Im rather new to the Cisco world but have with other vendors. I need some help with design Best Practices. Recently there was a post that told us the max switch hop in a network should be about 7 hops. As a reseller, I am working with a customer who has the following network design:
Internet-3600-PIX-6500(r)-G-6500(s)-G-5500-5000-3500-1900-10M-3COMhub Unless indicated by a G or 10M, the link between devices is 100M. The 6500(r) does all the routing, the 6500(s) is where about 7 5500s hang off on Gig fiber. Each 5500 has about 3-4 5000s connected with 100M fiber. Each 5000 has about 10-12 3500s which have about 8-12 1900s. Each of the 1900s have about 4-8 3COM 10M hubs with students. Their teachers and admin staff sit on 10m & 100M links in the 5500s & 5000s. The 6500(s) has about 200 users via 100M. All the links support trunking until you hit a 1900. Ive over-simplified for this example, but I think you get the idea. This network just sort of grew this way over the years. Older equipment is pushed out to the edge as newer equipment is installed in the core. They report a lot of random problems all blamed on the network. Their firmware is pretty up to date and the hardware is reliable. While they are still using AppleTalk, a little IPX and mostly IP, I believe their network is too complex with all the switch hops. I want to propose a redesign that puts a user no more than three hops from the core 6500. This may mean new single mode fiber in some locations and upgrades to hardware in other locations. Im not looking for design help, Im looking for a smooth way of telling the customer their design is the problem, not the hardware itself. Any suggestions on how you have approached a customer or better yet, your boss, on the need to have a proper design, even if it means additional investment in fiber and effort to implement?? I appreciate the help from this group Jeff Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=38453&t=38453 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
