@RUMC - You're very welcome. Responses to your numeric bullets below:
1) Indeed, certainly doable, and in fact, that may be the optimal setup: fiber between S1 and S2, and make S2 your core switch by cabling it to R1, instead of S1. Regarding the terminology and components behind fiber, here are guides on fiber types (single vs. multi-mode), connector types and SFP transceivers. Long story short, for your switch-to-switch run, you'll most likely end up using an LC-type connector and either single-mode ("OS"+#, usually OS2) and LX transceivers, or multi-mode ("OM"+#, usually OM2 or OM3) and SX transceivers. The easiest practical way to get a ready-to-connect fiber run is to buy pre-terminated fiber patch at the length you've measured (plus 5-15 foot service loops on either end), with connectors already fastened. This way, all you have to do is lay the fiber run, plug in your compatible SFP transceivers into the switches, plug in the connectors at each end of the cable into the SFPs, and you're done. Also, if you don't already know, when handling fiber, want to pay special attention to not over-bending it, or bending it under its minimum bend radius, as the glass can and likely will break. If you sense the pull path may compromise the fiber too much, you can also look into bend-insensitive and/or armored fiber patch. If you want help finding links to such products, just say so and I can do some digging for you.
2) Correct on all points.
3) Correct again. Depending on if you can home-run all IP cams, APs and keystone jacks, you might consider just running a single, higher-density managed PoE switch (instead of a managed, non-PoE switch plus smaller PoE switch combo), to keep your network segment there as flat and easily-managed as possible. You might also consider consolidating to fewer, higher-density PoE managed switches in buildings A, B and C at some point in the future, provided you can home-run all IP cams to that switch at some point. The combination of doing all of this. If you do all of the above, you might then consider upgrading the GS1900's in buildings A and B to the same, newer model of switch going into the gym, and choosing a stackable model, whereby all three can form a switch stack, which acts as a virtually-combined single backplane and can be managed from a single IP as such. A very nice thing to have in a distributed, "ring" type topology such as yours.
4) The main advantage is that you'd be offloading all of the local layer-3 traffic processing off of R1 (your gateway/router), freeing it up to just perform NAT and other gateway-only services (VPN, possibly DNS if the Win server isn't doing DNS, etc.). Doing local routing on the switch will also make traffic route and resolve a bit faster (in microseconds, perhaps even low milliseconds) when things like DHCP queries, services forwarding and/or local routing takes place. Again, for a network your size and traffic load, I'd call this trivial at best for the time being, and if your network load grows, something you can work in later.
5) A very humble take-away, indeed. And I stand corrected on the internet type: microwave/cell, not DSL (FYI, having SQM on your router will help just the same). Hopefully your area will get better connectivity soon.
One side tid-bit: I presume you're either in Richton or Raymond (only so many RUMC's in MS)? No need to divulge if you prefer not to.
Hope that helps again.
1) Indeed, certainly doable, and in fact, that may be the optimal setup: fiber between S1 and S2, and make S2 your core switch by cabling it to R1, instead of S1. Regarding the terminology and components behind fiber, here are guides on fiber types (single vs. multi-mode), connector types and SFP transceivers. Long story short, for your switch-to-switch run, you'll most likely end up using an LC-type connector and either single-mode ("OS"+#, usually OS2) and LX transceivers, or multi-mode ("OM"+#, usually OM2 or OM3) and SX transceivers. The easiest practical way to get a ready-to-connect fiber run is to buy pre-terminated fiber patch at the length you've measured (plus 5-15 foot service loops on either end), with connectors already fastened. This way, all you have to do is lay the fiber run, plug in your compatible SFP transceivers into the switches, plug in the connectors at each end of the cable into the SFPs, and you're done. Also, if you don't already know, when handling fiber, want to pay special attention to not over-bending it, or bending it under its minimum bend radius, as the glass can and likely will break. If you sense the pull path may compromise the fiber too much, you can also look into bend-insensitive and/or armored fiber patch. If you want help finding links to such products, just say so and I can do some digging for you.
2) Correct on all points.
3) Correct again. Depending on if you can home-run all IP cams, APs and keystone jacks, you might consider just running a single, higher-density managed PoE switch (instead of a managed, non-PoE switch plus smaller PoE switch combo), to keep your network segment there as flat and easily-managed as possible. You might also consider consolidating to fewer, higher-density PoE managed switches in buildings A, B and C at some point in the future, provided you can home-run all IP cams to that switch at some point. The combination of doing all of this. If you do all of the above, you might then consider upgrading the GS1900's in buildings A and B to the same, newer model of switch going into the gym, and choosing a stackable model, whereby all three can form a switch stack, which acts as a virtually-combined single backplane and can be managed from a single IP as such. A very nice thing to have in a distributed, "ring" type topology such as yours.
4) The main advantage is that you'd be offloading all of the local layer-3 traffic processing off of R1 (your gateway/router), freeing it up to just perform NAT and other gateway-only services (VPN, possibly DNS if the Win server isn't doing DNS, etc.). Doing local routing on the switch will also make traffic route and resolve a bit faster (in microseconds, perhaps even low milliseconds) when things like DHCP queries, services forwarding and/or local routing takes place. Again, for a network your size and traffic load, I'd call this trivial at best for the time being, and if your network load grows, something you can work in later.
5) A very humble take-away, indeed. And I stand corrected on the internet type: microwave/cell, not DSL (FYI, having SQM on your router will help just the same). Hopefully your area will get better connectivity soon.
One side tid-bit: I presume you're either in Richton or Raymond (only so many RUMC's in MS)? No need to divulge if you prefer not to.
Hope that helps again.
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