connecting server room to main office block!

Jay_2

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I have been built new building to house my new server rack etc.

Currently I have the rack setup in an office in the main office building. Then new building is about 100Meters from the current office building.

How will i be able to have the server rack setup in one building but still give full speed access to all users in the old office building? I can run only 1 or 2 cables max and I will not have space to have any system in the old office.

is Fiber my best bet here?
 
yeah, you should be able to run fiber pretty easy with converters at each end.

best way for that distance.

but if the point to point is 100 meters (328 feet), then you could run normal cat5e/6 and still be under ethernet distance specs.
normal ethernet would be cheaper because it's just cable, but it won't sound as cool as saying you have a fiber link between the buildings.
 
FIber or laserlink would be the best solution. If you use normal cat5 then you will need some more equipment to save both sides from voltage differences (dont know how it is called in english :rolleyes: ) between the buildings which could destroy your hardware.
Wireless is not save and also difficult over 100 meters. For the laserlink you also need a straight line of sight.

Laserlink
http://66.45.80.86/catalog/Detail.aspx?cid=425,429,1243&mid=4710
 
well potential difference is a big problem with copper CAT5 / 6, laser is WAY to expensive so optical looks like the way forward.

anyone have any hardware suggestions?
 
I have been built new building to house my new server rack etc.

Currently I have the rack setup in an office in the main office building. Then new building is about 100Meters from the current office building.

How will i be able to have the server rack setup in one building but still give full speed access to all users in the old office building? I can run only 1 or 2 cables max and I will not have space to have any system in the old office.
is Fiber my best bet here?

Thats a problem. You will need to keep your switches in the old office.
 
well i can keep the Cisco 2950 in there. I can move the ADSL, SDSL, firewall, VPN router over to the new place and connect via an optical switch.

is there any way to get a "box" the plugs into the front of the Cisco Switch that has RJ45 (to connect to the Cisco) and fiber to connect over to the new office?

I could then buy the same box on the other end and plug it into the smoothwall switch and bingo I have bridged the network with a fiber link.

god this is hard work, too much going on at once, relocation of existing network upgrade of existing network, install of 4 small scale network and integration of the networks together via VPN and TS.

tough for one guy!
 
We have the same setup, sort of, the server building isn't as far away(only 100 feet) but we ran 4 fiber pairs and 4 ethernet pairs. I always prefer to run more than you need, in fact 4/4 wasn't my suggestion, i wanted 8/8 or 4/8 but i got overruled. How big is your setup? What approximately does it look like? How many systems in the main building? Does one 2950 handle the entire building? If not how many switches are there? Ideally you'd want at least one line for every switch.

Are you talking about a fiber media converter? I can't suggest a company but a google search will bring upall kinds of copper to fiber converters.
 
All you need is two fiber transceivers and the fiber and path to run it between them.
 
the 2950 can handle all the systems in the main building (we have small switches to consolidate the larger rooms to one or 2 cat5s to the main switch.)

the main office are all desktop PCs (about 30 i think)

the current server room is located in the main building and thats where all the cat5 runs to.

the new remote offices will connect to the smooth wall in the new server room via ADSL/Cable
(VPN). In theory i am creating a data center just that one office is close enough to be connected via fiber or cat6.

So if i get some media converters, run 2 fiber lines over there (one backup) via some large conduit with a wire runner (i can then pull more if for some reason i need to) i should be able to connect to new server room to the switch in the old room and have a decent connection.
 
well i can keep the Cisco 2950 in there. I can move the ADSL, SDSL, firewall, VPN router over to the new place and connect via an optical switch.

is there any way to get a "box" the plugs into the front of the Cisco Switch that has RJ45 (to connect to the Cisco) and fiber to connect over to the new office?

I could then buy the same box on the other end and plug it into the smoothwall switch and bingo I have bridged the network with a fiber link.

god this is hard work, too much going on at once, relocation of existing network upgrade of existing network, install of 4 small scale network and integration of the networks together via VPN and TS.

tough for one guy!


Cisco makes a Copper GBIC module (WS-G5483). Assuming your 2950 is a 2950G then you should have 2 GBIC slots. You can use copper (RJ45) to up link. I would try copper, it's cheap enough to run, hook up and see if your taking errors. Worse case you have a copper PTP connection you can use for something in a pinch.

We have (though not regularly) at work run copper longer then spec (350, 375, 400', our longest run is 444') and got 100MB full duplex uplink from switch to switch and it doesn't take any errors - runs clean.

Here is the compatibility matrix for the G5483 GBIC and switches:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products...cts_device_support_table09186a0080446625.html
 
I would personally prefer fiber when running between different buildings, because of grounding potential differences and the possibility of a lightning strike or other act of god.
 
the 2950 can handle all the systems in the main building (we have small switches to consolidate the larger rooms to one or 2 cat5s to the main switch.)

the main office are all desktop PCs (about 30 i think)

the current server room is located in the main building and thats where all the cat5 runs to.

the new remote offices will connect to the smooth wall in the new server room via ADSL/Cable
(VPN). In theory i am creating a data center just that one office is close enough to be connected via fiber or cat6.

So if i get some media converters, run 2 fiber lines over there (one backup) via some large conduit with a wire runner (i can then pull more if for some reason i need to) i should be able to connect to new server room to the switch in the old room and have a decent connection.

I've not seen a fibre smaller than 8 cores (4 pairs), not sure if you can get any smaller; how are you planning on terminating the fibre? Our cable guy has a splicer which cost them £10k+
 
At one of our clients they have in their campus a site that is 120mts away and what they did was run a 4 pair fibre cable but only used 2 pairs( left the others for backup).
Since they only had a pc on the other end they used a fiber to ethernet converter that lets you plug in the fibre at one end and a normal rj45 at the other end.

Dont know if this is a good setup( i don't work with fibre) but it worked very well for them
 
How many workstations in main, and how many servers? A single run of copper will probably become a bottleneck. I'd lean towards a fiber run.
 
I vote +1 on the fibre runs. Mainly for the different ground voltages in the different buildings.

They make ethernet -> fibre trancievers, but I think your best bet would be to use real fibre modules for your switches. That way you can monitor their health through SNMP or the like.
 
Seriously, wtf?

Lets not make this any more complicated than it is.

Run some of this in a conduit, between the buildings. (Or have someone do it for you)

Connect it directly to the switches on each end of the link. With some GLC-SX-MM SFP-GBICS. (or WS-G5484's)

Done, case closed. /thread
 
Seriously, wtf?

Lets not make this any more complicated than it is.

Run some of this in a conduit, between the buildings. (Or have someone do it for you)

Connect it directly to the switches on each end of the link. With some GLC-SX-MM SFP-GBICS. (or WS-G5484's)

Done, case closed. /thread

Yep. You're just backing up what we've all pretty much agreed on.
 
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