Best way to build a LAN?
 

Notw: I need a little help...reading NET + certification book and have no experience building networks

Who can show me the best way to get from A-Z if I wanted to build a basic network for a library or computer lab FROM SCRATCH?

^^^I know it sounds like a stupid question, but you have to start somewhere :o

Re: {{{ ???Best way to build a LAN??? }}}
 

I know the network topologies but how do you set them up is what i am asking!!!!

Re: {{{ ???Best way to build a LAN??? }}}
 

Your question is very poorly worded. Even inferring what you are wanting doesn't give enough information to give a satisfactory answer. I could write a book just to try to answer your original question and would still only scratch the surface of the topic.

Try asking some questions that can be answered simply. Questions like these are better suited for a forum:

• What equipment is needed to wire up a network that will connect thirty lab computers, 3 network printers, and a file server? This setup will be no frills, so just basic equipment will fit the job.
• Can anyone provide me with information or links to information about how to install networking cable in a room without having to open up the walls? This will be for a classroom setting, so safety is a concern.
• At what point does a network need enterprise-grade equipment and cabling? In other words, how many systems can standard home/small-business-grade equipment handle?
• Is it reasonable to set up a computer lab using only wireless connections, or would it be better to find a way to run cables throughout the room? The room is older, so there aren't any conduits that can be used to run the cables through and there will be desks set up along the walls as well as occupying the center of the room.

Notice that I gave some additional information along with the question. There are many, many variables to consider when planning a network design: size of location, construction materials, aesthetic and safety concerns, number of machines that will connect, desired connection method, desired connection speed, desired connection use (web browsing, gaming, file transfers, media streaming, servers, tunneling, VPN, etc), budget, and many more. So, as you can see, "tell me how to make a network" is a very hard question to answer with so little information.

Let me help you out a bit on why your question was poor.

Firstly, your question was "who can ...", which is actually asking for someone to name someone. I suppose I could tell you that most network technicians could show you how to build a network.

You say that you want someone to show you "from A-Z". That's a very tall order. It takes a lot of effort to descibe every detail from start to finish of any task. If you already know a bit about networking, ask specific questions about what you don't understand rather than asking someone to go into elaborate detail since they may waste time covering items you already know.

"basic network" and "FROM SCRATCH" are both very vague. There isn't really any network that is basic. Each network design is unique and will have different needs and challenges. There are standard network setups, but they aren't basic. What do you mean by "FROM SCRATCH"? Does that mean that you don't have a building and are working with the architect to design the room to allow for maximum flexibility in network design or to allow for ease of upgrades in the future? Does that mean that you don't have any equipment (not even the computers, printers, etc) and need to design an entire network complete with equipment in order to meet the needs of the lab or library? Does that mean that the equipment is already all there, but you need to find a way to connect it all?

Finally, I would think that the biggest problem with your question is your use of the word "best". Given a variety of different design options, you would be hard pressed to get a group of people to agree on one option. The word best ignores the fact that there are numerous circumstances to consider and the answer will vary depending on those circumstances. I suppose a better word would be "optimum", but even the use of that word would require that every single present and future need is not only decided upon but also addressed and planned for.


Heh... Sorry to pick apart your question, but in the technical field, it is very important to be precise. If you aren't precise, assumptions will be made, and a poor solution will be the end result.

Re: {{{ ???Best way to build a LAN??? }}}
 

I understand where you are coming from, its cool. I actually began to ask specific questions, but then I realized that I don't have the right/enough information to know if I was asking the right questions. Your example of "good" questions to ask actually taught me things to consider when building a network (excuse me but for lack of a better term) "from scratch."

You sound like the person I need to learn from. I am easy to teach, but just a novice at this point. Help me out, I need better information than what this Net+ Certification book is giving me. The book is filling my head with pages and pages of protocols, definitions, and acronym upon acronym. I have come to the realization that I have read half the book and don't have the slightest idea of how to build a network.

To give you some perspectus on my knowledge of Networking, I have a B.S. in Computer Information Systems (class of '03), I was a Voice and Data Network Consultant for AT&T Business for a year (sales position), and before that held an Internship as a Junior Systems Analyst for a little over a year.

With respect to my initial question, I ask, hypothetically, If I were asked to build a computer lab for a school, where do I start?

Re: {{{ ???Best way to build a LAN??? }}}
 

I'm by no means an expert, but I have had my fair share of experiences with setting up and maintaining networks. Anything I say should by no means be considered comprehensive and may not even be completely accurate. The best I can give you is a hypothetical conversation that shows how needs can be assessed allowing for the beginning of a network design.

