Major Network design help needed ....

[Michael Hipp]

Net Llama! wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Feb 2006, Ben Duncan wrote:
>> The managers seem convinced that the HP PRocurve 4000M is a "managed" switch with
>> various "features". The only things I see it has is "Spanning Tree", VLAN and
>> port trunking control.

I believe they are correct about the 4000M:

http://www.hp.com/rnd/support/manuals/8000_4000_2424.htm
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/networking/software/59692320.pdf

The HP ProCurves are excellent switches. Unlikely they are the problem. And if 
one or more are failing, they have a lifetime warranty from HP.

It's been a while since I was responsible for a large network, but a few 
things come to mind.

- You may want to check into renting a protocol analyzer to track down where 
the problems (or excess traffic) are coming from.
- You may want to disconnect one fiber segment (building) at a time and try to 
reproduce the problem. Then track back to individual switches/ports in the 
building.
- I suspect you're going to want to study up on Ethereal.

Since what they're running here is essentially an ISP, they may want to invest 
in some traffic shaping software running on a Linux or xxxBSD box.

Note that a 6M/6M cable connection is a bent soda straw to try to sip the 
amount of bandwidth thru for apartment buildings full of college-age 
downloaders, uploaders and crackers. Their problem might be no more complex 
than their cable modem is out of gas and their line is saturated.

Just some thoughts...
Michael