Our Network

At an event, you have many computers connected to each other that are first and foremost sending information constantly to each other because of the gaming that is going on. This means that all the gamers need to have low ping or lag connections, on a well organised network so that everyone receives the same speeds.

Compounding this situation is the sharing of data. Now if our network is running at 100 megabits per second, this means that you can effectively copy 12.5 megabytes per second. 650 / 12.5 = 54 seconds.

So we have the requirements of the network. We want to LAN, we want to share stuff, and we want to do it FAST! This results in a EXPENSIVE network that takes some effort to get running. This is the biggest reason for LANs not taking off - because organisers do not take this seriously.

At Organised Chaos, we recognise that network being the fundamental requirement in our event and thus we strive to ensure that our network is pleasing to all participants. Every participant of OC can expect a 100 Mbit connection (depending if they have a capable LAN card), and will be able to see and feel (in the gaming lag/ping).

For those of you interested in how the network topology is setup, we use a "star" configuration. There is one central 24port switch which all the others connect up to. The satellite switches are the 24port 10/100m/bit of which 20 ports are used (in our current config).

We have moved our network infrastructure from Planet Networks to Nortel Networks. Nortel manufactures premier switches and we are currently deploying the following devices:


NORTEL ETHERNET SWITCH 325-24G
Formerly known as: BayStack 325 Switches

OVERVIEW

The Nortel Ethernet Switch 325 models are standalone 10/100 Mbps Layer 2 Ethernet switches designed to meet the needs of small and medium customers. Nortel Ethernet Switches are designed to provide low-port pricing for a cost-effective desktop switching solution.

The Ethernet Switch 325-24G has 24 10BASE-T/100BASE-T auto-sensing ports plus 2 10/100/1000BASE-T ports for uplink connectivity to servers or backbone switches.

KEY FEATURES

  • Full auto-sensing on every port - Each switch has auto-sensing ports to accommodate 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps devices.
  • BoSS (Ethernet Switch Software) allows Nortel's Ethernet 325 Switches to use a single software image that provides new features and will be available for free for the lifetime of the switches.
  • Robust feature set - provides enterprise class quality features such as 802.1x, SSHv2, Multi-Link Trunking, 802.1Q/p at a cost-effective price.
  • Wire-speed throughput - 16 Gigabit per second (Gbps) switch fabric for each switch supports full frame forwarding and filtering across all ports at wire-speed performance.
  • High-speed uplink ports - The Nortel Ethernet Switch 325-24G provides two 10/100/1000BASE-T ports in the front of the unit that provides high-speed connections to backbone switches or servers.

NORTEL ETHERNET ROUTING SWITCH 5510-48T

OVERVIEW

Ethernet Routing Switch 5510-48T is a 48 port 10/100/1000 Mbps Layer 3 routing switch featuring high-speed uplinks, easy configuration and web-based management from a web browser. Designed for the requirements of small to medium-sized businesses and branch offices, it delivers a highly affordable LAN solution that offers high performance, is easy to use, and offers investment protection.

KEY FEATURES

  • 48 10/100/1000 ports with 4 SFP (Small Form Factor) uplink ports.
  • Wire speed operation.
  • Network Management software includes JavaTM Device Manager, CLI (Command Line Interface), and Web-based management.
  • Layer 3 routing with static routes and DHCP Relay.
  • Advanced features such as MultiLink Trunking, QoS, intelligent services, 802.1x (EAP over LAN) security and SNMP