switches, firewalls, routers??

[eggyhustles]

So im doing this project for my class for the end of the semester and i cant decide what way to go ...(im wiring a highschool btw)

I need to know whats the best solution for a user group of about 500 users...money is not an option, wont be an option...

switches, firewalls, routers??? what should we use? we will also have to take group policies into consideration since with hs kids we run the run of getting viruses from them downloading crap.


Were trying to configure it as if everyone had their own laptop. what would be the right way to go about this? School is 4 stories.

 

[berry120]

money is not an option, wont be an option...

Do you mean money is not an option, or not an object? If money isn't an option at all, then you'll struggle to get everything you need for free believe me!

You also say you need to take group policies into configuration, but say you're just wiring the school - which one is it? Or both (will you be spec-ing the equipment and installing the software to get it to a working state?)

If you're doing both, you're probably best tackling the problems separately. I'd start with the hardware side and work out exactly what equipment you require, make sure it's up to spec and then work up from there (i.e. are any subnets required, any rooms needing particularly fast connections such as multimedia stuff and so on.)

 

[eggyhustles]

Sorry..i meant money isn't gonna be an issue lol

hardware is def gon' be tackled first.

We just don't know what we'll need.

 

[vampist]

Since money is not an object here, we will go all out


Over priced and not needed for just 500 users - plan:
You could pick this firewall
Firewall
It's a SonicWall, with the power of having 750,000 simultaneous sessions at once. Able of pushing 5Gbs with an 8 port 10/100/1000 lan.

Now you could run STP (shielded twisted pair) ethernet cable to each floor with
this router. Make sure that you alternate the channels of the routers per floor.

You could use the firewall as your connection point, but I personally would use a switch. This would do just fine in this particular setup.



Setup that is not so dramatically over priced:
Here is a nice priced Cisco firewall: link
I would go with the same wireless router setup, same router. link
Here is a nice Cisco switch (10/100/1000 speeds): link


For all cables I would go with cat6 STP. (buy in bulk) Newegg doesn't seem to have in bulk but here is a place that does: link

 

[Grantofhell]

Off topic, but which state do you reside in Eggy? I swear I saw your TL heading southbound on 95 in Maryland. Black paint, black 5's on low pro's right?

 

[Luke_Uk_Baggy]

If you dont know what hardware you will need, than the 1st step should be decide what you want the USER to be able to do with their hardware..

Basically Define The end product..

- Just To be able to do microsoft stuff and search the web??

- Or computers that have CAD, webcams, and all the trimmings.

(or a mix of both)

Then give us some numbers, and from there we can work out hardware, and start putting things down in concrete..

I.e What software / programs / operating systems / Multimedia products etc etc etc will be needed.

 

[jmacavali]

Also if you are saying the students will have laptops, it might be better to get some wireless access points and then not worry about runnning near as many cables.