Adding more computers to a network

A small business network that I'm working on is a DSL line with 5 IP
addresses.

So far, only 1 IP is being used, as the computers and print server are
plugged into a 4 port broadband router.

They want to add a few computers and maybe another print server, but the
switch is full.

An option I'm considering is connecting everybody to an 8-port switch,
then connecting that uplink into the 4-port broadband router. My
understanding is that DHCP on the broadband router can assign everybody
private IP's just like before. Is this correct?

Is there a bandwidth problem with having everying ultimately go through
1 port of the 4-port broadband router?

I suppose I'd have to ask the DSL company whether or not there is a
guarantee of bandwidth for each IP address assigned to this company, or
is it just a logical separation, and it would be shared whether the
order was

DSL modem -> 4port broadband router/switch -> 8-port switch -> all PC's

OR

DSL -> 8-port switch -> some PC's (use up some of the IP's)
-> 4-port router/switch (use 1 IP) -> more PC's

I like the 4-port broadband router next to the DSL modem since it gives
us some insulation from the Internet via NAT.

Any comments would be appreciated,
Robert

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:35:03 GMT, RJ <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>A small business network that I'm working on is a DSL line with 5 IP
>addresses.
>
>So far, only 1 IP is being used, as the computers and print server are
>plugged into a 4 port broadband router.
>
>They want to add a few computers and maybe another print server, but the
>switch is full.
>
>An option I'm considering is connecting everybody to an 8-port switch,
>then connecting that uplink into the 4-port broadband router. My
>understanding is that DHCP on the broadband router can assign everybody
>private IP's just like before. Is this correct?
>
>Is there a bandwidth problem with having everying ultimately go through
>1 port of the 4-port broadband router?
>
>I suppose I'd have to ask the DSL company whether or not there is a
>guarantee of bandwidth for each IP address assigned to this company, or
>is it just a logical separation, and it would be shared whether the
>order was
>
>DSL modem -> 4port broadband router/switch -> 8-port switch -> all PC's
>
>OR
>
>DSL -> 8-port switch -> some PC's (use up some of the IP's)
> -> 4-port router/switch (use 1 IP) -> more PC's
>
>I like the 4-port broadband router next to the DSL modem since it gives
>us some insulation from the Internet via NAT.
>
>Any comments would be appreciated,
>Robert
>

Regarding your question about DHCP across an uplinked switch: yes, that works
fine.

And yes, that'd be the safest, and probably the easiest to manage as well, of
the two proposed configurations.

It'd be worth asking the question about bw/address of the DSL company, but
eventually someone needs to answer the question: how much external bandwidth
does your company actually use?

/daytripper

>Is there a bandwidth problem with having everying ultimately go
through
>1 port of the 4-port broadband router?


Your best bet would be to plug all the machines into the same switch.
This would actually maximize performance. I'm guessing your DSL
connection is probably no more than 6Mb/s if even that much. Probably
a 100 Mb connection between your 4 port router and the 8 port switch,
but if it is only used to carry internet traffic to the router, and for
DHCP, you will never even need 10Mb/s of the bandwidth. Think of the
alternative, 4 machines on the router and 4 machines on the 8 port
switch. You start a couple of file transfers between the machines plus
some internet sessions from the switch and you MIGHT push that link to
the max. Best performance would be to keep the traffic local to the
same switch. Suggestion: If you have an immediate need for 6 or 7
ports, don't buy an 8 port switch, spring for 16 or so, give yourself
some room to grow so you don't end up with a collection of hodge podge
solutions.

>I suppose I'd have to ask the DSL company whether or not there is a
>guarantee of bandwidth for each IP address assigned to this company,
or
>is it just a logical separation, and it would be shared whether the
>order was

Providers give you a connection bandwidth, it is independent of how
many IP's you have. If you have a 2Mb/s DSL link, then that is all you
have to share between however many IP's you might have requested.