Backbone Switches!!!

Hi allz!
We r gonna change our network infrastructure. I need ur valuable helps and recommendations on selecting backbone switches.
Here is our system...
13 Servers including Database, Application, Web, Terminal,...
about 750 employees. There will be also internet users who will access to database.
We r planning put switches in 3 levels as Cisco recommends. Access, Distribution, Backbone...
According to this plan we r gonna use;
2950 on Access Level
3560 and 3750 on Distribution
and
for Backbone switch Im a little bit confused.
We have some 3750G-24TS-E switches. What do u guys think about puttin one of these switches as Backbone? Can they handle?
Actually im thinking about using of 4500 series. I dont have any experience with them and im not sure they are better than 3750?
Thanks for any recommendations and helps...
Ahmet SAAT
Network Engineer

Hi Ahmet,
I feel the 4500 series will be a ideal choice if ur organisation size fall under small or medium but if it is so large capacity as far as the processing and traffic is considered, better go for Catalyst 6500.
Go thro,
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/index.html
Rate if it does,
Rgs

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    "First Question:  As I mentioned, the cluster validation wizard thinks everything is great. 
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  • Is 1 server enough?  Or should I employ a 2 server system?

    *Brief Backgound:*
    I have 60 LDAP directory bound clients (PPC eMacs and Intel iMacs) to one Dual G5 PowerMac server - such that students login on any client in one of the 3 computer labs and mount their own home directory.
    *The Issue:*
    It seems to me that the student login process takes way too long to mount their home directories - they often, but not always, have to sit there and wait - and occasionally the authentication process hangs, requiring a forced reboot of the client. And it's worth noting that performance is not always quicker when only a few clients are in use.
    *My question:*
    Do I need a second server to speed up the login process? Or, am I nowhere near needing a second server, and should I instead concentrate my efforts on other issues to figure out the slow login issue?
    *The Details:*
    Clients are student eMacs and iMacs running 10.4.10, the slowest of which is 1GHz PPC with 384MB RAM and the newest is 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo with 512MB RAM. All have a dedicated 100mbs wired network connection - that is, each computer has it's own CAT5 cable direct into a 3COM switch which is then connected via gigabit to the backbone switch that the server is tied into. Generally, kids use Safari, MS Office 2004, iLife apps, etc. I have a login hook to make Office look to the client not the server for fonts, etc. Any video work is done on a local user account, not over the network.
    The Server is a connected to one of 2 backbone gigabit switches with gigabit (very nice Cisco). It's also running 10.4.10 Server. It's a 2.0GHz Dual G5 PowerMac with 2GB RAM and 2 hard drives. I use Workgroup Manager to manange client preferences. When I monitor the server, neither the processor nor the memory ever get taxed, and there's plenty of free disc space. I plan to replace it with a new 2.6GHz Intel Mac Pro this month, but should I replace it with 2 Mac Pros instead of 1?
    Concerns:
    I find it a bit daunting to divide the current setup into a 2 server system, but if the results will have a very noticable impact on performance, then I'm willing to go that route.
    *Many thanks in advance for your helpful advice!!!*

    With your current setup, and just a few clients logging in, you should see pretty decent performance. If all 60 clients logged in at about the same time, you'd be pushing it.
    Things to consider:
    A replica server with roughly half of the user homes to spread the load.
    You mention two HD's, but how do you use them. If a new server is out of the question, you may consider an eSata RAID. You could take the two HD's you have, install the System on them and stripe them for faster performance. Even though you have some files stored locally, there's still a lot of little files flying around when clients log in. A striped system HD may make r/w access a lot faster. Put the network homes on the eSata in a RAID 5 for speed and redundancy. Assuming that the System doesn't change that much, keep a backup of the internal HD's as often as you need, and ditto for the external RAID.
    Check out
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304106
    and here
    http://www.afp548.com/article.php?story=20060329213629494&query=afp%2Btuning
    I'm not sure if 10.4.8 and later take care of this stuff, but I can say that these articles have improved performance on our network greatly.
    hth
    Jeff

