Switch connectivity design

I have 4 switches. On one of thoses switches, I have all my servers
connected to it.

Is it better to daisy chain the 4 switches or put them in a star layout
where the 3 switches plug into the 4th switch with all the servers on it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jasper

Hi Jaz,

Generally you want a star -- unless you have something like the Cisco 3750
switches that should be chained using the special cables to merge their
backplanes in a stack.

If you have smarter switches that will let you bond/trunk ports into a
single faster link, you might consider using one of those switches at the
terminus of the star as a server switch with multiple bonded links back to
your core switch.... You might even group them into a vlan and use spanning
tree load balancing to provide separate trunked links back to them to split
the routing. Of course at that point, you've probably got money for a better
solution like a Cisco chassis switch.

HTH
--
Ryan Hanisco
MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, Project+
http://www.techsterity.com
Chicago, IL

Remember: Marking helpful answers helps everyone find the info they need
quickly.


"Jaz" wrote:

> I have 4 switches. On one of thoses switches, I have all my servers
> connected to it.
>
> Is it better to daisy chain the 4 switches or put them in a star layout
> where the 3 switches plug into the 4th switch with all the servers on it.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
> Jasper
>
>
>

Thanks, this is just want I needed to know!!

jasper
"Ryan Hanisco" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:48107613-AFA0-4671-82B9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Jaz,
>
> Generally you want a star -- unless you have something like the Cisco 3750
> switches that should be chained using the special cables to merge their
> backplanes in a stack.
>
> If you have smarter switches that will let you bond/trunk ports into a
> single faster link, you might consider using one of those switches at the
> terminus of the star as a server switch with multiple bonded links back to
> your core switch.... You might even group them into a vlan and use
spanning
> tree load balancing to provide separate trunked links back to them to
split
> the routing. Of course at that point, you've probably got money for a
better
> solution like a Cisco chassis switch.
>
> HTH
> --
> Ryan Hanisco
> MCSE, MCTS: SQL 2005, Project+
> http://www.techsterity.com
> Chicago, IL
>
> Remember: Marking helpful answers helps everyone find the info they need
> quickly.
>
>
> "Jaz" wrote:
>
> > I have 4 switches. On one of thoses switches, I have all my servers
> > connected to it.
> >
> > Is it better to daisy chain the 4 switches or put them in a star layout
> > where the 3 switches plug into the 4th switch with all the servers on
it.
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jasper
> >
> >
> >