Office network.

[liddley]

Hi guys,
Wondered if any one could give me any help and advice on setting up a small office network. I have not got any experiance with the controle side of networking.I have a small office with about 8 pc`s and a printer which I would like to network. installing the data points and cat5e cabling is not a problem, its just when you get to the other end and it comes to switches, patch pannels and modems I get lost.Whats the best equiptment to use and whats the best way to cable it all up.Any one got any advise???

[Rootstonian]

You may want to hire someone then if your not 100% sure. I don't know what you have coming in (T1, broadband), but I imagine you might want some type of firewall, a file server and a web server to handle your 8 clients. One of the servers can probably pull double duty as an e-mail server.

You'll want to protect yourself from outside attacks, malmare, spam, viril infections etc.

If you want it super simple, then an 8 port router would work; if I recall correctly this is a peer-to-peer network configuration vs. the above client/server config.

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

Hi, and WELCOME TO TECHIMO - from the Folding@Home Team (#111)...!

If you already have the machines that you will be using, then it should be reasonably easy. You would need to have a switch, a patch panel (if you want to look all professional-like) a router and a firewall. Some routers have firewalls built into them, but sometimes/often separated firewalls are more secure. If you have separated boxes, then you would need to have it go WAN --> FW --> LAN, otherwise the FW is bypassed...

As you already have 8 or 9 devices, plus the WAN link, I would recommend that you get a 16 port switch (that can be kept in the same location as the patch panel and/or router) or multiple smaller switches that can be dotted around if you're limited for cabling/ports. I would ensure that you have some ports left free to cover any expansion or temporary additions. This can also depend on how you intend to set the central point up - some switches are designed to be mounted in a rack, and others are 'desktop' style ones. You might also want to bear in mind that laptops can be used wirelessly, which would reduce the number of LAN ports that you would need, but I would plan the LAN ports and just add a WLAN if you decided to.

As Rootstonian said, you might want/need to have a central point of administration - like a file and/or web (DNS..??) server. If you haven't already got a server, but are thinking about it, I would suggest that you consider getting an SBS server. These will cover almost every job that any larger servers would, but it is set to be all done in a single box - DHCP, DNS, Exchange, VPN/RRAS, file/print server, RWW, (basic) web-hosting, SharePoint and some other things that are all built into it by default.....

Depending on the printer device itself, this could either shared from a single computer or just attached to the network - if it has a NIC (network card) and an available LAN port nearby.......

[stroyal]

The only thing I would add is what operating system? Xp Home will limit your choices.

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

Good point, I'd kinda forgotten that one - although you can get XP (and I guess Fista) Home versions to work with a server to some extent...

Having said that, Pro/Business versions will always be the best way to go - especially with the extra functionality of those OS's...