[nsp] Gigabit/Fibre LAN - Required Network Elements

Church, Chuck cchurch at wamnetgov.com
Thu Apr 22 10:07:25 EDT 2004


Seems like you have an immediate need for fast LAN bandwidth, but very
little WAN bandwidth needs.  I think 3745s are way overkill if you're
going to be at less than T1 speed for the time being.  Couple 2600s
would probably suffice, but if the potential for DS-3 exists, maybe look
at the 2691.  As far as the switches are concerned, I believe the only
thing Cisco sells that will do 10GB is the 6500.  Way out of your price
range, I think.  If you can live with 'just' gigabit speed, the 3750
series would probably work pretty well.  I don't think you'd be gaining
much with the jump to the 4500s, not enough anyways to justify the huge
price jump. 


Chuck Church
Lead Design Engineer
CCIE #8776, MCNE, MCSE
Wam!Net Government Services - Design & Implementation Team
13665 Dulles Technology Dr. Ste 250
Herndon, VA 20171
Office: 703-480-2569
Cell: 703-819-3495
cchurch at wamnetgov.com
PGP key:
http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=index&search=cchurch%40wamnetgov.
com
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Tinka [mailto:mtinka at africaonline.co.sz] 
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2004 1:05 AM
To: Church, Chuck; cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
Subject: RE: [nsp] Gigabit/Fibre LAN - Required Network Elements

Church, Chuck wrote:
> Mark,

Hi Chuck.

> 
> 	How many workstations and servers are you initially using,...

There will be:

	o 11 user workstations
	o 3 laptops
	o 2 network servers
	o 4 media servers
	o 2 content-production workstations

>...and how
> much potential growth?

We don't envisage that much (or any) growth after this; you could say
+/- 3 workstations/servers over the next 5 to 7 years of operation.

>  How much uptime/reliability is required?

Well, being a high capacity LAN that would be 100% under our control, we
are gunning for a 99.99% uptime, or thereabouts. In terms of
reliability, the key servers have been backed up and have their
redundant counter-parts. The same goes for the 2 switches and 2 routers,
for redundancy and load balancing (where possible).

>  I
> haven't checked in a year or so, but last I knew, no server could come

> close to saturating a gig link.  Not sure why you're using 10gb links 
> to servers, much less workstations.

Well, to be honest, I think so too - but we are also trying to cater for
any future bandwidth requirements over the next few years. It's been
made clear that there may not be much room for more capex :(. 

Having said that, perhaps a 1Gbps LAN may still be reasonable, as you
say.

>  Seems like tremendous
> overkill, and very costly.

This is true, especially for the 10Gbps cards, since motherboards
nowadays come with up to 1Gbps LAN interfaces.

>  If I'm reading it right, you've already purchased all these 10gb 
> NICs,...

Well, not for all the servers, just 2 of them. If they meet our
cost/benefit ratios, then we may go ahead and do a round purchase. But I
didn't want to do that until I was sure I was spending only where I
needed you, hence this mail.

> and budget only allows for two 3725
> routers and two 3550 switches???       

Correct!

> 
> 
> Chuck Church
> Lead Design Engineer
> CCIE #8776, MCNE, MCSE
> Wam!Net Government Services - Design & Implementation Team 13665 
> Dulles Technology Dr. Ste 250 Herndon, VA 20171 Office: 703-480-2569
> Cell: 703-819-3495
> cchurch at wamnetgov.com
> PGP key:
>
http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=index&search=cchurch%40wamnetgov.
> com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net 
> [mailto:cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Mark Tinka
> Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 11:11 AM To: cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
> Subject: [nsp] Gigabit/Fibre LAN - Required Network Elements
> 
> Hi all.
> 
> We are planning a project that will be LAN-bandwidth intensive - there

> will be a lot of file sharing, a lot of media streaming and quite a 
> large amount of packet transfer across the LAN.
> 
> We are thinking of running Gig-E on Cat-5 UTP and fibre.
> 
> To be more specific:
> 
> 
> 	o We plan to run the main media servers on a 10Gbps LAN
backbone.
> 	  The servers already have IntelR PRO/10GbE LR Server Adapter.
These 
> adapters have a dual-port interface for an MMF/SMF fibre hookup.
> 
> 	o All the LAN machines already have the IntelR PRO/1000 MT
Desktop
> 	  Adapter installed, and can run from as low as 10Mbps through
to 
> 100Mbps and onto 1Gbps, over Cat-5 UTP.
> 
> 	o Some of the workstations that will access the the media
servers
> 	  for content will need to re-serve it to both internal and
external
> 	  users. These workstations are equipped with the IntelR
PRO/10GbE LR 
> Server Adapter, along with the dual-port interface for an MMF fibre 
> hookup.
> 
> 	o We are also integrating IP telephony for our internal
telephone
> 	  system on the same backbone, using Cisco IP Phones and some
Cisco
> 	  switching/routing gear. We need to have sufficient capacity on
the 
> LAN so voice quality isn't compromised.
> 
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 	o We are looking for a solution that will allow us to run our
LAN
>     	  from 10Mbps all the way to 1Gbps, using both Cat-5 and SMF or
> 	  MMF fibre, depending on the distance/bandwidth trade-off. More

> specifically, a solution in terms of switching and routing.
> 
> 	o What we have on budget now is 2x 3550 Cisco Catalyst Switch
and 2x
> 	  3725 Cisco routers. Obviously, for us to realise anything
between
>   	  100Mbps and 10Gbps, we need to run said speed right from the
PC 
> network card through to the switch and then the router.
> 
> 	o Could anyone please suggest what we could do with this Cisco
gear?
> 	  We haven't yet ordered, as we may need to be specific about
> 	  required network modules. I could have done all this on my
own, but 
> I realised I may not have enough time, and would really appreciate any

> tips/feedback from list members that have (tried) such
> a scenario.   
> 
> 	o Essentially, we want fibre and Cat-5 to reside on the
> 	  switches/routers, in, more or less, equal amounts, to allow
for 
> growth and expansion in either direction.
> 
> 
> Please note that while this project is quite ambitious, this is a 
> corporate business, with just *enough* money to spare, hence the low 
> router/switch specs at this time. Anything higher may not be quite 
> feasible (probably until some time in the future), but your input is
> welcome, nonetheless.    
> 
> Any other information anyone can provide will be much appreciated.
> Thanks. 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Mark Tinka
> Technical Manager, Africa Online Swaziland
> 
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Regards,

Mark Tinka
Technical Manager, Africa Online Swaziland




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