  • Unable to Ping AP

    Hello,
    I have a new setup I'm trying to build with a WLC2106 and 4 1142n's (currently just trying to get 1 working).  I have the WLC running 7.0.98.0.  I built a new VLAN on our core network (3560g) and have the ap-manager, management interfaces ip'ed in that vlan.  I also have the AP plugged into the PoE port on port 8 and it ip'ed in the same VLAN.  The AP associates to the WLC, i am able to configure it from the WLC, but i cannot ping it, from the WLC or from anywhere.  I cannot ping anything from console on the AP either.
    My assumption is once, i get ip connectivity established, the AP will be able to communicate to our network DHCP server and issue out IP's.  I just can't figure out what is wrong with the network setup.  I have the trunk configured properly on the core switch from the WLC, i can ping other hosts on the other vlans that are allowed.
    Interfaces on WLC:
    Interface Name                   Port Vlan Id  IP Address      Type    Ap Mgr Guest
    ap-manager                       1    5        10.108.5.3      Static  Yes    No  
    management                       1    5        10.108.5.2      Static  No     No  
    office-vlan-2                    1    2        10.108.111.96   Dynamic No     No  
    virtual                          N/A  N/A      1.1.1.1         Static  No     No
    AP Config:
    infraspawap2#show capwap ip config
    LWAPP Static IP Configuration
    IP Address         10.108.5.5
    IP netmask         255.255.255.240
    Default Gateway    10.108.5.1
    I've been staring at this for days and just can't figure it out (so it's probably just something simple i've missed).  Any help is greatly appreciated.
    Thanks,
    Ben

    So i may have solved this, or at least provided a work-around.  I made the new Vlan for MGMT and AP interfaces native on the switch and changed the config on the WLC to untagged.  I also disabled DHCP proxy.  This allowed clients to retrieve DHCP from our network server and get connected to the LAN, however i was still unable to ping the AP.
    I then moved everyhting into a different VLAN (already existing) and had the same results.  I then moved the AP off of the WLC and used a power brick to connect it directly to the backbone switch.  This rectified the issue.  I am now able to ping accross all vlans to/from the AP.  My only question really is why not from the switch on the WLC?  what was/ wasn't i doing that prevented this when directly connected to the WLC?

  • Challenging Network Design

    I am going to attach a drawing and  offer up a challenge to anyone who wants to solve it.  I have two ways  on how to make it work.
    So here is the scenario.
    1) This is a  transit network. That means there are objects that circumnavigate a  known path along tracks.
    2) There is already an infrastructure of  fiber connected to Cisco ONSs at OC-48 speeds
    3) Hanging off the  ONS are 6 Cisco 6509 Chassis
    4) Hanging off the 6509 Chassis are  Cisco 3560 switches
    5) Hanging off the 3560 switches are Cisco  Wireless Access Points
    6) The objects circumnavigating the tracks  have a Cisco Wireless Access Point and a Cisco 3560 switch to connect  equipment on board
    7) The Wireless access points are managed by a  WISM on the 6509s
    8) Wireless Antenna are spread along the track  so that the vehicle has constant contact with the network
    9) There  are multiple VLANs in the Primary and Backup Data Centers
    10) The  is just one VLAN on the vehicle
    11) The equipment on the vehicle  needs to communicate to the data center and to other vehicles
    12)  Each vehicle has a need for 16 hosts
    The question I have (or the  challenge) is to figure out how the vehicles can maintain constant  contact with the rest of the network.  The data center configuration is  more or less done.  It challenge is figuring out how to subnet and route  and/or bridge the trains to keep in contact with the rest of the  network while it switches from one access point to another and from one  6509 backbone switch to another.
    What are your thoughts?
    James

