Cabletron Systems bridges Fast Ethernet Workgroup Design, Small Offices, Management Requirements

Fast Ethernet

Fast Ethernet Workgroup Design

The network design process for Fast Ethernet workgroups is nearly identical to that used for standard Ethernet workgroups. The Network Designer must first break the network up into workgroups, if desired, determine how the stations in each workgroup will relate to one another, and then begin the process of selecting hardware. The types of hardware considered will be dependent upon the type of network installation that the workgroup is being designed for.

The following sections break the process of Fast Ethernet network design up into treatments of three different types of situations: those requiring a relatively large number of users (the small office), those requiring high per-port throughput (the high-end department), and those situations where several workgroups are being interconnected (Fast Ethernet as a backbone).

While these situations do not cover every possible Fast Ethernet implementation, it is a relatively simple task to use the closest approach to the particular needs of the proposed workgroup as a template for design.

Small Offices

The term “small office” as it applies to Fast Ethernet installations using Cabletron Systems workgroup devices, can be misleading. This workgroup archetype simply refers to the workgroup as a single segment with no special internetworking needs (no uplinks to different WAN or backbone technologies). The small office, in the case of the design strategy outlined below, can include anywhere from two to 120 Fast Ethernet stations.

Abstracting the Design Process

As the number of potential devices to select from in a Fast Ethernet network design is quite small, the actual design process for workgroup networks is highly simplified. The Network Designer needs only to determine what level of management is required within the workgroup and calculate the number of ports that will be needed to support the users at that location.

Management Requirements

As there are only two choices for shared segment Fast Ethernet devices, the selection of management functionality becomes a “yes or no” decision. The control and troubleshooting ease supplied by management capabilities is often of greater value in the complex and high-performance Fast Ethernet networks than the cost reduction realized by foregoing management altogether.

Fast Ethernet Workgroup Design 7-3