I'm setting up a computer lab for my students to use. What do you recommend?

There are a lot of things to consider when building a network. Let's see if we can't narrow down what type of needs should be addressed. How many computers will be part of this network?

The max class size is 30 students. The teacher of the current class will need a computer. We'd also like some additional computers available for the teachers and for other students who may need to finish up projects. Taking all of that into account, I'd say that we will have a total of 41 computers in the network.

Will there be any other devices attached to the network? Other devices can be printers, network attached storage or a file server, Voice Over IP devices, or any other device with a network connection.

I'm glad you asked that. We will need to have at least two laser printers on the network.

Will this network connect to an outside network such as the school's main network?

It will connect to the rest of the school's network.

Does the school's network have a DHCP server to handle IP assignments or will one need to be included in the lab's network segment?

The school's network has a DHCP server.

What type of connection is there to connect to the rest of the school's network? Is there an RJ-45 plug, a SMP for fiber, or some other type of connection?

We have a SMP jack that connects to a fiber cable that leads to a central switch.

I'm trying to decide if all the computers will connect with wires or if we need to allow for some of the computers to connect wirelessly. In order to figure that out, I need to know how these computers going to be situated in the room. Will they all be on desks running along the walls or will some of them be away from the walls?

They will all be situated against the walls, so I think all of them being wired would be just fine.

What about the computer that the teacher is going to use? Where will it be in the room.

I didn't think about that. The teacher's desk will be away from the wall in front of the marker board. Would there be a problem with running a cable to his desk?

Since it's in front of the marker board, we'd have to make sure that any cables run along the floor don't cause a hazard for the teacher while they walk back and forth in front of the board. Are there any plugs underneath the desk, such as power plugs?

There's a power plug in the floor that a power stip is connected to.

We should be able to fish a cable through the conduit that the power cord is using. The limitation on this is that we can't use standard CAT5 here since unshielded twisted pair cabling and power lines should never be run parallel to one another. The solution to this is to use a high-grade shielded cable that will protect against the interference that is created by the power cable.

I don't know. That sounds a bit expensive. Wouldn't it be cheaper to just do a wireless connection rather than to run a cable through there?

In order to add wireless, an access point must be added to the network and a wireless adapter would have to be added to the teacher's computer. This very well could cost much more than purchasing a high-grade cable and routing it through the floor and wall. Another thing to keep in mind is that wireless connections can sometimes offer connection issues and would increase the amount of maintenance needs for the network. I suppose we should decide if there would be any additional use for the wireless connection. Do you think there would be any use for having a wireless connection that a student or other teacher could use?

I didn't think about the students accessing it. That sounds like a nice idea, but I'm afraid that we might have problems enforcing our network policies if anyone was allowed to just bring in their laptop and use the school's network. We should stay with wired if possible then.

Since we are staying with wired, we will need to revisit that idea of how to connect the teacher's computer to the network. Does running the shielded cable through the conduit sound like an appropriate solution or would running a CAT5 cable under a cable cover be enough to prevent a safety issue?

I think you are right that it could be a safety hazard to run a cable along the floor. It would also be nice to have it out of the way so it doesn't have to be repaired all the time.

[Insert discussion about how the cable will be run here.]

[Most likely the cable will have to be run through the conduit, through the wall, and to a jack. The jack could be placed by the fiber jack that is for the school's network. This is a smart design since it would allow the teacher's computer to be directly connected to the network just by connecting the two jacks together (there are converters available that will bridge a connection from fiber to CAT5). Doing this would allow the teacher to still access the network for class purposes in case the rest of the network had to be taken down for repairs.]

So far I understand that we will need to connect a minimum of 41 computers and 2 network printers. This network will then need to connect to a SMP fiber connector in the wall so that it can join the rest of the network. The network will not include any wireless connections. Now that we've decided all that, it's time to decide on equipment. Where will the networking equipment be kept?

I think a good location would be in the back corner by the jack for the rest of the network.

I agree. That would be a good location. I think a small rack attached to that corner would be a good fit for you since you want to prevent people from tampering with the equipment. What do you think?

Wait. A rack? How much equipment are we talking about here? I thought we would just need a box to connect everything to.

You really won't be needing much equipment. Depending on what we decide, there will be either one or two switches and some type of power protection system to ensure that the network is protected. The main reason for putting it in a rack is that the rack will help protect the equipment from damage, tampering, and theft.

