sidewinder Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 Im getting a bit concerned about how much on a whim huge amounts of new computers seem to get ordered without a concern for whether the infrastructure can actually take it Just wanted an idea of if people think our network needs vast upgrades, minor changes, or nothing at all At last count we have around 730 computers (mixture of laptops and desktops) Just heard news now that the Tech department want an additional 20 desktops and 20 laptops. Maths are already down for 32 laptops in the near future. When the 6th form block is finished in a year I imagine there will be around another 32 desktops requested there. And thats assuming theres nothing else, which there will be obviously That will take us to nearly 850 computers We have a total of 4 servers, excluding SIMS and backup. 2 DC's (which are also both DNS servers), a print and web apps server and a proxy server 1Gbps backbone throughout the site but when the fibre terminates in a department, that 1Gbps can be used by 50-80 PC's All Allied Telesyn switches, 9316 (16 port gigabit switch all the fibre comes in) and 26 8350's (some in stacks of 2, probably about 20 cabinets in total) Various reports of 'the network is slow' at busy times - starts of lessons, lunch etc Im thinking we definately need another server at least, the network has expanded hugely since those 2 DC's were bought. But what else? faster swtches? subnetting?
wesleyw Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 Depends on the spec of the servers I would look more into port trunking a few lines together and getting about 4gb to each switch then gigabit to desktop? The laptops will either have to wait until they get upgraded or by PCMCIA cards however the chances are these will go missing quickly! Get the backbone speed up really and look at combining a couple of Gig port on the servers to speed up them too. Wes
Geoff Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 Remember to upgrade your human resources to cope as well. ie, an extra technican or two.
wesleyw Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 Oops should have said that too Geoff is right if you are going to increase your total Desktops/Laptops by that much you will need more IT Support! Wes
sidewinder Posted October 9, 2006 Author Posted October 9, 2006 Dont think we're too bad on the staff side, although we could perhaps do with another part time technician Theres the network manager, me (in charge of the technical side), 2 more technicians, a technician who just does classroom support and another which deals with the website and consumables ordering Thanks for that wesley, some interesting things to consider Dont suppose if anyone knows of a very big fibre switch do they At least 24 ports? Because we are using 15 out of 16 at the minute, 4 ports taken up by copper GBICs going to servers, the other 11 fibre out to departments, so I cant even double the bandwidth out to one switch really at the minute
wesleyw Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 Only Chassis units I don't know if theres a big fibre switch out there anywhere I'll nose about and let you know! Wes
tosca925 Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 At last count we have around 730 computers (mixture of laptops and desktops) I have more than this now split acroos 7 buildings on one site. Theres the network manager, me (in charge of the technical side), 2 more technicians, a technician who just does classroom support and another which deals with the website and consumables ordering There is 3 of us, me the NM and two technicians, one of which is over 50 and does sweet FA all day if he can get away with it. How the hell did you manage to get that amount of staff? It took me all my time to get the third tech this year. Man power is something our school thinks it does not need.
webman Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 Man power is something our school thinks it does not need. I think a few of our schools think along the same lines, ours included. They almost piled the whole 300-client, 800-users network (including other stuff) onto one person.
beeswax Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 There is 3 of us, me the NM and two technicians, one of which is over 50 ah, the impetuosity of youth, beeswax, 53
GrumbleDook Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 There is 3 of us, me the NM and two technicians, one of which is over 50 ah, the impetuosity of youth, beeswax, 53 I think he meant the IQ ... Oh? so did you? erm .... I'll get my coat! /me runs ... quickly
MkII Posted October 9, 2006 Posted October 9, 2006 Glad to report that our schools' 300 client [+ extras] network with 950 users has just had an extra tech added! And there's still too much for the both of us to do!
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