Our networking components consist of (3) x D-Link DGS 1248T Switches, and a router.
We have 4-5 servers running as VMWare Host, HTTPD, and Storage.
The clients on the network are connected to the switches via a patch panel.
For the most part, our department requires the most bandwidth to and from the servers. The servers also require significant bandwidth between one another. The clients in the rest of the office however, do not require nearly as much bandwidth.
We do have a Storage server that works as a network backup, and client machines are set to backup at daily intervals (0-10GB each), with the times staggered about an hour apart.
I am not really sure if these backups are what is causing latency issues, or not.
Our switches are currently connected to each other and to the router via a Fiber link.
What I need to know is what the best configuration would be to get maximum network throughput for our production servers and our dept.
Should we all sit on the top tier switch, and connect clients/printers on the 2nd tier? They are connected via fiber, but we do have plenty of open ports, and the switches support STP and Trunking. Should we be using more ports between the switches for additional bandwidth?
Any insight would be appreciated.
