Need recommendations on router/switches for 50 user network

[thirdlegstump]

Friend of mine has an office with about 50 users and currently they are running a cheap Linksys router off an SDSL line with client machines hooked up to unmanaged switches.

Needless to say when one idiot starts downloading or uploading a huge file, the entire office slows down and some people even loses connectivity altogether. They've asked me to find something that anyone with a bit of networking knowledge can configure and manage.

Without really breaking the bank (budget approx $500-700 including an hour's worth of technician's time to set it up), what dedicated hardware can he install behind the DSL modem to manage the bandwidth etc. going through the DSL?

They basically need a solid DSL router with bandwidth management features that'll allow the admin to limit upstream and downstream bandwidth either at the MAC or IP level and/or also port/application level for about 50 active users connected to a few unmanaged switches.

I guess I'm looking for QoS features but I'd like to be able to literally configure something like:

"15KB/sec HTTP/80 downloads to XXX IP/MAC"
"50KB/sec FTP/21 uploads from XXX IP/MAC
"10KB/sec HTTP/80 downloads to XXX-XXX IP RANGE"
"drop all packets for applications using XXX port" or "allow all packets other than applications using XXX port(s)"

...and so on..


I've heard about the Alchemy firmware but I don't think a Linksys unit with updated firmware will perform adequately for this job.

I will also need a DHCP server and NAT built in as well as local and remote web-based configuration.

Any recommendations?

 

[thirdlegstump]

.....noobody knowws....

 

[skyking]

I agree about the linksys. I cut those off at about 15 or 20 active connections, and they are up to that. I think 50 and traffic shaping would be too much.

Somebody does know, buck up!!

 

[BlitzRommel]

Pick up a pair of Allied Telesyn AT-8326GB switches, and get a Cisco 828 Router/modem. That oughta start you off, and for less than $1000.

If you don't want a built-in SDSL modem, get the Cisco 831 router instead. The Allied Telesyn switch I mentioned above is managed, has 24 10/100 ports and 2 Gigabit, with two GBIC slots. They also can be linked together, so your servers can utilize the Gigabit if they can (Or use them for long-range backbones that the matrix cable can't reach).

 

[thirdlegstump]

Originally posted by: BlitzRommel
Pick up a pair of Allied Telesyn AT-8326GB switches, and get a Cisco 828 Router/modem. That oughta start you off, and for less than $1000.

If you don't want a built-in SDSL modem, get the Cisco 831 router instead. The Allied Telesyn switch I mentioned above is managed, has 24 10/100 ports and 2 Gigabit, with two GBIC slots. They also can be linked together, so your servers can utilize the Gigabit if they can (Or use them for long-range backbones that the matrix cable can't reach).

Just did some googling on these and they don't look like they can really manage bandwidth. Am I missing something? The only server that's in the house is a fileserver.

 

[netsysadmin]

Are you saying that when one person starts downloading a huge file off the Internet other users lose internet connectivity or do they lose connectivity to the file server in the office?

What speed is the internet connection? This might be a situation that the machines needed to be looked at and verified that they are setup properly instead of the router/switch setup.

John

 

[thirdlegstump]

Well it doesn't completely lose connectivity but sometimes people take up so much bandwidth that often enough connection is dropped or times out due to congestion and bottleneck. The xDSL is 1.5/1 connected to a cheap Linksys router with QoS but the QoS is just not working well enough hence my need for stronger management. The Linksys' QoS is setup so that HTTP has higher priority than all else but I've tried other settings with little to no change whatsoever. The client machines are either wireless or connected to an unmanaged switch. The office used to have just 10 people and everything back then was fine but it just kept growing and things were pretty much hacked together as it went.

 

[thirdlegstump]

What about Smoothtraffic? Does anyone have experience with this product?

 

[Diaonic]

You could setup a smoothwall router to replace the linksys. You just need an older machine with two nics.

Spend between $450-$600 and pickup a
d-link des 3250 tg 48 port managed switch. This also has two mini GBICs.

I highly recommend smoothwall, I have never tried any of there other products, but I'm sure they are just as good. Probably better since you have to pay for them.

 

[thirdlegstump]

What is GBIC used for? I'm sort of assuming it's for stacking purposes but would I really need something like that for a ~50 user workgroup? All I really need to do is to balance the bandwidth for internet use and allow full speed communication to the file server for about 10 users. They have no mail server or intranet servers. Just internet and file serving.

 

[htne]

Smoothwall sells firewall/router software, based on the Linux/GNU operating system. They also give away older, less full-featured versions of their software. IPCop is a fork of Smoothwall, is truly freeware, and has many of the features that you have to pay for in Smoothwall.

http://www.ipcop.org

If you would like to combine file serving (via Samba) and router/firewall functionality, then I would recommend ClarkConnect.

http://www.clarkconnect.org

 

[thirdlegstump]

IPCop actually looks cool. I'll have to check it out! Thanks.