Small business LAN design

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gwilym

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#15729 5-Sep-2007 13:37

Hi,

We are looking advice on how to setup our new building LAN. We run two small businesses and have between us 15 computers we want to connect to the Internet reliably - most of our applications are hosted on the web apart from our accounting and 1-2gb of backed up data.

We've been thinking that having 2 DSL circuits and a Whoosh modem running into some sort of load balancer/firewall and switch might give us greater reliability and let us use VFX services. This would have a UPS of some sort. We would also have a file server for the accounting package.

At some point we'd like to Add an Asterisk server (unless VFX adds auto attendant to their hosted offering)

I guess what we don't know is if we are better off plugging together cheap Linksys consumer grade hardware or getting another - better - solution?

Any advice appreciated.

Gwilym

r33ks

75 posts

Master Geek

#85446 5-Sep-2007 14:22

hope I can offer some advise.

It should like you have a lot of different systems competing for your internet connection.
1) I would suggest that you look at a leased line for your internet connection rather than multiple DSL/woosh. The cost may be more, but you would have a better service level, particularly for outound traffic. DSL is likely to be difficult to load balance.
2) I would suggest that you look at a router/DSL modem that support QOS on your outbound service. You want to ensure that when your internet connection is congested that the voice traffic is given priority.

On the LAN there are a couple of different things to consider....
1) Consider a POE switch, both for the phones, and if you wanted in the future, maybe power wireless AP's. Depending on the phones you use you could need up to 48 ports. (always allow for some growth, nothing worse than installing all the new gear, and then needing to buy more 3 months later because you have taken on more staff)
2) If you want to segment your businesses, consider a switch that supports VLAN's

I work mainly with Cisco equipment, so I could suggest some of that gear, but it's probably not the most affordable solution.

tonyhughes

Hawkes Bay
8476 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#85448 5-Sep-2007 14:38

We've been thinking that having 2 DSL circuits and a Whoosh modem running into some sort of load balancer/firewall and switch might give us greater reliability and let us use VFX services. This would have a UPS of some sort. We would also have a file sever for the accounting package.

1 x FS/FS DSL circuit, and a 3G router, or woosh router as backup should be just fine.

What else do you want to run on the UPS? Switches? Need to know number and types of appliance, and expected runtime to have decent stab at sizing a UPS.

At some point we'd like to Add an Asterisk server (unless VFX adds auto attendant to their hosted offering)

Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! :-)

I guess what we don't know is if we are better off plugging together cheap Linksys consumer grade hardware or getting another - better - solution?

Linksys gear is all going EOL soon, so should be cheap as chips. Id go with their load balancing dual WAN switch and use it for failover to 3G rather than actual load balancing.

If you have budget, then decent grade, rock solid network gear is worth its weight in gold. Having said that, aside from redundant WAN, you probably dont need a lot of smarts around your network unless you want to share your network with your VoIP system, in which case, you will want a seperate network switch, or a managed switch capable of VLANs to seperate voice and data.

There are sooooo many options its not funny.

And I just saw r33ks reply, and yes, you will need QoS there somewhere for VoIP if you are actually trunking over teh intarweb tube thing. (You could have Telecom POTS and VFX VoIP trunks, with divert on no answer to each other for some redundancy on your phone trunks as well).

KiwiOverseas66

173 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#85459 5-Sep-2007 15:35

gwilym: Hi,

We are looking advice on how to setup our new building LAN. We run two small businesses and have between us 15 computers we want to connect to the Internet reliably - most of our applications are hosted on the web apart from our accounting and 1-2gb of backed up data.

We've been thinking that having 2 DSL circuits and a Whoosh modem running into some sort of load balancer/firewall and switch might give us greater reliability and let us use VFX services. This would have a UPS of some sort. We would also have a file server for the accounting package.

I agree with R33 - maybe look at a leased line from the support point of view. If you use a stock standard internet DSL or wireless connection it will be treated like an internet connection when it comes to fault resolution - and going without phones for a couple of days isn't really an option. Support for QoS is always a plus, but I'm a bit sceptical on this point. I'm not saying it isn't a good thing - but I question the value of paying extra for QoS on an internet connection as it will only priorities to the internet - once there it becomes the great unwashed! Every little bits helps I guess.

Separating voice/ internet onto separate VLANs is a great idea. I'd even go as far as separating internet and voice traffic onto different connections. A conservative way of doing things I know, but if voice is that important - having it on its own connection simplifies management and support substantially.

Tony's idea of a POTs backup is a good one as well. Might make managing phones numbers a bit tricky - but the upside is that who ever provides the POTs/ phone numbers will probably have a network divert service (i.e - set up a contingency plan allowing you to divert all incoming calls to a cell phone in the event the building your in looses connectivity). Telstra and Telecom do this - I'm sure the guys at VFX have the ability to do this as well. Powered/ managed switches on the LAN are an excellent idea. Doing as much as you possibly can to manage traffic all the way to the handset is never a bad idea.

At some point we'd like to Add an Asterisk server (unless VFX adds auto attendant to their hosted offering)

I guess what we don't know is if we are better off plugging together cheap Linksys consumer grade hardware or getting another - better - solution?

That's a question of budget really. I've always operated on the rule of thumb that bargains are few and far between, and generally you get what you pay for. Capital saved by using slightly cheaper gear is made up by the increased cost of support (man hours), or insurance premiums. The better quality gear tends to have better quality 24x7 support. Speaking of which - presumably you have a good, knowledgeable, responsive LAN support provider?

Any advice appreciated.

Gwilym

Fraktul

836 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#85493 5-Sep-2007 19:29

tonyhughes:
If you have budget, then decent grade, rock solid network gear is worth its weight in gold. Having said that, aside from redundant WAN, you probably dont need a lot of smarts around your network unless you want to share your network with your VoIP system, in which case, you will want a seperate network switch, or a managed switch capable of VLANs to seperate voice and data.

802.1p tagging for your switched infrastructure, not just vlan support. vlans!=QoS

Also Regarding leased line - UNS in central locations is quite cheap if your telco had a handover in your URSA. ~ >4 lines and its more cost effective than analog/isdn

AllNightNerding

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#85513 5-Sep-2007 21:27

If I were you I would try and go with netgear stuff a much a posible mainl because i have allway found there products rock solid.

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