Linking a switch to another switch

humaxf1

Hi everyone,

An office that I service has extended its business to a separate building across the street. We'll call the original building A and the new building B

Along with running phone-lines from A to B, their electrician ran a CAT link cable from A to B also which connects a network switch in A to a network switch in B.

At times, staff (5 at the moment) in B sees a bit of a lag in opening documents from a Windows 2012 server located in A or while using their business software (data stored on the server).

I'm thinking there's a bottle-neck at times for staff in B by pushing all the data back and forth over the link cable. So, I'm wondering if by using a pair of Ethernet to fiber transceivers would alleviate the bottle-neck?

Another question is, is there fiber cable suitable to be used outdoors to span the distance between the buildings, approx 30m?

thanks

galvo_clare

Don’t think you’re supposed to do that from a safety point of view.
Fiber might be an option but more expensive.

humaxf1 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

An office that I service has extended its business to a separate building across the street. We'll call the original building A and the new building B

Along with running phone-lines from A to B, their electrician ran a CAT link cable from A to B also which connects a network switch in A to a network switch in B.

At times, staff (5 at the moment) in B sees a bit of a lag in opening documents from a Windows 2012 server located in A or while using their business software (data stored on the server).

I'm thinking there's a bottle-neck at times for staff in B by pushing all the data back and forth over the link cable. So, I'm wondering if by using a pair of Ethernet to fiber transceivers would alleviate the bottle-neck?

Another question is, is there fiber cable suitable to be used outdoors to span the distance between the buildings, approx 30m?

thanks

ED E

Is the link at 100Mb or Gig? 5 users would rarely saturate a gig link.

And as above, sparks shouldnt have done that unless they're on the same mains circuit. If B has its own CU then there's a risk of potentially fatal electrocution.

humaxf1

Switch A and B is Gigabit

Each building has its own ESB supply. So there can be voltage leakage through the CAT cable link?

dr.fuzzenstein

Oh dear, that's really like saying "my car is broken, can you fix it?"
How long is the link? Is it more than 100 meters?
What type switches are they, is it all in the same vlan, have you configured a proper uplink or is it maybe still an access port? BPDU gard or port security could be kicking in.
To use a fibre the switch would have to have ports that can take gbics. Not much different if it just has rj 45 ports.
Check the logs or maybe survey the switches via SNMP and something like nagios.
Check the interfaces for errors and make sure speed and duplex are configured correctly.
There's a million things, unless they're just dumb switches.

humaxf1

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Oh dear, that's really like saying "my car is broken, can you fix it?"

This is computer networking section - my car runs fine thanks.

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

How long is the link? Is it more than 100 meters?

If you care to carefully read my original post you will find the distance is approximately 30m

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

What type switches are they, is it all in the same vlan, have you configured a proper uplink or is it maybe still an access port? BPDU gard or port security could be kicking in.

All on the same LAN. Running the link CAT cable is no different to running out of ports on a switch and hooking up another switch to expand. There is no dedicated uplink port.

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

To use a fibre the switch would have to have ports that can take gbics. Not much different if it just has rj 45 ports.

The switches are just plain switches, no fiber ports or management. Again, if you read my OP carefully - you will find I am asking about ethernet-fiber transceivers!

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Check the logs or maybe survey the switches via SNMP and something like nagios.

Can you check the logs or do the survey? I can't be arsed

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

There's a million things, unless they're just dumb switches.

Yes, they are dumb - not very intelligent :P

dr.fuzzenstein

Well, the car analogy, details are always good.
What I'm getting at, if I know the make and model, I know more about the configuration.
I work mostly with Cisco switches and the right configuration is everything.
The access ports are configured differently to the uplinks. If you were to plug an uplink into an access port, it might shut down.
Having said that, if they're dumb switches without the possibility of configuration via terminal, that point is moot.
If it's 30 meters and the switch has standard RJ45 copper connectors, fibre won't do much.
Just make sure it's cat5e, shielded (that would cut out electric interference), the connectors are OK and undamaged and the strands of cable are in the right order (if it has been made instead of ready bought).
If the cable runs alongside power cables, you might want to reroute it.
After that you might have to do a TCP dump through wireshark on a PC where it works OK and one where there is a delay, these kind of intermittent problems are very hard to pin down.

Johnboy1951

ED E wrote: »

Is the link at 100Mb or Gig? 5 users would rarely saturate a gig link.

And as above, sparks shouldnt have done that unless they're on the same mains circuit. If B has its own CU then there's a risk of potentially fatal electrocution.

Would something like this provide the isolation required for safe operation?

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Box-Ethernet-Data-Isolator/dp/B002FWDE36

http://www.l-com.com/secure-data-l-com-10-100-1000-ethernet-data-isolator-en60601-1-compliant

ED E

Comms are more my area than AC setups but I suspect they might. When you want safe isolation generally theres a thing called an opto isolator which is a little light, a gap and a sensor. So even if you roast one side with 80A of mains the other side cannot possibly become live. If they're similarly safe then that should do.

Trick is to make sure in a fail scenario they dont short across or potentially arc.



humaxf1 use iPerf to test actual performance. Crap cable/workmanship wont be noticed at 10m but over 30m especially if transiting noisy RF environments really could be.

Alun

Considering this cable was installed by an electrician, I'd be thinking crap, i.e. incorrect termination myself, i.e. not following TIA 586B, but simply connecting each pair up side by side.

Cuddlesworth

humaxf1 wrote: »

Switch A and B is Gigabit

Each building has its own ESB supply. So there can be voltage leakage through the CAT cable link?

Google the switch type/models manual. Usually the activity LED's indicate the status of the link, 100mb or 1gig, full or half duplex.

Just cause the switches are gigabit, doesn't mean they have negotiated a gigabit link.