Networks

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Core to Edge Switching Design Advice

0 helpful
5 replies

by tomsal

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

I'm looking for feedback on a new network design for a newly renovated 2 floor office building. The server room is going to be on the 1st floor w/ roughly 30% of the company's employees, the bulk of employees (70%) will be on the 2nd floor. The IS offices will be on the 2nd floor as well.

Initial planning has me putting the core switch in the 1st floor server room. The core will "feed" my edge switches which in turn provide the actual client connections on BOTH floors. The edge switches will be in a single wiring closet on the 2nd floor, in a central (or as central as I can get it) location. I have thoughts about even using fiber runs from the core to the edge switches, then CAT 5e for all the other connections.

Is this a sound plan? Please provide input.

5 replies

by joseph moore

Sounds good to me.

A central core (like a large Catalyst, maybe a 6509???) running 10/100.
Then workgroup switches servicing the users. A switch per room or department or however? The workgroup switches are all 10/100 also, I would hope? User network cards are set for auto-detect on the switch port speed?

I really like the fiber connections between the workgroup switches and the core switch. That will be more expensive, but if you have the money, then go for it! If your devices are GBICcapable, that might work cheaper than fiber.
IF not, then you need to decide just how fast of connections your users really need. Can they go down to 10 mbps, or do they really need 100 mbps? If 10 mbps is OK, then set the workgroup switches to 10 mbps, and then just use an uplink port on each switch running to the core switch set to 100 mbps.

So, determine your user speed needs. Other then that, your plan sounds like others I have seen that work just fine, IMHO.

by tomsal

Looks like I'm gonna have to NIX the fiber at the sake of budgets. Instead of fiber connection between the floors the best (non-fiber) option I have is a CAT6 Gigabit run from a GBIC to GBIC connection.

by lordinfidel

I would run fiber also.

You could also run a single fiber from the core to the central location (maybe 2 runs- each one goes into their own swicth with a failover)

no it's not a happy face---

router |
core switch(s)
| |
| |
_ = _ core edge
x
- - - - - edge swithes
//////\\\\\\\ clients

If you had 2 fiber runs from your core out to 2 core edge switches in the closet. For redundancy your 2 core switches would be in a fail over config, (cross overs connect them to each other- in the event one of your fibers get cut)

Then your edge switches plug into the 2 core edge switches, and obviuosly clients plug into them.

There is no reason why your edge swicthes can't be extended out to where the users are concentrated either.

by tomsal

My revised design is similar, but not exactly as you prescribed:

1st floor: router - firewall - core - edge

2nd floor: core - edge

The cores are connected with gigabit CAT6 / full duplex

I'm still tweaking some aspects of my design though...

thanks

This discussion is closed to new replies.