Week 5 Exercise
You have been hired by a small company to install a backbone to connect four 100base-T Ethernet LANs (each using one 24-port hub) and to provide a connection to the Internet. Develop a simple backbone and determine the total cost (i.e., select the backbone technology and price it, select the cabling and price it, select the devices and price them, and so on). Prices are available at www.datacommwarehouse.com, but use any source that is convenient. For simplicity, assume that category 5, category 5e, category 6, and fiber-optic cable have a fixed cost per circuit to buy and install, regardless of distance, of $50, $60, $120, and $300, respectively.
Device Description Price each QTY Total Cisco 887VA Integrated service router $ 474.99 1 $ 474.99
Cat 5e UTP to connect hubs to router $ 60.00 4 $ 240.00
RJ11 cable Connect 887VA to internet $ 2.99 1 $ 2.99 GRAND TOTAL OF PARTS $ 717.98
This backbone will be a pretty simple setup since we are talking about such low network speeds. Since we are only tying together four 100base-T hubs, we only have to have four 100base-T inputs on our device to get to the internet. This is a key point. Since we are using a hub and not a switch, each hub no matter how many ports will only operate at 100 Mbps each. Since I do not see a router or gateway in the description, I will assume I need a device to perform both of those functions as well as layer-2 switching to tie the four individual hubs together. I chose to use cat5e cable to connect the hubs to the integrated service router. Cat 5e will easily support future speeds up to 1 Gbps, they are easier to install, and they are cheaper to install. I am assuming that we are dealing with either ADSL or VDSL since the current network is using older hub technology, so I chose the Cisco 887VA integrated services router for several reasons. It performs the functions of a switch, router, firewall, NAT, DHCP server, wireless capability, and gateway functions.
Device Description Price each QTY Total Cisco 887VA Integrated service router $ 474.99 1 $ 474.99
Cat 5e UTP to connect hubs to router $ 60.00 4 $ 240.00
RJ11 cable Connect 887VA to internet $ 2.99 1 $ 2.99 GRAND TOTAL OF PARTS $ 717.98
This backbone will be a pretty simple setup since we are talking about such low network speeds. Since we are only tying together four 100base-T hubs, we only have to have four 100base-T inputs on our device to get to the internet. This is a key point. Since we are using a hub and not a switch, each hub no matter how many ports will only operate at 100 Mbps each. Since I do not see a router or gateway in the description, I will assume I need a device to perform both of those functions as well as layer-2 switching to tie the four individual hubs together. I chose to use cat5e cable to connect the hubs to the integrated service router. Cat 5e will easily support future speeds up to 1 Gbps, they are easier to install, and they are cheaper to install. I am assuming that we are dealing with either ADSL or VDSL since the current network is using older hub technology, so I chose the Cisco 887VA integrated services router for several reasons. It performs the functions of a switch, router, firewall, NAT, DHCP server, wireless capability, and gateway functions.