Everybody to the limit…
Sometimes I feel a little more like Homestar Runner than a bona-fide network professional, but this month I’ve been pushing the network to the limit in true Fhqwhgads style. That’s right, we’re moving our way well into the late 20th century. Hopefully we’ll be able to catch up with you 21st century types before too long.
Our network has never had a plan. It’s never known its purpose. It’s never had a visionary. When new staff and offices were added, new switches were added, and we’re talking the 5-port Netgear type. Let me give you a glimpse of what I arrived to in 2007.
When I started working here, some offices were 7 hops away from the main server, with 3 of those hops being over-the-counter consumer-grade 5-port switches, 3 others network hubs, and one entry-level business switch. Yuk!
When I started working here, there were 6 different DHCP servers in operation in the building. Three of them dolling out IP addresses in different subnets. Oh yes, times have changed. I have taken all the hubs and superfluous DHCP servers offline, and I am 60% through with our network overhaul.
Yes, for the last month I have been a cable monkey. I am re-running every network drop, utilizing only Cat-6 cabling and some sweet HP Procurve switches. When finished, no machine will ever be more than two hops from any other machine in the building.
I’ll give more updates as time allows… I’m obviously quite busy with this.
