Enterprise Network Switch Deployment Case Study and FAQ
Updated at Nov 11th 20171 min read
Today, enterprises are embracing various new technologies to improve employee productivity and get engaged with customers. For entrepreneurs, they are in urgent need to build a cost-effective and high-performance enterprise network to better support their businesses.
A strong enterprise network allows employees to interact seamlessly with customers and greatly enhance customer experience and shape a competitive advantage. However, to build a secure and reliable enterprise network, many difficult technical issues will come along and the business manager may get confused to choose the right network solution. But there is always a solution. The following case study displays how we make it easy for one of our customers to build a wired and wireless enterprise network at a price tag that fits his budget.
Case Study of Enterprise Network Building
User Requirements and Applications
In this case, there are hundreds of network nodes located in three different buildings that need to be connected. The three buildings are within 200 meters of each other. There’s only one rack in each office. And the existing multifiber cables for connecting the three buildings are 24-strand fiber optic cables. All the devices in the three buildings need to be connected to the servers.
Site 1: The 1st building holds two rackmount servers, one IP storage, about 40 PCs and 40 PoE devices including VoIP phones, IP cameras and Wireless Access Points (WAPs). The data rate from the two servers and IP storage is 4 x 10Gbit/s.
Site 2: The 2nd building is home to around 80 PCs and 80 PoE devices.
Site 3: And in the 3rd building there will be backup locations and less than 40 laptops and workstations for users.
Link A: A 170m long single-mode fiber optic cable that can use at most 24 fibers.
Link B: A 150m long single-mode fiber optic cable that can use at most 24 fibers.

Figure 1: location of the customer’s three office buildings and devices in them.
How to Configure This Enterprise Network?
According to the customer’s actual situation and requirements, we have designed the solution as follow. Other equipment for cabling, splicing and cable management is also included in the design but not displayed here.

Figure 2: enterprise network solution for connecting the three buildings.
Table: key products in this solution.
Switch Type | Site 1 | Site 2 | Site 3 |
Core Switch | FS.com S5850-48S6Q
48*10G SFP+ and 6*40G QSFP+
(1pcs) | / | / |
10G/40G Access Switch | FS.com S5850-48T4Q
48*10GBASE-T and 4*40G QSFP+
(1pcs) | FS.com S5850-48T4Q
48*10GBASE-T and 4*40G QSFP+
(2pcs) | / |
1G/10G Access Switch | / | / | FS.com S3900-48T6S-R
48*10/100/1000BASE-T and 6*10G SFP+
(1pcs) |
10G PoE Access Switch | FS.com S1600-48T4S
48*10/100/1000BASE-T and 4*10G SFP+
(1pcs) | FS.com S1600-48T4S
48*10/100/1000BASE-T and 4*10G SFP+
(1pcs) | / |
Since the 1st building is for servers and clients, where a large amount of data needs to be handled, so core switch we recommend here is FS.com S5850-48S6Q. It can sufficiently deal with the overall data traffic of the three offices, and the number of ports is enough for the whole connection. It delivers excellent performance with low latency and high energy saving in an on-board PHY free design. In addition, it is equipped with Broadcom ICOS, so the management of traffic will be simple, like QoS queuing.

Figure 3: 10G/40G FS.com S5850-48S6Q
Due to the large number of clients, the access layer switch should be capable enough to support them at the same time. FS.com S5850-48T4Q is suitable for this task. Each switch can connect 48 clients at most. The RJ45 ports enable easy access to clients via Cat6a cables at high speed, without the need to purchase 10G fiber optic modules. And the Layer 3 feature allows convenient assignment of VLANs among different departments.

Figure 4: 10G/40G FS.com S5850-48T4Q
Considering the fact that many PoE devices will be installed in this case, FS.com S1600-48T4S, a multiport PoE switch, is adopted. This PoE switch is equipped with 10/100/1000BASE-T PoE ports to connect all the PoE devices, which can serve the needs of our customers.

Figure 5: 10G FS.com S1600-48T4S POE Switch
As for the third building, the demand for data rate is not as high as other clients, so 1G access to the laptops and workstations is enough. This is why FS.com S3900-48T4Q is recommended.

