campus network design

[evahegyes1]

Hi, 

I just have a question about how should I design my network.  I need to design a campus network with about a 1000 students, staff and guest.  I have an idea of deisning a switched network with layer 3 switches, a web server firewall, access point, and creating vlans for student, staff and guests.  but am not sure how many switches would I need for the network.?

[Leo Laohoo]

You are in the most opportune moment to think about stacked switching. And you have many choices to choose from based on your budget. The top of the budget is the 6807X/6880X chassis switch with a 6800ia switch. The 6807X/6880X is "going to be" the replacement for the venerable 6500E. The 6800ia is a dumb switch and will require a 6807X/6880X to manage the switch. You can stack the 6800ia switch and as further IOS releases, the number of 6800ia switches in a stack will grow. Next one down the line is the 3850 or 3650 switches. These switches are very new and they are going to be the replacement of the 3750 and 3560 switches, respectively. Both the 3850 and 3650 are ideal when you want to roll out wireless access points.

[sean_evershed]

How many switches do you need?

I faced a similar challenge for a new campus and needed to consult the site's electrical plans.

This depends on how many data outlets you have per room and where these outlets terminate centrally. Depending on how the building is designed you would have one or more communications room per floor where the switches will be installed.

If you know how many outlets there are per communications room then it is an easy calculation, for example 384 ports = 8 x 48 port switches or 1 x 4510 with 8 x blades (Assuming the switch has 2 x supervisors installed).

You also need to factor in any future growth, for example 20%. This equates to 461 ports or 2 x 4510's.

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