How to connect to offices on one network, 400ft apart

[ICohen424]

I have 2 different and unrelated companies located in the same building in NJ.
One office is on the first floor; the other is 400 feet away on the second floor.
Both offices have users with basic desktop computers and VOIP phones.
We use Verizon FIOS for internet connectivity.
One office has unmanaged switches the other has PoE smart switches.

My intention is to have someone install a MS Server or SBS with Active Directory and other features like file sharing and web filter.

How can I connect both offices so that they can be on the same network for the purposes of Active Directory, etc while not risking the quality of the VOIP phones?

I was told Cat5 cable wouldnt be right, even with repeaters.
I was told Fiber Optic is a good option but very expensive. How much should I expect such a run to cost?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Cat5 would work with repeaters. Maximum run on those is 300ft. But fiber would probably be better.

Cost will be more dependent on your building, contracting costs, etc. 1000 feet of optical cable is ~$200, switches with fiber connectors will be a few hundred bucks apiece of you don't already have them.

Union labor rates for a couple hours of a low voltage electrician's time? Also expensive. Modifications to your building, etc.? Could also be an investment.

*shrug*

 

[seepy83]

Forget about how you wire it...I'm going to go ahead and say it's not a good idea to have 2 separate and unrelated companies sharing one AD. Who defines policy? What happen as when one moves locations? That's just the start of the reasons to not do this. I suspect there are also legal/licensing implications of this.

 

[kevnich2]

I agree with sleepy on this. Who came up with this idea and what is the reasoning behind it? I would never allow another company to share my network and network resources. Too many security implications.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Separate companies == separate networks, separate costs.

 

[alkemyst]

Fiber at 400' is not that expensive. Like many said, there is a lot of bad things to be said about two different companies sharing a network.

My question is why is this desired?

 

[ICohen424]

Im sorry it took so long to respond, I assumed I was subscribed to the thread because I wrote it.

The reason I want to connect the 2 offices is to save the money on the cost of the server hardware and software as well as the implementation of it.

I see some very strong arguments against it....
Both companies are owned by me; I would manage it.
I figured I can create policies for either company and share specific drives with each company.

What are the potential problems of doing so?

 

[Enigma102083]

Im sorry it took so long to respond, I assumed I was subscribed to the thread because I wrote it.

The reason I want to connect the 2 offices is to save the money on the cost of the server hardware and software as well as the implementation of it.

I see some very strong arguments against it....
Both companies are owned by me; I would manage it.
I figured I can create policies for either company and share specific drives with each company.

What are the potential problems of doing so?

Well, if either company falls under any sort of regulatory compliance of any kind that requires a certain level of security it would grossly violate that compliance.

 

[ICohen424]

Enigma,
Being that both companies are in the insurance field, Im very glad I asked!!
Thanks very much!!!

 

[piasabird]

VPN
Maybe a cloud server might work.
Both ideas have some added Security Risk.

There is probably some way to do this with a phone line or data drop line. We use fiber between buildings on our campus.

I have seen some suggestions on the Internet for a Wireless Directional Antenna setup. They sometimes use something like this for warehouses. I don't know that this will work that well. However if it was feasible I could see 2 directional antennas mounted on the outside of a building. However if this is not your building that might not be such a good idea. Normally buildings have ways to communicate between floors like a shaft for phone wires.

 

[JackMDS]

The money that you save in doing such scheme is "Bubkes" as compare to the initial cost of doing it and the ongoing risk.

If you have a successful business then the saving are meaningless.

If you have close to fail businesses this concoction like this would not save it.

 

[ICohen424]

Ive been quoted numbers in the tune of $6k to purchase, install, and implement a server in each office which would handle AD, file sharing, and web filtering.
Not exactly "bubkes"... but I definitely understand your and everyone's point.
With what Ive heard from this thread, I'm going to put off the idea of connecting the 2 companies.

On another note...