Figure 6: 1G/10G FS.com S3800-48T4S
FAQ for Enterprise Networking and Switches
Q: What’s the difference between core switch and three-layer switch?
A: A core switch is usually your strongest switch that has the most processing power. It is the center of your network (hence "core"). A Layer 3 switch is a switch that can perform routing functions. A core switch can be either Layer 2 or Layer 3. But in today's world of networking, it is usually Layer. In this case, the switch S5850-48S6Q serves as the core switch and it is Layer 3.
Q: How can I get the switches updated?
A: FS.com supports software upgrade. The switches are in the latest version of software when being shipped to customers. If there is a new version, we will release it on the website for free.
Q: Does the core switch contain enough FIB and RAM to allow BGP with full routing?
A: Yes, for FS.com S5850 series switches, the RAM is 2GB and FIB is 8K, ensure that BGP routing are all sent to the switch chip.
Q: How to pick up the optical transceivers and patch cables for these FS.com switches?
A: All the generic compatible transceivers provided by FS.com can be used in these FS.com switches. In this case, we adopted generic compatible 10G LR SFP+ (SMF LC duplex), 40G LR4 QSFP+ (SMF LC duplex), 10G SR SFP+ (MMF LC duplex) and 40G SR4 QSFP+ (MMF MTP Polarity B).
Q: Do these switches support VLAN?
A: All the switches from FS.com can support QinQ and VLAN.
Q: What are the GUI and CLI for these switches?
A: Different switches adopt different GUI and CLI interfaces for management. GUI is the graphical user management interface, which also refers to the web interface. And CLI is the command line management interface, which refers to the operating system administration interface.
Q: Can these switches be stacked together to create a single virtual switch?
A: Of course, of all the switches in FS, S3900-48T6S-R switch, S3900-24T4S switch, S3900-24F4S switch and S5900-24S4T2Q switch can suppoert stacked function. But we can customize it for our customers if it is needed. Also, our S5800 and N-Series can support MLAG, thus achieving the similar effect as stacking.
Note: The S3900-24F4S and S3900-24T4S switch will soon be discontinued and can be replaced with the S3900-24F4S-R and S3900-24T4S-R switch.
Q: For the S1600-48T4S, does it support SSH? Is it only web GUI and configuration upload/download manageable?
A: FS.com S1600-48T4S does support SSH. You only need to configure IP SSH on the PoE switch, and then configure the corresponding IP.
Q: How to connect different buildings?
A: Most building connections today will be a fiber connection in hard plastic conduit. This conduit is usually buried about two feet below the ground. In the above case, the solution we offered for the connection of the 2nd and 3rd buildings to the 1st building is via conduit.
Q: How to choose the right network switch and how do I get the services I need?
A: When it comes to purchasing network switch and implementing solution, a great number of factors need to be considered. You’d better consult a professional company first. At FS.com, we are always ready to help our customers design a reliable, elastic and cost-effective network. We can provide comprehensive solutions for your network, including network switches, switch accessories and connecting & cabling products. A diversity of network switches is supplied to meet various requirements, such as PoE/non-PoE, with-fan/fanless, managed/unmanaged. Full and prompt technical support is available globally, just tell FS.com your requirements.
Q: How can I get a scalable network?
A: A scalable network means the network can grow as the business expands, and serve the company for many years to come. An expandable network is an easy concept to understand, however, actually doing so requires proper planning. To plan network services to be scalable, a company must evaluate how they currently use their business IT and estimate how they are likely to use it in the future.
Summary
There are many ways to connect network equipment. A great number of factors need to be considered when designing a secure, efficient, and scalable network. Your needs will be determined by factors like the size of the network, the equipment involved, speeds required, the distance to be covered and, inevitably, your budget. While individual network demands will vary greatly between networks, it is important to think through your network design. To perfect your solution before implementing it can help you get a reliable and cost-effective enterprise network, and prepare your business for the increased need for bandwidth that we can expect to see in the very near future.