Require assitance in networking setup in entire school premises

[eduserve]

DETAILS OF THE SCHOOL PREMISES :-
MAIN DETAILS:- TOTAL FOUR FLOOR (GROUND +3)> EACH FLOOR GOT FOUR BIG ROOMS(400 SQ FT.) AND TWO SMALL ROOMS (100 SQ. FT.)
ONE OF THE BIG ROOM (2ND FLOOR) ALREADY CONTAINS SETUP OF 15 COMPUTERS CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER VIA DLINK 24 SWITCH. (WORKING PROPERLY)

SETUP REQUIRE FOR:
1. ONE NETWROKING CONNECTIVITY VIA CABLE IN EACH BIG ROOM AND SMALL ROOMS. (4+1) EACH FLOOR
2. WIFI CONNECTIVY AS AND WHEN REQUIRED.

SOME INFO. WHAT I WANT TO DO:
INSTALL ONE SERVER COMPUTER ON GROUND FLOOR SMALL ROOM. FROM THIS SERVER COMPUTER A WIRE WILL BE CONNECTED TO SWITCH WHICH WILL BE WIFI + 16 CONNECTIONS, OUT OF 16 CONNECTIONS THREE WIRES WILL GO TO EACH FLOOR (SMALL ROOM) THIS THREE WIRES WILL BE CONNECTED TO A SWITCH OF 8 CONNECTIVITY LAN.

(NOW IF THE ABOVE THING HAPPENS
1. GROUND FLOOR HAS 12 FREE LAN CONNECTIVTY
2. AND ALL OTHER FLOOR WILL HAVE 7 FREE LAN CONNECTIVTY
ALL LANS WIL BE DLINK OR BETTER WITH WIFI CONNECTIVY OPTION.

NOW FROM THAT WE HAVE FREE LAN CONNECTIVY IN EACH FLOOR , I WILL DRAW WIRES FROM THESE LANS TO EACH CLASS ROOM I.E.
GROUND FLOOR = FROM 12 FREE 4 WIL BE CONNECTED IN EACH BIG ROOMS
AND EACH FLOOR SAME WAY FROM 7 FOUR WILL BE CONNECTED TO BIG ROOMS, WHICH WILL BE FURTHER USED FOR CONNECTING LAPTOPS DIRECTLY TO SHOW INTERNET AND TEACH OTHER THINGS
# ON SECOND FLOOR (AS I MENTIONED THAT ONE BIG ROOM IS OCCUPIED WITH 15 COMPUTERS WITH A SWITCH OF 24) ONE OF THE WIRE WILL BE CONNECTED TO THIS 24 SWITCH TO PROVIDE CONNECTIVITY TO ALL 15 computers IN THAT PARTICULAR ROOM.

MY CONFUSION/DOUBT QUERY:-
1. IF THE ABOVE THING HAPPNES WILL I BE ABLE TO DISTRIBUTE INTERNET FACILITY IN ALL THE CONNECTIONS VIA SERVER COMPUTER?
2. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROUTER AND ACCES POINT LAN SWITCH?
3. DO I NEED TO INSTALL ROUTER OR NORMAL ACCES POINT SWITCH TO ALL THE MENTIONED POINTS (SMALL ROOMS)
4. ON SERVER COMPUTER WHICH WILL BE BEST OPERATING SYSTEM TO MANAGE ALL THE CONNECTIONS (NORMAL XP PROFESSION SP3 OR WINDOWS SERVER 2008?
5. ALL MY COMPUTERS ARE WORKING ON WINDOWS XOP PROFESSIONAL.
6. I NEED TO CONTROL THROUGH SERVER COMPUTER LIKE BLOCKING OF A PARTICULAR COMPUTER COMPLETELY OR SELECTED SERVICES GIVEN THROUGH SERVER COMPUTER , IS THAT POSSIBLE?
7. WHICH HARDWARE IS PREFFERED FOR THE ABOVE SETUP?

KINDLY SUGGEST,
THANK YOU
MAHAVIR DESHLAHRA
M/S/ EDUSERVE
INDIA
MUMBAI CITY
[e-mail]

[UrbanKhoja]

Evening,

Apologies if I've read that wrong; but if you already have a LAN connection to the computer rooms, will you gain any benefit from investing in another cable from the server downstairs?

If you currently have a working switch or hub in that room you should be able to install a couple of wireless AP's there without the need to aditional cabling from the main server.

You mentioned that you currently have 15 computers running; are you using any network / user management software with these?

It may be worth looking at Ranger, it's a product of Sentinel who do a far bit for the education side of things. http://www.rangersuite.com/

With regards to what hardware to use; this depends a lot on budget as well as usage. You'll need to work out exactly how many computers you'll be running, will you have user accounts with central storage etc? Have you considered printing? There's a bit more to it than just running Cat5 around the place.

Hope this helps,

Dazza :cool:

[emiola]

POINT 1 : Yes you can distribute internet connection/access throughout the network. Just don’t be afraid. BREAKING UP THE NETWORK INTO SMALLER UNIT LANS AND USING ROUTER AND ETHERNET SWITCH IS THE SECTRET.

POINT 2: Router is the device used to receive internet right from your internet source (either directly from the internet modem or from the computer you use as your local server) while the access point switch is the ethernet switch (cable or wifi) that you use to set up your LAN ( a connection of two or more computer systems). The router is used to share internet access to the two or more LANs in a location (as is your case) with high level of security against intrusion through the incoming internet access.
POINT 3: If you have broadband internet, You need another router to equally distribute internet right from your server on the ground floor to each floor above. (see: http://en.kioskea.net/contents/lan/routeurs.php3) and normal switch as access point for each LAN.
Consider each room as a separate LAN with its own separate workgroup name. Use a fast Ethernet switch (D-link or 3Com is okay) of appropriate port numbers to receive a CAT5e cable coming from the router. In turn this ehternet switch will serve as your access point to that classroom LAN.
POINT 4: Normal windows XP is okay to save other technicians the stress in case something goes wrong when you are not around. All it takes is just break up the network into small LANs using Ethernet switch in each class. If you will use windows server 2008, it will be best to use a domain when setting up each system unit to join each network.
POINT 5 & 6: Yes it is possible to block some services like blocking port 80 for http access (web browsing). See ( http://en.allexperts.com/q/General-Networking-Lan-1049/port-blocking-6.htm )to read more on how to do this. You can also block some systems only when you use a virtual private network system (VPN). If this is the case, I recommend you buy a D-link VPN router to send internet access from the server to other floors above