what is the best option for setting up a network for about 50 people across the world?

[Ricky M]

I don't know a whole lot about networks and stuff. A group of friends and I are working on turning a former Facebook game which was shut down a few weeks ago due to the lack of profit Into a game that will hopefully be much better (the developers that wrote the game didn't do a good job or writing the code but the people who played it got addicted) The problem is we live all over the united states and 1 person who knows English lives across the world, what would you suggest for a network and server? (we are looking for network engineers but have had no luck yet)
Thanks Gary, i have a few friends who are developers but that is about it, no one who is good with networks and servers, i think i have a lot to learn, but I do think it is possible, I might of missed it but i don't think you covered the problem that the developers working on the game live all over the united states and you kept mentioning LANs which are local area networks

[Gary]

Probally need something like this....The first thing in your network to address is your firewall and router. To separate your networks properly and ensure your business data is protected, this is a must. A TZ 205 or TZ 215 would proabably be what I would recommend for the performance you need to run the multiple simultaneous connections, but it might be worth it to contact directly to Dell and discuss your network information with them for a good recommendation based on the type of traffic you see, number of concurrent access, necessary throughput, etc.

In your Sonicwall you should configure three separate network zones: Management LAN, Private LAN, Public LAN. Each of these zones will be a separate network range and be the default gateway for your three new VLANs. VLAN100 for Management LAN, VLAN101 for Private LAN, and VLAN102 for Public LAN. You can establish firewall rules to block all traffic between the Management, Private, and Public LAN zones so that users cannot traverse to network devices they shouldn't have access to. In our case we also made it so the Management LAN had access to all other VLANs, but all other VLANs did not have access back into the Management LAN.

Next, you will need a managed switch with VLAN capabilities. If you have quite a few computers simultaneously accessing and transferring data with other internal network devices, such as a server, then I'd recommend installing a gigabit switch. Otherwise you could get by with a 10/100 switch and save a little money, but anymore a gigabit switch is not going to be much more expensive. If you're considering installing PoE capable wireless access points then you may consider a PoE capable switch as well. I have had great luck with the HP ProCurve 1810 series of switches, and these come in a large different configurations from eight to 48 ports and either 10/100 or gigabit speed capabilities. These are smart managed switches which support most business features including VLANs, link aggregation, and more.

For a wireless system, you really need an enterprise wireless solution for the number of simultaneous users you are talking about, and to minimize the number of access points you will need, you should get units which also support VLAN capabilities. Again the type that we use is Ubiquiti UniFi long range access points. They are very low cost but very great quality and performance. These can operate multiple simultaneous wireless networks, such as your Private and Public networks, in separate VLANs for security. I personally have never had more than twenty simultaneous users on a single access point, but they are supposed to be capable of more than that, and even then I never had problems with it besides the underlying bandwidth from the ISP being pretty limiting. You may way to set up two units to give you full coverage as well as fault tolerance (the wireless will continue to work if one or the other units goes down) but it starts getting kind of messy once you get more than three access points in an area. It's hard to say exactly what you need for this because we don't know the exact layout of your office area.

And that is what brings me to what has been stated above kind of. While the overall idea and design of how this network can operate and what is needed is somewhat simple in networking terms, actually getting it operational and secured properly is a whole different story. If you don't know how to configure VLANs or set up firewall access permissions, if you are unfamiliar with tagged and untagged VLAN identifiers on switched networks, or understand the security policies that need to be in place to protect your business data and users, then you should find someone locally who can help you out with this.

[efflandt]

I don't see why there would be the need for all the confusing managed switches and VLANs mentioned in another reply if you just want to connect various scattered people to a central location.

But VPN appliances are a good idea, or at least one at the server location and other people using VPN clients. For example the LAN in our office and multiple other offices use SonicWall hardware to connect our office LAN to our factory WAN. Although, for my individual tablet PC or laptop when not in the office, I just use NetExtender client software on my computer to connect to the factory SonicWall which does not require any hardware on my end (other than any internet connection).

Or you might want to look at Hamachi related to Logmein, although, I have never used it and not sure how scalable it is for many users. https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/

In any case you would want decent internet speed at whatever you select for server location. Our factory has a DS3 internet connection, but I am not sure how many VPN connections it typically has at a time (besides handling incoming/outgoing e-mail and Outlook Web Access for Exchange server).