switches and routers?

Question

we have a router and switch "a" hooked together, can i hook switch "b" to switch "a" and another switch "c" to switch "b", sort of a daisy chain of 2 switches after the switch that goes to the router ? can i do this ? what is the max. of daisy chain switches that i can have?

Answer 1

Yes, you can daisy chain your switches together, A to B, then B to C, then C to D and so on. Make sure they are full duplex connections. I don't know what make and model of switch you are using, so the exact configuration might vary a bit. But in general you don't want to daisy chain more than 7 switches in this fashion. Consider how much you reduce the fault tolerance for each switch you add to a chain. Also depending on if the switches have uplink ports or auto-MDIX, then you may or may not need to use crossover cables. If all of your connections are in one place, I highly recommend using a stack of 48-port switches, or a chassis based solution where many 48-port modules slide into a single chassis. If the network is spread out, say where you have just a few ports in several different rooms, then you need to daisy chain them, just be careful how you do it and not to exceed the maximum network diameter, which is also a function of how you connect them and if you are using copper, fiber, etc. Make sure the connections between the switches are FULL DUPLEX. This way, you don't really have to worry about exceeding the max size of the collision domain.

Answer 2

Do you have this in your home or some business? I believe to link switches, you need to uplink them. Anyways if you are going to switch that many computers (either that or you just buying switches that have like 4 ports), im guessing this is a business network. And if this is the case then you should buy switches with over 16ports so you would need less connections. Another question is do you plan on creating VLANs or just want to connect a lot of computers..

Answer 3

tricky matter. search over google or bing. that may help!