Networks

why are you doing this if you by your own words, infer that you don't know what your doing?

What's the plan?

Planning the network requires you to determine what the needs of the users of the network are. Those needs will then provide performance parameters the network must have to meet user needs. Those performance parameters then are used to determine what equipment you will have to buy so that once completed, you meet the plan.

Note: Users is a generic term. It can mean employees who use computer network resources to do their job or it can mean the average general public Joe or Jane user who accesses a web site. YouTube's network is far different than a medium sized manufacturer of nuts bolts and screws. Both have users and both networks need to be planned for their respective users.

Again, what's the plan?

It is designed to be a small media network but I also need connectivity to the internet.

The big thing is the gigabit switch. The reason I am iffy about the cisco switch is that i've never used the IOS software before...

If I were to get an 1800, which submodel would be the best choice?

So here's the question. a gigabit switch that has hosts with 10/100 NICs will have what connection?

if your internet connection is ethernet and the ethernet WAN port is 10/100 your going to get what?

So why is the gigabit switch a big thing? That's why I say what's the plan. If you planned it out, then you will know what you need and can choose the appropriate equipment to meet the plan....

The gigabit is for transfer between the computers on the LAN... For example, our editing stations to our video playout server which are all connected via the Gigabit switch. The internet router speed doesn't matter right? 10/100 will be more than plenty to feed internet into the local network correct?

because I don't know what the requirements are. That's the point I'm trying to make. There has to be a plan. In that plan are the performance requirements. Hardware is chosen to meet the performance requirements.

Video editing requires horsepower for the editing software. Not necessarily network throughput between editors. Sending large files between computers on the network might require large throughput values but how often is that going to happen? If sending files between computers only happens sporatically, then pricey switches tends to not be economical.

If you have a video payout server where's it paying out to? other workstations? What's the point of a payout server?

My understanding of video creation is that there are many workers working on different parts. Only at the end are those parts put together to make a final product. Each worker works on their portion of the video. Often providing clips to show progress to storyboard outlines. They don't have to send large video files to other workstations unless there is collaboration.

My advice... determine what your performance requirements are for internet access and usage. Obtain equipment that will meed the performance requirements. Cisco makes many different routers to meet many different performance requirements. You can call them and they will go over your requirements and suggest an appropriate router.