help with network design

[gomarkie]

Hi,
I'm currently doing a networking project for college. I have to construct a network design for a hotel. I'm unsure about a couple of issues and would love some advice as I'm very interested in this area. I'm doing the project floor by floor in wiring closets
In my main reception area, I have a switch the "cisco 48 Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports with PoE", the 3750 model. In the reception though I need to give power to computers and IP Phones. Wondering:
(a) does PoE (Power Over Ethernet) work with personal PC's or must it be hardwired? Is it possible to switch between PoE and data on a port of the switch.
(b) Does PoE provide wireless connections to individual rooms say through a fast ISP provider? Must these be hard-wired?
(b) I also would love advice about what happens when I return to the network room. I have the "cisco 3800 series router" there and wondering the best way to connect 5 3750 switch models to it. Do I go through an additional switch first or straight to the router.
Sorry about the above questions, but I have no network background and find it difficult to visual the overall scheme.
Any answers to any questions above would be much appreciated .
Thanks

 

[uzumaki]

First try to count how many host should be plugged on the network. 2nd. Plan your network IP addressing. 3rd. Position your switches if these are for Access, Distribution or Core Network.

If you will be using wireless connectivity, position your Access points on zones that will require no interuption or trouble in reaching your users. Problems such as walls, ceilings, magnetic waves etc. Put security either on access or distribution. Access list etc.

 

[burtsbees]

6509---core switch, with a firewall module in it, to the distribution switches (3560's, with the VLANs configured in them, and the 3560 doing the routing between the VLANs). The 3560's connected i redundant fashion to eachother, with HSRP configured. You should really have two 6509's in the same way with HSRP, but some companies only have one. Next, the access switches (2950's) connected to the VLANs from the 3560's. Your edge device can be a 3800, doing all the NAT and external configuration stuff.

Burt

 

[jneiberger]

Here's my advice: Forget about "Access, Distribution, Core". That is simply Cisco marketing designed to get people to purchase way more equipment than they need.

PoE does nothing but provide power to IP phones so you don't have to use power bricks. It has nothing to do with anything else. It will definitely not power a PC. You don't have to "switch" between data and PoE. One has nothing to do with the other. A switch always moves data whether or not you're using PoE.

And regarding your second question, PoE has nothing to do with wireless, so I'm not really sure what you're asking.

You probably don't need a 3800 series router. Have the five switches connect to an aggregation switch of some sort on the main floor. You could use 3560s on the upper floors, but you might want to use something a bit bigger to aggregate them. Have this switch do routing between VLANs, then have one connection from that switch to your router. You will need some other pieces in place for secure internet access.

If you're serious about the design, you will want to build in some redundancy so your hotel is not without phones if a piece of network gear dies.

 

[eliotB]

A major piece of data is how many users in total and the distance between the data closets. Without this information, we are just guessing on what to do.

As jneiberger already stated, all of your PoE questions are confusing and have a lot of misinformation in them. You should read up a little more on PoE. PoE allows you to power small devices like IP phones or WAPs. The advantage is that you do not have to run a power cord to the device. The PoE cable will provide both power and data over one cable, so you can put the WAP anywhere the cable can reach(like on the side of a wall or above a ceiling..somewhere which would be difficult to run a dedicated power socket to).

I agree w/jnieberger, no need for a core. Just have a few access switches going to a distribution switch. And depending on the distance of the runs and the # of users, you could probably cut the # of switches in half or even less. For example, you could have a few access-layer 2xxx series switches going back to the central closet to a 3750.

It's a hotel, it's not a corporate network. Keep it simple.