serious network tech question !
 

Does anyone know what the maximum cat5 cable lenght can be from server to hub and router to hub.
i need to extend my gigabit ethernet without to much drop out but cant recall the cable lenths that can be used, eg router to hub, hub to server, and overall lenght including all bits and bobs in between.
I recall it being 300ft, but things do not seem to work out somehow.
thanks
R

The maximum length (maximum certifiable length) for CAT 5 patch or crossover cables is 328 feet (100 meters).

100m is the max distance between repeaters.

Well done guys, go to the front of the class.:D

I've been out-nerded!

I was about to say 330 feet but, I wasn't precise enough. :sniff:

Out-Googled more like! ;)

However getting anything like a gig over more than 20 meters will be fun.
If using cheapo switches with gig uplinks then you will be lucky to get more than 150 - 200 over that kind of distance. I use 3com 4900 series switches and have seen 800 over 40 meters, if you bind them up and use a couple together then you get some reasonable throughput.
Have you thought about fibre ?

I have two separate lines at present, both with broadband on.
One has a 2meg link, the other with a 1meg .
I have now changed to a 4.5 meg (fastest I can Get)connection with BT on just the one line.
I really would like to link all systems to the one line, but they are separated by approx 50-60 feet.
I use dual gigabit NIC's,hubs etc in all servers and workstations, in both locations, but so far overall network speed has been disapointing.
Servers are compaq 4 x 8500R's with 8 cpu's and 4gig ram etc, two have 4 nic' fitted, and 2x ML530G2's with high spec .
workstations are evo P4 xeons.
I ,ve messed about with shed loads of configs, but I have the power it seams, but not the bandwith, or morelikely lack of greycells at present, its been a while since I did any networking.
I have some fibre channel and fibre networking kit lying around, but not sure it will be much better than giga ethernet.
Any suggestions on the best way to get maximum speed to bandwith etc over the said distance.
any help gratefully recieved.

cheers
R

Can you draw a diagram please and mail it to me ? not too sure of what you are trying to achieve i presume you have servers separated 50 feet apart and want max through put between units over the distance.
Using good quality switches then that should be a doddle, but said that what type of data are you moving ?
As much info as poss would help.
Whats the broadband for ?

Do you know it's the network? What app are you using to test the speed?

If you think the network is amiss get a sniffer on there and have a look at what traffic is actually on there and what percentage utilisation it's running at etc. Then go from there.

just rechecked the distance between both locations 150 ft give allowing for a bit of tidying.
not sure why I thought it was 50-60ft:puzzled::puzzled:

useage is general web stuff on the evo's , but large volume of data files between server and web and vice versus, but also from web to disk array attached to servers.I have an hp procurve managed hub, but seems it does'nt really do much better than the netgear kit to be honest.
The data files all tend to be quite large, or large clusters of smaller files.

Would it be a better plan of starting from the ground up again, with the kit i've got and reconfigure the whole lot together for the use i want now, instead of messing about with a system configured originally for a different task.
what are your thoughts.

cheers
R

Well good layer 2 / 3 switches cost
If you had say a pair of 3com 4900 12 port switches at both ends you could bundle say 4 cat5's together and quadruple the throughput easily.
However this would cost but will deffo perform
The procurves are good but it depends on the era and if a switch or hub.
are these separate buildings ? have you thought of replicating the data from server to server ? update a file and allow it to replicate to the other side so users are working localy on each side ?

yep, two buildings.
I originally setup 2x 8500's in each building, each pair of the servers were setup up to be mirrored and they handled the data storage and file serving duties.
there was then an ml530g2 also in each location handling the web connection etc.
Things worked well with the two connections, but now that I have terminated a broadband connection at location (b) and i need to reconfig the servers etc things are going a bit pearshaped to say the least.:mad::mad::mad:

procurve switch

pm'd you my number give us a call to discuss in more detail with options
Paul