Hello,
I have been asked by a friend to do an upgrade to his business network. I would appreciate any help and suggestions.
There are several things which need to be accomplished:
- Implement a VPN solution for remote access
- Increase bandwidth to support new IP security cameras, which will send video to a video recording device
- Extend the network farther out into the shop area, in order to connect cameras and add computers to the network
The current setup consists of
- A 24 port 10/100 switch in the main office area. 15 of the ports appear to be in active use.
- A consumer-level ADSL termination unit, currently with 6/1 ADSL service
- A 10/100 switch half way towards the back of the shop facility, apparently acting only as a repeater to overcome distance limitations
- An 8-port switch and Wi-Fi access point in a small office area in the shop, which serves a couple of computers and machines.
So far, we have come to the following conclusions:
- A gigabit backbone between different areas of the plant is something we need to do
- A fiber link from the front office to the back, eliminating the need for signal boosting mid way, would be a good option.
- We would like the VPN to be accessible from mobile phone/tablet devices as well as personal computers.
- We would like be able to do some sort of traffic shaping so that a large upload or download from one computer to the Internet cannot slow everyone else to a crawl.
We will be adding a 2 or 3 computers and eventually 6 or 7 IP cameras in the back shop and probably similar number in the front of the shop (close to the office).
I would like to go with Cisco equipment if it can fit within the budget. My experience has been you get what you pay for with the cheaper gear.
I would appreciate any ideas on how best to do this upgrade. Thanks!!!
