University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Information and Library Science
INLS 184 - Protocols and Network Management
Team: Alberti, Eberline, Madariage, Yi

Section 1 - Network Architecture

The network is switched ethernet with multiple switches on each of the three floors. The main building switch is an Enterasys SmartSwitch 6000, also known as the Matrix E6 model. The chassis has three blades, each containing 48 ports, which feed into multiple locations within the building. The first floor has two smaller switches, while the second floor and third floor each have one. All of these internal switches are Enterasys SmartSwitch 2210 models. These switches feed mostly to the user desktops, networked desktops, or one of the 11 wireless access points in the network. The internal switches link to the main switches via Ethernet, and the main building switch has its uplink to the Phillips core of the UNC network via a gigabit connection.

Click on the image below to view the detailed network diagram:

Click Here

Most users accessing the network are on desktops located within offices and the computer labs, or they connect wirelessly using laptops while inside the range of the wireless access points. The computers using the network are mostly Windows and Macintosh desktops. Windows users either run Windows XP or Windows 2000, while Macintosh users run mostly OS X. The School of Education does have a few servers, but they are located offsite at ITS Franklin. One web server exists on the network, hosting a site for educators at http://www.horizon.unc.edu.

There are no Ethernet cable lengths which exceed the specifications. The cable lengths to all local hosts are all less than 12 feet, except in the labs, where cables was custom cut up to about 20 feet. Cabling throughout the building is copper-based Ethernet cable, which will support gigabit connections. There are no repeaters in use within the network.

The major applications in use across the network include Microsoft Office, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. The bulk of the traffic on the network, according to the network administrator, is world wide web browsing. There are no voice over IP (VoIP) phones currently on the network. Some videoconferencing is done on the network, but for the most part videoconferencing is carried out at another site.

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