4 x Cisco 5500 Setup PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

[offy]

I have been given the challenge of getting this new office connected properly because there are to many errors on the network and personally not happy because things have been thrown together just to get people in this new building without any preperation at all.<br><br>Long story but here I go..................<br><br>4 X Cisco 5500 switches.<br>Each Switch is exactly the same spec.<br><br>Module 1= WS-X5509/Supervisor Engine II,Dual port 100BaseTX RJ-45/MII uplinks<br><br>Module 2+3=WS-X5224 10/100mbps Workgroup Fast Ethernet switching module (10/100Base TX 24 port)<br><br>Module 4+5+6+7+8+9=WS-X5013/Ethernet switching module(10BaseT 24 port,RJ-45)<br><br>There are 4 x Levels in this building 1 x Switch per Level.<br>3 x servers 100 users per switch<br><br>I want all 4 switches to be linked together at 100mbps <br>all servers 100mbps<br>all users at 10mbps<br><br>There are no cisco switch engineers in this company so thats the start of all my troubles.<br><br>I dont want to use any of the special functions that come with these switches DNS,WINS,DHCP,etc.<br><br>NT can sort those issues out<br><br>I just want to use these switches like bridged hubs.<br><br>I dont know why the company invested in such expensive equipment if they dont know how to use it,but all of a sudden because I have got involved it's been given to me to sort out.<br><br>Please advise what needs to be done just to get the 4 switches communicating properly so I can then eliminate the excuse of the IT people blaming these switches for every little thing that goes wrong on the network.<br><br>Thanks in advance<br><br>Offy<br>

 

[robebrow]

Man Offy,<br>I am sure glad you don't have a life.&nbsp;&nbsp;Welcome to the world of Cisco.&nbsp;&nbsp;(LOL)<br><br>Backbone:<br><br>First look at the physical locations and verify how the switches are going to connect together.&nbsp;&nbsp;And make sure you have the proper modules for that connection.&nbsp;&nbsp;(Cat5 no more that 100 meters)<br><br>It is recommended not to have any more than 255 customers per VLAN.&nbsp;&nbsp;This is to keep the broadcasts down.&nbsp;&nbsp;This would require a router and a lot more config work.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>If you just want to set up a completely flat network (not recommended) all you need to do is setup the connections between the switches at anywhere from 100Mb to 400Mb (Using etherchannel and 4 ports that act as a single path).&nbsp;&nbsp;By the way it is capable of Gigbit etherchannel also.&nbsp;&nbsp;Anyhow set them up to trunk between the switches this would provide you with a backbone.&nbsp;&nbsp;The switches are smart enough to take care of the rest by default.&nbsp;&nbsp;Then connect the user and servers up to the ports on their respective Cat5500.&nbsp;&nbsp;This is a very basic description and there really isn't any way to write down a step by step procedure for it.&nbsp;&nbsp;Best bet is get a copy of the config guide that came with your 5500's if you don't have that go to Cisco's website and download the config guide for your version of IOS running on the 5500 (show version command will give that info).&nbsp;&nbsp;Last one I downloaded was over a 1000 pages.&nbsp;&nbsp;Also if you can get a copy of Cisco Lan Switching book in the CCIE Professional Development Series (ISBN# 1-57870-094-9) it can also help you figure out what is going on.&nbsp;&nbsp;Good Luck and if you need more info email me.<br><br>Rob<br><A HREF="mailto:robebrow@mailstn.sarmc.org">robebrow@mailstn.sarmc.org</A><br><br>