On Thu, 2006-01-05 at 23:06, Alain Reguera wrote:
Imagine you need to give service(mail, web, browsing etc.) to different institutions. Some institution connect using commuted lines and others directly through the main ISP router. The location of the node where all the servers and the main local router are, is inside one of these institutions. In this moment, the network of the node have a subneted C class range and the local institution (where is the node place) is connected using a PC with 2 interfaces that connects both networks.
At this time all is working, but new workstations are planed to arrive and we need to increase the number of stations in the local institution, so 254 PCs actually are not enough. So we are looking a way to extend or increase the number of possibles workstation.
I proposed the idea of create various networks and separate the local institutional services from the node, to make them independent one of another. So, connected to the main local router will be a switch, this will be the top level local switch where the node and the local institution will be.
You need to get a network engineer to design your network. Things you should look at include possibly separating the various departments into their own subnets or at least having each building in a different subnet. Most designs use one or more internal routers (and possibly firewalls) to separate various LANs within a company or large organization. The separation can be based on usage or department or some other criteria you deem appropriate.
As this sounds like a school environment you probably want to separate students access from admin and faculty LANs.
You can always modify the subnet mask to increase the number of hosts that can be in a particular subnet. Just make sure you use switches and not hubs when connecting all those devices.
And you should use real routers instead of using a PC with multiple NICs to provide connectivity.