Q:

Programmer configuring a new network

I'm in the process of expanding my home network from a couple of laptops on a wireless Verizon FiOS router to include:

Linksys 24-port switch
Cisco Pix 515 
Cisco 3640 router
One new development desktop and three
new machines to act as a db server,
web server and a backup system.

My company is moving offices and we've decommissioned some older hardware, which I was able to pick up for the cost of the labor to move it home from the office. The benefits to working with dedicated web and db servers are very valuable to me.
I know very little about network topology, other than that everything plugs into the switch, which then plugs into the cheap Verizon router. (Verizon provides a coax connection that the router must translate into Ethernet before I can use it with any of this equipment). 
Questions:

What is the recommended topology for this equipment?  Verizon router -> Pix -> 3600 -> switch? Is the 3600 even necessary or desirable?
The Verizon router has one WAN port and 4 client ports, all 10/100. Is there any performance benefit at all to wiring multiple connections from the verizon router to the switch, assuming I don't use the Pix? Should I use the Pix? Software firewalls are a pain, and seem silly if I have a device like this lying around.

Anything else I should know? Am I wasting my time with this? I also obtained a 7 foot rack, shelves, patch panels, UPS, patch panels, etc, which are going into a conveniently air conditioned closet.
All constructive advice appreciated.

A:

Connect your pix to the Verizon router then the switch to the pix and servers to the switch.
You don't need the 3600 router as Verizon already provide you a router.
Put the pix in transparent mode.
You will not get any better performance if you connect more than 1 cable between routers and switch unless your internet access is > 100mbits and the Verizon router support aggregation of Ethernet interface. The short answer is No.
Use the pix if you need high security, for a home network with only 1 public IP you probably don't need it unless you want to filter traffic going on Internet.