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    Thank you for this nice challenge!
    I assume all the 6500 switches are connected together, but you do not describe how this logical topology is. Is it a shared layer 2 Ethernet or is there a point to point structure between them?
    How many access points do you have behind each of the 3560 switches outside the 6500 switches?
    What types of access point are used?
    The best way to do this is to implement WISM modules (wireless controllers) in the 6500 switches or in at least two of them (redundancy). How many depends on the amount of access points you have installed that are fixed and not moving around. These access points should then be lightweight access points.
    Access points on the moving objects will connect with the most optimal fixed access point and traffic will be tunneled back to the controller where the access point is connected. This is called local mode and you can consider the AP on the moving object as a client that are directly connected (locally) at the controllers interface towards the switch.
    If the moving object move so that another fixed access point is used, and that access point is connected to the same controller then the client will appear to the network as it have newer moved since it remains connected to the same controller.
    More 'challenging' (but solved) is when the moving object connects to an AP that is associated to another controller than where it first connected. Then this controller tunnels the traffic back to the first controller and the client still seems to be locally connected at the first controller.
    Summary so far: The point where the AP on the moving object seems to be connected with the LAN will remain at the Ethernet port of the first controller it is connected via as long as it is connected to any of the fixed access points.
    IP addressing: You subnet the network as usual and provide a DHCP pool for the clients at each site with 6500 switches that contains WISM modules.
    The clue is ‘local mode’.
    Regards,
    André

  • Help with 4255

    Hi All,
    I have installed a 4255 sensor inline behind an ASA 5550 that connects to the Internet.
    The problem is that the IPS is not tuned (brand-new) and as soon as we connect the IPS inline, the CPU goes up to 100% and stops the traffic flow in a matter of minutes.
    Therefore we removed the IPS and everything went back to normal.
    Now, I connected the 4255 in promiscuous mode (behind the ASA connected to the 4506 backbone Switch), and I still see the CPU between 40% to 80%
    The sensor is running the latest image 7.0(2)E3 and the latest signature package S477.0
    My questions are:
    1. Where do I check on the sensor exactly what is it doing, because we plan to leave the IPS in IDS mode for a couple of weeks. Are there some kind of reports that I can get from it? What is the best way to check it out? I managed the sensor via IDM 7.0
    2. After getting the above information what is the recomendation to tune the device? Disable signatures? How do I find out which signatures do I need and if we are getting lots of false positives and/or false negatives?
    3. Any other comments are appreciated!
    Thank you All as always.
    Federico.

    Hi,
    Download and install the following.
    HP OSD Utility.
    Proximity Sensor Driver.
    When done, restart the notebook.
    Regards,
    DP-K
    ****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
    ****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
    ****I don't work for HP****
    Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

  • BIG Problem in our LAN

    Hi every one,
    In our company we have the topology below:
    It seems that the LAN is stable , and everything works fine, for saving  user’s data we use mechanic ways : we  visit every user and we save its data with external hard drive, so we want to use some software that can help us making saving users’ data easy for us, like symentec backup exec or other automatic ways,
    Before doing it, I save one document (size = 9 Go)   using the LAN, this document is in the server_1
    And will go Through the switch_1 and switch_2 to my laptop,
    During this operation, we can’t make phone call with phones connected to switch_3 , And sometimes we  some users cannot work in server_2
    All switches are 48 ports
    So I think that the problem is with the switch_1: its bandwidth is not enough
    I can’t take any decision because I’m not sure I have many suggestions:
    •1)      backbone switch
    •2)      Separate data from the voice
    •3)      Adding another switch
    •4)      Linking the Avaya to switch_2 and servers to switch_3
    •5)      Buy  Cisco switches  and replace  the Enterasys Swithes
    Hope it was clear and I hope I will get the good answer, thank you.

    I would if possible, put you servers in a different VLAN from your user and voice data if the Enterasys Switches could do. This will seperate the traffic flows and will only aid you in finding the solution. Configure the Enterasys device to do the routing between the devices if possible as you would with the core, this will stop the fortigate or router from being congested.
    Ensure your servers are running at speed 1000 and duplex full as well as your fiber connections. if not possible ensure your gigabit connections configured properly.
    If the switches are unmanaged switches i would look at option 5, if that is not feasible I would strongly recommend a re-architecture put all the data intensive users near your servers.

  • Fall back to DNS if node in HOSTS file doesn't respond

    I have a server farm in which the servers talk to each other on a private backbone (via hosts files), but the clients talk to the servers on a second NIC via AD/DNS. Is there a way to have the servers fail over to DNS if entries in the hosts files don't
    respond (in other words, if the private backbone switch fails)?

    1. It depends on node type, DNS suffixes and DNS content.
    2. Be aware of problems with multihome domain controller.
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772564.aspx
    Regards
    Milos

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