Networking Structure -- Is this a flawed design

[Adminman]

I have been thinking about my network design and was wondering if the following would cause any "looping" issues:

i have six routers (5 non-managed, 1 managed).
4 of the routers (non-managed) have clients connected (24 port 10/100/1000).
1 of the routers (non-managed) isn't currently connected the network (8 port gig router).
the managed router (24 port, gigabit) has my servers attached, the internet connection and the client routers.

The plan.
Move the internet connection off of the managed gigabit router and plug it into the 8 port router and connect each of the other routers into the 8 port and keep the connections from the client routers attached to the managed router as well.

My concern is an apparent ‘looping” in the network. The clients really have two paths to reach the servers either through the initial cabling to the managed router or via the 8 port then to the managed router. Is this a legitimate concern and/or is this not advisable?

Thanks,

Adminman

 

[franklin97355]

Are we talking routers or switches/hubs?

 

[Adminman]

Switches. actually, dell's models; 2124 (4), 2508 and 5224.

Thanks,

Adminman

 

[slorch]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish with this plan?

 

[Adminman]

I'm trying to move the internet traffic off of the Main (managed) switch.

 

[jkupski]

Let me see if I can make sense of this:

Your current network consists of a 5224 as the core with 4 2124s at the edge. You are concerned that there is too much traffic not related to the business (i.e. internet surfing) on the network, and want to move all of this traffic elsewhere. For this purpose you wish to use a 2508 that you have sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust.

In order to accomplish this, you want to uplink the 2124s to both the 5224 and the 2508, then uplink the 2508 to whatever internet service you have available, and route traffic as appropriate.

Am I correct?

If so, this isn't going to work--it could if all the switches were managed, or they were layer three switches or you had routers in the mix and half a dozen subnets... but your equipment as described will not work, and you will create an ugly network loop making your current problems seem trivial by comparison.

In all honesty, I think you're barking up the wrong tree anyway--I imagine you have less than a hundred workstations, and that your 100mbit switches are connected to the core via gigabit uplinks. That being the case, it's hard to imagine a scenario where "internet traffic" is as big a problem as you seem to think it is... maybe telling us what the problem is that has you rethinking your current setup would be helpful?

 

[jkupski]

Err, add "and uplink the 5224 to the 2508" to my summary to make it factually correct. As I stated it, that actually would work (if there were no path between the 2508 and 5224) though again, this would be of dubious benefit.

 

[jkupski]

Gah, I'm having a bad day... strike the above.

 

[Adminman]

Thanks jkupski... I understand exactly what you are saying.

thank you.

Adminman