An increase in the number of users means larger amounts of traffic across cabling segments at any given time. Increased traffic means increased chances for information collision and errors. Large rooms often have multiple connections on one cable segment. In addition, groups occasionally would like to have equipment in one room on different subnets. With the current network layout, equipment on the same segment must be on the same subnet.
Any problems introduced on the segment affects everyone on the segment.
To meet these concerns a network upgrade will occur in two phases. 100baseFX cabling will be run from the Ethernet switch to a switch in each network closet. Errors will not propagate throughout a subnet. The dedicated wiring will reduce the chance of user induced problems. A software package called VLAN will manage subnet switching and distribution thereby saving labor costs.