC for a better one? QuadPort PCI-E gigabit NICs are really very cheap these days on ebay

[Eiseps]

To answer everyone. Today i tried to figure out old topologie... it was a mess... i dont... even...... no......

 

@dzonidev All i have is six D-Links and nine Asus WIFI AP. PC's are windows 7 and up. EDIT. There is many old 8-port cisco switches and one 24 port cisco "main" switch(in "switch 2" place) all are 10/100

 

@InVis I have no time and no knowledge to pursuit your SYS admins wet dream with VLAN configurations. And the best thing (maybe) i can do is put one NIC in router. THATS IT! But do i have to "Bridge" those NIC?

 

@TJStamp I have never ordered anything from ebay.. Ho it works for company? How it works world wide? Who pays taxes? how about warranty? Support?

[dzonidev]

-snip-

 

So basically that "upgrade" is a simple reorganization of current devices. In my honest opinion you should consider obtaining new switches because, current ones are outdated and however you go, you will have bottlenecks. However even with the old gear, you can make some change.

 

There is no point in placing one NIC in the router, since you can't connect all switches to it.

 

Select the least used switch out of those 6, hell you can even buy a new gigabit 8 port one and use it as a master switch, they cost less than $30 USD. The switch you select/buy will serve as the master switch, all other switches connect to that master switch. Move the access points to the master switch. You are done.

 

NOTE: I see all of these D-Links are configurable so if you can be bothered, you can setup a Static Trunk (similar to Link Aggregation) and group up to 4 ports.

 

You can buy from eBay as a business with a business account. As for taxes consult with your co-workers.

[InVis]

-SNIP-

So you are not actually upgrading your network but just shuffleing devices around?

 

If all your switches are 10/100, they must be pretty old.

 

I find it funny that you think it is a wet dream and I am actually a bit offended by your arrogance, I was only trying to help you in the right direction - however you choose to configure your network is of course totally up to you and the above is only a sketch.

 

Have you asked your boss how much it will cost the company to be down either totally or partly for 1 day - I am guess he will still have to pay your employees salary even tho they are not working (100 people * x hours * median salary = downtime cost).

When a company has that size, it is often a very good idea to have a decent network with redundancy and get some professionals to set it up and manage it for you as the cost of being down can far exceed the cost of building and manageing a good network.

[dzonidev]

-snip-

 

I agree with this 100% ^^

 

The fact that they don't have a person dedicated for their IT, points that either the boss is cutting down costs and doing this at the worst place possible or doesn't see IT as a investment worth spending for in the first place. Second thing I must warn you @Eisepsy, you just became the company's unofficial administrator and when shit hits the fan you will be one being pointed to. So my suggestion to you, would be to not do this half assed, because it will likely bite you back at some point.

 

Take some time, review our suggestions do a detailed check of the network and in what state it is. Find out how long these switches are operating, develop a plan (we're here) and present it to your boss.

[InVis]

I agree with this 100% ^^

 

The fact that they don't have a person dedicated for their IT, points that either the boss is cutting down costs and doing this at the worst place possible or doesn't see IT as a investment worth spending for in the first place. Second thing I must warn you @Eisepsy, you just became the company's unofficial administrator and when shit hits the fan you will be one being pointed to. So my suggestion to you, would be to not do this half assed, because it will likely bite you back at some point.

 

Take some time, review our suggestions do a detailed check of the network and in what state it is. Find out how long these switches are operating, develop a plan (we're here) and present it to your boss.

 

Agreed

 

We are here to help.

 

I would strongly advise you to make a rough sketch of what you want and have it built and configured by either you or some pros - but make sure to get it in writing from your boss that whatever he decides, it is his decision and you are not to blame for any downtime.

Also it would be a good idea to make sure that who ever is doing maintenance on your network is ITIL compliant.

[techguru]

should have used cat6 cabling as well

not 5...id even maybe use cat7 if the price wasn't to much more

[InVis]

should have used cat6 cabling as well

not 5...id even maybe use cat7 if the price wasn't to much more

cat 6a my friend

 

Cat7 is not worth it yet - its cheaper to run fiber for your 10g links

[dzonidev]

should have used cat6 cabling as well

not 5...id even maybe use cat7 if the price wasn't to much more

 

Yeah pulling new CAT 6 in an old building... Been there, done that, never again.