Networks Technical Equipment Required for 50-100 gaming LAN?

Hi, I have some novice experience with networking i.e. I have set up many small (1-5 computer) LANs using small switches, routers etc. to do the basics such as internet sharing. I have also set up 15-20 person gaming LANs simply using a 20-port switch. I am curious as to the equipment and basically everything required to setup and manage 50-100 people gaming for a weekend in one hall.

Is this as simple as buying a 48 port switch and plugging all the computers in? I'd imagine not. What then happens when you have in excess of 48 computers? What's the best way to 'bridge' two switches?

 

Most switches will have an uplink port that allows you to connect another switch to them for expanded capacity.

 

Ok excellent. So I've got 40 gaming clients' computers into one 10/100 48-port switch and 40 in another 10/100 48-port switch with the switches bridged using the upload port. This will allow all the computers to communicate with each other and game smoothly, yes? Will I need to have a DCHP server attached? If so, what benefit will this provide? The organisation I am with has copies of Windows 2003 Server that I can use for this purpose, if necessary.

Next, I'd want to have a fileserver, intranet and IRC server setup. Would it be a reasonable expectation to run all of these servers on a single box? What kind of system requirements would I be looking at?

 

Yer it's pretty simple

Im not an expert but heres what I would do...

Gigabit ethernet main switch feeding all servers and switches, 2x 48 port 10/100 switches with 2x gigabit ethernet uplinks per switch

Netgear 16-port Gigabit Ethernet Switch : £126.93 ex vat

Netgear ProSafe 48-port 10/100 Smart Switch + 2 Gigabit Ports : £216.62 ex vat

Both include rack mounting kits by the looks of it.

Ethernet will do the job nicely but if you need to cover any long distances it would be worth looking at fibre.

Shouldnt need much server wise, just something stable and reliable, two mid end machines with couple o' gigs of ram and couple of gigabit ethernet cards. One for file server one for the IRC/intranet server, might be worth mirroring whats on both the servers so if one dies you still have another up. Theres plenty of servers on Ebay.

Hope this helps

 

Hello Fiber,

Could you recommend a good switch that will do 24 gamers? I hear great things about HP switches?

Would I need a server to put on a 24 person LAN party?

Taking it I wouldn't need a main switch, just the one would do??



Cheers

Mickey

 

Netgear FS726T Prosafe 24 Port 10/100 Smart Switch with 2 Gigabit Ports - £110.74 inc. VAT

 

Thanks again Mary Jo

I read an article on toms networking re what switch and it says you need a total bandwidth of 48 Gbps! Is this right??

Cut and paste bellow

TIP: While you're switch shopping, make sure any purchase candidates have enough bandwidth to handle full speed on all ports simultaneously. This is usually referred to as "non-blocking" in specifications, but it's a good idea to also check the switch's bandwidth or switching capacity spec to make sure the numbers add up. (The info you need is sometimes listed under "switch fabric", too.)

For a 24-port 10/100 Mbps switch at full duplex (100 Mbps both directions) the switch bandwidth specification should be at least 4.8 Gbps - 100 Mbps per port x 2 (transmit and receive) x 24 ports. Note that each 10/100 port adds 200 Mbps and each gigabit port adds 2 Gbps to the switch's bandwidth requirement. Make sure you add in bandwidth for dedicated uplink ports, which count just like normal ports.

If you can't find the spec for 10/100 standalone switches, don't sweat it, since it's unlikely you'll find any current-design products that aren't non-blocking. But make sure you check the spec for any gigabit gear you're considering. There are switches out there that say they're "non-blocking", but whose bandwidth numbers don't support the claim. For example, a 24 port gigabit switch should have 48 Gbps of bandwidth. Anything less, and you're not getting "non-blocking" performance.

Full article here http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2005/07/19/lan_party_how_to_/page2.html

 

Anyone??

 

No, it says 4.8 Gbps. It says 48 Gbps for a Gigabit 24 port switch, that is not what is mentioned, what is mentioned for you is a 24 10/100 switch with 2 gigabit uplinks.

 

Thanks casey. Im still a little confused but Im sure Ill get the hang of it.

Would this be better / suitable?

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=80236

I heard you can link two of these together with two cat 5/6 cables for future expansion?

 

The other one will work just as fine, most of the clients will only have 10/100 networking not 10/100/1000 networking so it would just be a waste for that switch. And the previous one you can link together with two cables for expansion, you can do it with any switch.

 

OK casey, thanks.

Im just having a hard time understanding they are so cheap!!!

I may just go for the 48 port one mentioned originally by Fiber.

Just to clarify the 48 port one would be way fast enough to play 48 peeps head to head on a LAN all palying BF2 maxed out?? Just to be safe Im asking again

Mickey the pest

 

Yes it will work just fine. The switch has 13.6 Gbs of bandwidth which is just the amount you would need. You could even do less because I bet BF2 uses no where near to all of the 100 Mbps.

 

5mbit up up 5mbit down for 64 players. So you are well within a limits of bandwidth. But I'd still reccomend gigabit since you'll be having background file transfers and since most people will probably be running on 100mbps, gigabit will be giving you a leeway and extra bandwidth to prevent network slowdown.

 

Hey there mr wonka

sorry to be thick but which one is the gigabit again?

Id def rather have twice the bandwidth I need than 5% to little.



EDIT - Oh yeah - Im with ya mr wonka - you mean the one I recomended?

What componets would I need for the server?



Have you seen this for a switch - any good ??

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dell...&kc=305&l=en&oc=PC052324&s=bsd&sbc=pwcnt_2324