[K12OSN] Networking a new school for K12LTSP?

["Terrell Prudé Jr."]

I would have multi-mode fiber-optic cabling between all of your wiring
closets, no exceptions.  This is for several reasons.

The first is that, going forward, you can easily use Ten Gigabit
Ethernet in, say, ten years from today.  No, don't laugh; my district
used to think, not so long ago, that Cat 3 cabling "was good enough." 
Well, ten years later, we just got through spending boatloads to rip out
all that Cat 3 and put in Cat 5e.  Had we put in Cat 5 in the first
place, we would not have had to do all this and spend all that money a
second time.  Oops....

The second reason to use fiber between the closets is so that you're
immune to the fluorescent lights that are likely going to be in the
building.  That, and fiber will let you go considerably longer
distances.  There are two grades of multi-mode fiber, 62.5um and 50um. 
If possible, go for the 50um, but if you can't do that, 62.5um will
certainly do the job.  I've got both types in my house, and they both
work fine.

The third reason to use fiber is the LTSP server itself.  Remember, a
single session of TuxType can suck up 73Mb/sec.  That means that you can
have 14 kids simultaneously playing TuxType before you fill up the Gig-E
link and start seeing degradation.  In the future, Ten Gig-E will come
down in price.  With such a NIC, you'd be able to have the entire
computer lab of 30 kids playing TuxType or TuxMath at once, and your
server's NIC will not be a bottleneck.  Yes, that means a fiber
Ten-Gigabit NIC.  No, that won't be cheap.  But, in time, it'll be a
heck of a lot cheaper than a second server.  Remember, you're looking
ahead here, not just to tomorrow.

All of this means, use fiber, and furthermore, use fiber bundles of
maybe four to six pairs each.  No, not four to six *strands*.  I mean
four to six *pairs*.  Your school will thank you big-time in ten years.

For your workstation links, I'd suggest going with at least Cat 5e, and
if you can do Cat 6 without spending a boatload more money, you might as
well do so.  As far as the number of drops in each classroom, my
district has learned the hard way to err on the side of excess.  We have
learned not to consider it unreasonable to put twenty (yes, 20) Cat 5e
Ethernet drops in each and every classroom, spread around on all four
walls, and any computer labs of course get many more drops.  Yup, that
means lots of patch panels.  Don't make the mistake we originally made
and skimp on the number of drops.

Note that, since you're using Cat 5e, each of those links would support
Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop, as the IEEE 802.3ab spec for Gig-E
across copper actually calls for Cat 5, so Cat 5e obviously would be
just dandy.

HTH,

--TP
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Joseph Bishay wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I hope everyone is doing well.
>
> I sit on a design committee for a new building.  A major part of the
> building will be a K-8 school (200 students).  The building will also
> have a day care, banquet hall, and a community area (youth lounge,
> game room, etc) as it is a multi-purpose building.
>
> We are just now getting to the point of getting into how the building
> will be wiring, and my goal is to make sure the wiring is compatible
> for maximum LTSP performance.  Hopefully both the school and the
> community area will utilize LTSP.
>
> I'd like some input on what people have in their schools that has
> worked, has not worked, what they wish they had, etc.  Any and all
> feedback is greatly appreciated -- both in terms of LTSP specifically
> and I.T. generally.
>
> Thanks very much.
> Joseph
>
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