Network architecture?

take a look on this image


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These are 12 9-storeyed buildings about 90-120 feet far from each other with 230-290 flats each . I have them connected with 100mb/s twisted pair. I have about 150 people connected to the network and it is growing everyday.


Using one D-link DES 2108 layer2 switch I already have storm control, IGMP Snooping and Spanning Tree options.





Existing problems: occasionally "hung" switches, low speed on certain segments because of network overload, probability of cable damage anytime anywhere.





1. Is it possible to refuse from using cable and use wireless networking instead (should be not slower than 100 mb/s but hopefully even close to 1Gb/s)





2. How to speed-up (optimise) traffic flow without rebuilding segments to 1Gb/s?





3. Any other solutions?

Network architecture?
1) 1Gbp/s wireless is expensive. It'd probably be more cost effective to upgrade your D-Link equipment to something that will handle Etherchannel (like Cisco's). You can run up to 8 100Mbp/s connections on an Etherchannel, therefore greatly speeding up your network. Of course, you'd have to have the copper in place.





2) You cannot optimize traffic using a Layer 2 switch unless you have less traffic. The problem is that you have to propagate everything sent across the wire. Your only option is to upgrade your switches to have a Layer 3 switch in the core and access switches in the other buildings. That would break it down to having one subnet/collision domain per building. It will be rather costly, but you didn't state a budget either. A used Cisco Layer 3 Cat 4503 on E-Bay would run you about $2500-$3000 with fans, cards, and a supervisor engine.





3. You don't have to connect all of the buildings to a central location with an Internet connection. You could connect two two three buildings to an ISP and simply get more connections where you need it to support the network. This may be extremely cheap to do if you're talking DSL (~$40/mo in the U.S.) versus getting expensive equipment. However, this can add up over time where the Layer 3 switch would probably cost less over the same span of the equipments lifetime. You'll have to weigh it out based on your budget.





If you're looking to increase your "cool factor," running the network on a layer 3 switch will bring you up a lot more points than multiple ISPs. It takes more technical expertise, but it's the right thing to do in most cases. Otherwise, you're going to be owned by broadcasts storms - either today or next year when your network grows too big for its britches again...





WG
Reply:I dare say you have an underpowered network..





for something w/ that many flats, I'd think something like a Cisco 6509 w/ 6x 48 port blades would be a minimum to support just one building. and One Vlan per floor etc..to keep broadcasts down.





Interconnect the buildings via the 6509s etc..





Not sure what you're using for connectivity to the internet, but unless you've got 10gig metro etc..I would'nt even considering giving more then 100mbs to each flat..

veneers