Question for network administrators?!?

An employer currently has only one building, half office space and half manufacturing/warehouse. The existing network has only ThickNet and ThinNet connecting PCs and servers and other devices. Ideas in upgrading? Will this plan support future growth and upgrades? If so, how?

get a couple of cisco 3560's (or 2970)'s those can be picked up pretty cheap either on ebay or at some reseller. Run cat5 throughout the place, put in RJ45 wall jacks (so that the cabling can be behind the wall, and all you need is a small patch cable to run from the wall jack to the PC. and yah upgrade to 10/100/1000 for the host PC's.

Install 2 central file servers (one being a backup to the other one).

Depending on the number of machines you have, perhaps get a router and "segment" the network into multiple subnets and vlans based upon "function". ie..person works in billing, their PC is a subnet dedicated to billing etc.. This cuts down on network noise and contention..

Yes this can support future growth. However I will caveat with, "if it aint broke dont fix it". So..if things are working good right now, w/ plans for minimal future growth, then why undertake such a large upgrade?

Upgrade to ethernet, preferably gigabit.

Well,i will give it a shot.I thought Thicknet was being phased out?I would use "Fiber Optic " cable as my backbone.The transfer rates are much faster than Thicknet ,and you always want the fastest transfer rates to support "future growth". So did I completly fail or what?

Definately could see improvement with cat-5 or cat 5e (even cat 6 now) twisted pair cable for runs less than 100 meters. Anything over that, consider fiber-optic cabling or run fiber in a dual "FDDI" between switches (each switch has 2 ST fiber connectors for example. Switch A connects to Switch D and switch B, Switch B connects to Switch A and Switch C, etc)

Also, if you will need wireless network access for mobil equipment in the warehouse, consider wireless options in there.

Use of Cat 5e and Cat 6 exceed the 100 MB (1000 on at least one EIA/TIA standard) limits of Cat 5 already. and multimode fiber will keep up with bandwith demands including high-speed data and video demand requirements for many years to come. You will actually be using slower equipment over faster cable, so that when the equipment gets faster, you won't have to replace the cable.

P.S. If you do have any issues with any interfaces that work 10 MBs only, there are still Mini and Micro switches available that are 10/100 or even 10/100/1000 on the uplink, and the individual ports can be configured for auto 10/100 or set to a fixed rate (such as 10 MB half duplex, 10 MB full duplex, 100 MB Auto, etc). Simply put one of those mini switches between the old equipment and your switch. (stay away from hubs if possible)

Replace the Thick and Thin net cabling plant with twisted pair cat 5e or cat 6 for higher speeds. You can connect the closets with fiber. I suspect your Thicknet is probably connected to process control equipment in the manufacturering section. You can get thransceivers that connect between the thicknet interface on your equipment to an RJ45 twisted pair interface. A word of caution here. Your old thick and thinnet equipment is 10M ethernet. some of the newer twisted pair products that claim to be 10/100/1000 M in fact have a very difficult time syncing to 10 M equipment. You really need to to engage a good network integration architect. That person will help design a cable plant that will meet your your needs and will also specify the electronic equipment (e.g routers, switches) capable of connecting all your components and meeting your network needs. Assembling a well managed corporate network is a lot different than networking a couple of computers at home.