You're right. Protecting the equipment is very important.

The next thing we need to decide is how we are going to run the cable.

What are the options?

There are many different routes we can take. The basic choices are: running the cables along the floor, running a conduit along the walls that will house the cables and provide keystone boxes with jacks to connect the computers to, or running the cables through the walls and provide wall-mounted jacks for the computers to plug into. Each option has its strengths and weaknesses. I wouldn't recommend running the cables along the floor since it creates a mess, doesn't protect the cables, and creates a safety hazard. Running the cables through the wall gives the room a very clean appearance and gives a very high degree of protection for the cables, but it can be costly running the cables and would make cable repairs very expensive and difficult. I would recommend running the cables through conduits that we would mount along the walls. The conduits are very clean and neat looking, are much more inexpensive than running the cables through the walls, allow for the cables to be easily replaced/repaired if any of them are damaged, provide protection for the cables, and reduce the safety hazards by reducing the amount of exposed cable. What is your feeling on this?

The conduits sound like a good choice.

What will the computers in this lab be used for?

The computers will primarily be used to access the internet, work with productivity applications, create computer programs, and write reports.

Will there be any need to stream large amounts of data for multiple machines at a time?

I don't believe that will be necessary.

A 10/100Mbit switch would be capable of handling the loads that you are talking about. Switches of this type are availble with up to 48 ports. They are also available with a fiber optic connection that we could use to connect this network to the school's network. Using one of a switch of this type would provide a compact solution with reduced maintenance needs since all the machines are being connected to one device rather than having multiple devices connected together in a chain. You will also want a rack mountable power conditioner to prevent power problems from damaging the switch or creating unstable network conditions.


Yay! I wrote a book ;). Everything after this is about selecting the equipment that has all the feature sets wanted (which is really more of a budget decision at this point) and actually installing the equipment. Do you need me to detail those processes as well?

Re: {{{ ???Best way to build a LAN??? }}}
 

So, how do I get internet access for each of the computers and how do I make a server "talk" to client computers in the lab?

Re: Best way to build a LAN?
 

I'd like to weigh in on this, if I could.

Point blank-- a forum is by no means the place to lay out step-by-step how to set up a network. Even your setup is not "basic" if you're looking to do things like connect the machines to the Internet-- there are things to consider like NAT/IP forwarding, what types of hardware to use, and what the host OSes are. No one can provide a thorough how-to document on what you're asking, because only you are going to know exactly how you need your network set up.

If your Net+ book isn't good enough, pick up another one. I mean this in all helpfulness, because it's just not feasible to walk someone "A-Z" through a network design over a forum.

Don't take offense at the title, but the first book I pick up when I need to familiarize myself with a topic are the "For Dummies" books. In your case, these would be awesome resources:

Home Networking For Dummies
Networking for Dummies

It's quite possible that the Net+ book isn't giving you the information that you need in a relevant fashion. I use the CompTIA books all the time for study, and I've always appreciated the amount of information in them. Basically, you have to know what's in that book in order to prove to CompTIA you're proficient in networking systems. If you use the For Dummies books to start you off at a little different level, then you may have a greater degree of success.

Re: Best way to build a LAN?
 

Thats what the problem is, i am trying to learn how to set up a network. I find it funny that nobody can give me the basics like how to make 2 computers talk to eachother or set one computer up as a server and the other as a client.

-Fasola

Re: Best way to build a LAN?
 

People can, trust me. But, I'm asking why should effort be duplicated, here. Even within your small examples, there are caveats, and those have been covered in books or other resources.

Via a quick Google search, I'll direct you to these pages:

http://www.johnscloset.net/primer/
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/homenetworking/
http://arstechnica.com/guide/network...llation-1.html

...and finally, from Microsoft:
Download the Home Networking Guide


Looks pretty promising. I know we're here to help people learn and fix their issues, but it's unfair to ask the people providing the help to regurgitate things that are covered to the n'th degree elsewhere, and in more detail than practical on a forum. Try reading the pages I supplied, and if you have a specific question, then why not ask us to clarify that particular point?

Empower yourself via search engines to locate this knowledge. In doing so, you gain more skill than what we could teach you.

Re: Best way to build a LAN?
 

okay i went the first link and i have questions about the basic network diagram

if i have:

1. 3 computers running windows xp
2. NICs in all
3. Ethernet cables
4. a hub

and connect all 3 computers to the hub. What do i have to do make one of those computers control the other two? like have administrative privileges. because thats where it all starts right?