Advice on building network for a Pharmacy

[pill pusher]

Hey guys, I am building a network for my pharmacy and I am having some trouble determining what I need exactly. I have a T1 connection, about 6 computers, 4 POE VOIP phones, and 8 POE IP cameras. My voice is through a hosted VOIP provider, so everything will be going over the T1. I also have the 8 cameras that I want to be able to access from anywhere.

This is what I have come up with

T1---Firewall----Router----Switch----Users

My cash registers will also be connected through the network as well, but for security reasons they need to be isolated, however they still need to interact with a server that will be sitting outside of the VLAN. I was going to create a VLAN for them. I was also going to create a separate VLAN for the phones so that I can assign them QoS as phones are essential in a pharmacy. Does this setup look acceptable?

The firewall I have will be a juniper model that I already have in my possession. I need to purchase the switch and the router and was looking for some recommendations. I am not averse to spending a few hundred dollars for each, but if there are simpler solutions that can do what I need them I am open to those as well. I need the switches to have at least 12 POE ports. In terms of switches, so far have I looked at the Cisco SFE 2000P as well as Netgear FSM7326P and some HP Procurve. Some posts here have mentioned that people just need a basic switch, and to just buy based on price and brand preference, but don't features such as QoS and VLAN capabilites make a difference?

In terms of routers I heard this one is good from other posts on this forum, ASUS RT-N16, would it be sufficient for my needs?

 

[thiggins]

Doesn't your "firewall" also route?

You can buy unmanaged switches on price, warranty and brand preference. Smart / managed switches are entirely different, although the above factors still come into play a bit.

For your sized network, switch performance isn't a factor. And all smart / managed switches support VLANs. PoE port support kicks you into another category, though.

Be sure when looking at switches that all ports (or as many as you need) support PoE and with enough power per port. Some inexpensive PoE switches light up only a few ports to hit a lower price point.

I'd imagine HIPAA is probably a concern, so you may want to stay away from wireless. Go with a business-class router like a Cisco RV042 / RV082.

 

[pill pusher]

Hey Thiggins, thanks for replying. Yes I just found out that my firewall is also a router, I didn't realize that were the same thing before today. The one I have is a Juniper SSG5, which looks pretty decent. Good to know that all smart switches are VLAN capable, I was looking to buy the SFE2000P, I only need to use 12 ports POE so cheaper pricepoint is better in that regards.

I had a network technician guy come out to give me an estimate and he said what I was trying to do was not possible with the technology I had in mind, but I was thinking otherwise. I want to create a network (B) (the point of sale computers) within a network (A). I want network B to be separate from all the computers on A except for one server that it needs to interact with and also be able to connect to the internet to transmit transactions. Does this look possible with just 1 smart switch and a router/firewall?

Doesn't your "firewall" also route?

You can buy unmanaged switches on price, warranty and brand preference. Smart / managed switches are entirely different, although the above factors still come into play a bit.

For your sized network, switch performance isn't a factor. And all smart / managed switches support VLANs. PoE port support kicks you into another category, though.

Be sure when looking at switches that all ports (or as many as you need) support PoE and with enough power per port. Some inexpensive PoE switches light up only a few ports to hit a lower price point.

I'd imagine HIPAA is probably a concern, so you may want to stay away from wireless. Go with a business-class router like a Cisco RV042 / RV082.

 

[thiggins]

Well, I'd say you'd better get another "network technician guy". You certainly should be able to do what you want with VLANs. Did he even know what a VLAN is?

See VLAN How To: Segmenting a small LAN