Extended Star

Hello

I have been given the task of proposing a network for a business with 5 departments.

Four departments are in a main building with a telephone connection for access to the internet while the last department is in a building around 120s away.

86nodes over 5 departments.


I'm thinking i should implement a extended star network but alittle uncertain.

I'm fairly new to networking so this is bugging me

Your main concern should be the link bewteen the buildings, and evaluating the type of traffic accross that link, there is only 1 department in the remote building, which does not neccessarly mean that the traffic will be low, for instance CAD/ Solidworks user can use a lot of bandwidth, on top of Web access.

Where are the file servers/Mail server located etc.

You might want to think of redundancy between the sites. a DSL connection with IPSEC VPN tunnel and or Fixed link or even 2 DSL connections with VPN backup.

Gather all your information and make the best possible analysis, we are here to help so post back your requirements with more detail.


Thanks

Thanks for responding, below is the specification i have been given.

FD Fabrications Network

A new business, FD Fabrications & Training, is to be set up on an industrial site on an old airfield in Norfolk. The main part of the business will be housed in a large single storey building but there will be a Test Centre in a separate building situated 120m away. The main building has a standard BT telephone connection.

The business will have rooms that will need to be equipped with networked PC’s and printers as follows:

Room Computers Total : 75 / Printers Total:11
Administration 11 / 3
Multimedia 16 / 3
Design 22 / 3
Training 8 / 1
Test Centre 18 / 1


The LAN must have a connection to the Internet.

So far i have come up with the concept of using a extended star network, where each room is on a seperate hub, the issue of the remote "training room" is concerning.

Thanks again.

These days, just about every lan is built logical star. I haven't seen any FDDI ring, token ring, bus network since 1998. Now, unless you want to build some metro ethernet then you may consider RPR. I would not recommend getting a bunch of fix port switches and slap them together.

Thanks for responding, below is the specification i have been given.

FD Fabrications Network

A new business, FD Fabrications & Training, is to be set up on an industrial site on an old airfield in Norfolk. The main part of the business will be housed in a large single storey building but there will be a Test Centre in a separate building situated 120m away. The main building has a standard BT telephone connection.

The business will have rooms that will need to be equipped with networked PC’s and printers as follows:

Room Computers Total : 75 / Printers Total:11
Administration 11 / 3
Multimedia 16 / 3
Design 22 / 3
Training 8 / 1
Test Centre 18 / 1


The LAN must have a connection to the Internet.

So far i have come up with the concept of using a extended star network, where each room is on a seperate hub, the issue of the remote "training room" is concerning.

Thanks again.

Is the building already cabled?

if not i recommend cat5e or Cat6 if you want to go gigabit, run the cables to a central point ( MDF ) choose a nice room for a rack or at least make it future proof, terminate the cable to Patch panels nicely labeled for less headache later. have all you DSL connections terminated here.

Do you already have switches?

If not i recommend cisco 3750 48 port x2, do you you require PoE?, you can get cheeper switches like the 2960's but the 3750 is a nice touch, all depends on the budget.

Now your remote building 120m away..

VPN is always a nice cheep option, 2x cisco pix/asa firewall's 1 at each site, there are a few possibilities here, might be worth speaking to BT Local Business see what they have to offer for connections.

a megastream might be an option.

Sadly only the details i have posted up are available, i need to submit a report covering the following, this is for a college task, so i won't actually be implementing the network, just need to write a report as if i were

Identification of the physical LAN topologies available, select one and give the reasons for your choice.

Recommendations for the physical communication media. Include a design and drawing of a logical network layout that shows the necessary networking hardware.

Recommend the network protocols to be used giving reasons for your choice.

Should i consider using a coaxial cable to connect the isolated building? or even using a wireless device?
Also if i do decide to use a extended star, should i place a switch at the isolated building or in the main building with the rest?

I'm pretty new to networking so any help is appreciated, thanks


Here is a diagram i have made up quickly, i'm not sure if its a workable network.