My offices are sales offices with a decent turnover rate for personnel.
The AD is so I can control who uses what computer as they are hired/fired, so that I can decide their roles and accessibility for each user, and so I can specify file sharing of their My Documents because one of the software we use stores the info there so its still available upon termination.
My offices are less than 30 users each office.

Does anyone object to using MS SBS Standard instead of the full MS Server version?
Any other suggestion beyond those options?
Please elaborate on your response.

The idea would be to make this easier for me to on/off-board new employees with regard to deploying computers, setting up outlook with their email addresses (my hosted exchange syncs with AD), user rights for the computers, and file sharing for their My Docs (as mentioned above).

Any further input is appreciated.

 

[seepy83]

At 30 employees, it's a tough call. If you expect growth, then I'd say bite the bullet now and start with full versions of MS Server. If you don't expect much growth, then you can probably get by with SBS (although, personally, I have very little practical experience with the product). Also, while SBS is designed to have a bunch of different services/roles running in 1 server, with full versions of MS server you should really be separating your roles on different machines (physical or virtual). For example, your Domain Controller (DC) would only be a DC...it shouldn't be your File/Print server, too.

 

[ICohen424]

Ahhh... so given that I dont expect each office to add too many more users, Id prefer SBS so I can combine the roles in one machine.
Thanks!!

 

[alkemyst]

Ahhh... so given that I dont expect each office to add too many more users, Id prefer SBS so I can combine the roles in one machine.
Thanks!!

I'd just call a local sales team in. You don't have to buy, but they are invaluable to tell you what you have to have both legally and for your business.

 

[seepy83]

I'd just call a local sales team in. You don't have to buy, but they are invaluable to tell you what you have to have both legally and for your business.

This is good advice. Call a few local MS VARs and sit with each them for an hour to describe your business requirements and see what they propose as a solution.

Once you get this environment running, you're going to want to have a plan for backing up AD, user data, etc. You'll probably need help from a local vendor to get all of this done right.

 

[ICohen424]

Thanks very much for the feedback and advice!!

Is anyone here in the Central NJ area or can recommend someone in the area?

 

[alkemyst]

I'd go big. Presidio is a good name to go with. They may be expensive, but their deliverables are yours free.

CDW, Dimension Data, Microsoft and possibly even your provider has services there.

 

[ICohen424]

Thanks Alke,
I just gave Presidio a call... waiting for a call back.
Thanks,

 

[alkemyst]

Thanks Alke,
I just gave Presidio a call... waiting for a call back.
Thanks,

I worked for a company at the time that had them come in. They basically gave us exactly what we needed to do. Sadly, that company then picked another that wasn't so highly rated yet someone had a friend of a friend type arrangement.

That other company was much cheaper and were local in New Jersey and sadly didn't know how to handle a national company.

We used some of Presidio's intelligence to fix our network.

Their DDD is very impressive.

 

[ICohen424]

What is DDD?
Would you suggest that other company for an office of my size? If so, please let me know who they are.

 

[alkemyst]

What is DDD?
Would you suggest that other company for an office of my size? If so, please let me know who they are.

Its a Detailed Design Document, it's the total solution in a doc.

I never worked for smaller companies so don't know what the best would be.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

As an Engineer for CDW Managed Services, I can tell you that they can do exactly what you're asking for as well, from setup of the environment through consulting services to management if you don't want to deal with it yourself under various service levels.

I'm not going to harp on it, as I am not going to be one of *those* guys, but they are good option to consider

 

[sm625]

Create a 3rd company, an IT company. Maybe others in the building will chip in and you can even make some money off it.

 

[seepy83]

Create a 3rd company, an IT company. Maybe others in the building will chip in and you can even make some money off it.

I was hesitant to suggest this because I don't know how legal it really is to share licenses (windows server, CALs, etc) between multiple legal entities. I do know of at least one group of organizations that has done this...but I don't know if it was thoroughly reviewed by legal counsel before they proceeded. If you can do it legally, then it may not be a bad way to go for the OP. Since he's the owner of both companies, he is the one that's ultimately defining policies/procedures...if he want's the implement the same at both organizations, then it's not likely he'll run into conflict between companies.