ee299bw@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Dark Star Crashes) (08/22/90)
It's a toss-up to me whether this query goes here or c.s.m.comm, but I'll try here first - My company has about 10 Macs, a LaserWriter, and a TeleBridge in one office, which moving in two weeks. When we moved into this office we specifically had phone wire run from outlet to outlet so that we could use that circuit for TOPS. I have just learned that at our new office, the current plan is to use the existing phone wire, and configure one circuit for TOPS using the telephone punch-in box. My understanding is that this is a distinct no-no, as it effectively sets up a passive star network, a bizarre things will start happening. (We use the network for printing, TOPS, QuickMail, and the TeleBridge is used for both bridging to a network in another office and sharing a modem.) The new office is about 3000 square feet - also, we'll be adding about 5 new Macs. My main question is this - are we better off having the office rewired before we move in (about $500), buying an active star controller (about $1000 from Farralon, any others out there?), or doing nothing right now and taking the gamble that the network will work okay? All suggestions graciously accepted! Dave -- *********************** Dave Chesavage **************************** * dchesavage@ucsd.edu * * "Time is a stripper, doin' it just for you" *
awessels@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) (08/22/90)
In article <12359@sdcc6.ucsd.edu> ee299bw@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Dark Star Crashes) writes: >I have just learned that at our new office, the current plan is to >use the existing phone wire, and configure one circuit for TOPS >using the telephone punch-in box. > >My understanding is that this is a distinct no-no, as it effectively >sets up a passive star network, a bizarre things will start >happening. (We use the network for printing, TOPS, QuickMail, >and the TeleBridge is used for both bridging to a network in another >office and sharing a modem.) I wouldn't bet on it working. Passive stars can work, but you have to know where the hub of the star is and be very sure about how many branches it will have. I think 4 is supposed to be the practical limit on the number of branches. (I suppose someone with good electronics knowledge could push this. In the early stages of building our network, the phone people didn't know much about the low power needs of the PhoneNet boxes. Our phone system is old and has punch-in boxes branching off punch-in boxes. The final fix was to have the whole schmear rewired and put in a StarController. I've had only a couple of problems in the last year and a half, and those were easily fixed. >The new office is about 3000 square feet - also, we'll be adding >about 5 new Macs. > >My main question is this - are we better off having the office rewired >before we move in (about $500), buying an active star controller >(about $1000 from Farralon, any others out there?), or doing nothing >right now and taking the gamble that the network will work okay? Well, if the phone wiring is compatible with PhoneNet, you could probably skip the rewire. Farallon's tech support is pretty good and you could probably fax the specs for your phone system if those are available{ It doesn't sound like you'll have too spread out a network, and you could probably get by with a simple repeater rather than a StarController. A repeater runs about $200. You should get a good feel for what kind of traffic you will have. My network is set up so that I can switch to other wire pairs if I ever need to set up zones within the net to cut down on traffic by localizing the traffic, and free up bandwidth. Think about how much your network is likely to grow and whether you will connect with other nets.