NETWORK DESIGN

[Juan Chipoco]

Ron

Thanks for your interest Ron!
I am sending the diagram again with more information
My equiptment is:
LAN1 main switch->3com office connect dual speed switch16
-3 secondary hubs->COMPAQ 10BASET 16 ports netelligent
- Mandrake firewall
- VPN router link->CISCO SOHO SERIES 77
-internet router Zyxell
-40 PC's running mostly windows98
LAN2 main switch->3com office connect dual speed switch16
-3 secondary hubs->COMPAQ 10BASET 16 ports netelligent
-mail server postfix on Mandrake linux
-VPN router link->CISCO SOHO SERIES 77
-40 PC's running mostly windows98
LAN3 main switch->3com office connect dual speed switch16
-3 secondary hubs->COMPAQ 10BASET 16 ports netelligent
-VPN router link->CISCO SOHO SERIES 77
-40 PC's running mostly windows98
LAN4 main switch->DLINK DES 1024 R+
-3 secondary hubs->COMPAQ 10BASET 16 ports netelligent
-Mandrake firewall
-VPN router link->CISCO SOHO SERIES 77
-40 PC's running mostly windows98

LAN2 and LAN4 are similars.
My routers have a 256/128Kbps link but the providing company only assure 10%
Only the main link (with LAN1) is 2M/320Kbps
There is no a WINS yet.
Where should I install my samba server?

Another question:
The course for network design is CCDA and in my country this course does no exist
Maybe you now some link where I can take a online course of network design.

Thanks very much.
Juan Chipoco

[Ron Kinner]

Next time press the Reply button and not the New Message button. That will keep your questions and answers in the same thread. It will also make it easier to assign points.

I was able to view your network diagram this time. Thank you.

I suspect that the reason you can not see the other LANs in your Neighborhood is because your Win98's are using netbeui to talk to each other. Netbeui is not routable so the routers block it. It is also a very chatty protocol so if the local traffic is suffering from delays you should consider getting rid of it as it tends to be a bandwidth hog. It is on by default in Win98 but is now officially obsolete. XP does not even do netbeui unless you load some extra software. If you insist on keeping it and seeing the other LANs you would need to put in a WINS server and add an entry for it in the LMHOST file on each computer which is on a remote LAN.

If your internet access is slow you may need to filter what your users can do. Cutoff music downloads or restrict access to only certain sites. I'm not sure where you are located but in some countries the internet suppliers will sell you a big pipe even tho their own connection to the internet is no bigger. Then you share internet access with a bunch of other people so you never really get to use all of the bandwidth you bought. The only fix for this is to find a new provider.

As to where to put your Samba server - you have to decide who the main users will be and where they will be located then put it as close to them as possible. If your main users are outsiders coming through the internet then you have to put it near the internet connection, ideally in a DMZ so that the rest of your network is protected in case a hacker takes it over.

Going back to your slowdown issue. When they say it is slow what are they trying to do? Contact local users, contact remote users or surf the internet? Does the complaint vary depending on which LAN they are on?

Cisco has some online courses available now. Go to www.cisco.com and search for Cisco Learning Connection. You have to pay to use it and it's probabl all in English. You may want to talk to your local Cisco sales rep. He may have some way of getting you in. I know there are several computer based training programs available though they tend to be expensive and may only be in English. I started with one of them back in 1997 and learned a lot even before I took any of the courses (which I think are not all that useful and are way over-priced). There are also many books on CCDA (and CCNA) which are quite good but again may only be in English.

Ron

[Ron Kinner]

Sorry for that bit about pressing the Reply button. I forgot that you originally started from the tail of someone else's message.

Ron