Unmanaged to Managed networks

[Eben]

I have spent the past few weeks documenting our unmanaged network switches and now looking at HP kit to replace them with over the summer. I have identified which of our existing kit will be adopted supporting 802.1q (smart web switches).

A HP consultant has recommend of 5406 as our main layer 3 and 1810 series for a basic switch on the edges. Our cabinets are 400mm from front to back so will struggle with some model.

Looking for peoples thoughts on the 1910 and 2530s.

Will need to get my head around setting up VLANs and the layer 3 too.

I have a meeting next week to discuss the schools future plans with VOIP etc so this will determine which switches we may choose.

[Eben]

Is anyone able to advise on setting up vlans as I have never needs to do this before

[Chris_]

We use HP ProCurve 1810 switches and have them in some cabinets that are less than 400mm deep without any problems. The issue came trying to find UPSs shallow enough for the cabs!

[Iain.Faulkner]

We use HP ProCurve 1810 switches and have them in some cabinets that are less than 400mm deep without any problems. The issue came trying to find UPSs shallow enough for the cabs!

You put a UPS on each of your edge switches?

I'd be interested to see any guides anyone has for setting up VLan's on the 5406 as well as Eben. We're in the process of doing a similar project and already have the 5406 in place and just need to get it configured.

[synaesthesia]

I'm currently tackling this adding routing into the mix : you can see my base config here
Vlan/switch configs
Looks quite simple, as in fact it is. Some good advice from others there as well as an excellent guide by M25man here
Setting up a VLAN

[Chris_]

You put a UPS on each of your edge switches?

I'd be interested to see any guides anyone has for setting up VLan's on the 5406 as well as Eben. We're in the process of doing a similar project and already have the 5406 in place and just need to get it configured.

Yes. Why wouldn't you?

We use a 5406 for our core. Unfortunately I don't have any guides on setting up VLANs. I just read a few manuals and articles on the internet. It was all pretty straight forward for what we are doing.

[synaesthesia]

Why wouldn't you?

Well, can't say I can answer that positively. You don't have a UPS on each and every client or other device hanging off the switch, so keeping the switch up surely would serve no purpose? Unless of course it's a netgear or belkin switch and the idea of "turning off" is likely to brick it.

[Chris_]

Why wouldn't you?

Well, can't say I can answer that positively. You don't have a UPS on each and every client or other device hanging off the switch, so keeping the switch up surely would serve no purpose? Unless of course it's a netgear or belkin switch and the idea of "turning off" is likely to brick it.

They are ProCurves switches. The computers connected to them aren't always on the same circuit so if a breaker tripped powering the cab then computers might stay powered on but lose connectivity? But as we have a UPS powering the switch we're ok.

We have quite a few wireless access points connected to POE switches, the clients tend to be laptops, tablets and phones - these would carry on working fine.. also when we get VOIP phones powered over POE also they would carry on working.

[SchoolsBroadband]

VLAN's are actually really easy.

All they do is virtual make a switch in many smaller switches. An each virtual switch can't talk to each other.

if you connect 2 x physical switches together and want the VLAN's to work on both they you need a VLAN trunk port on both switches which connect them together. This passes information between both physical switches for each VLAN on each switch (athough you can also say to only trunk certain VLAN's). e.g. if you had a switch on each floor of an office building and had accounts, sales and technical where you wanted to ensure that none of them could talk to each other but you only wanted 1 switch per floor instead of 3 then you'd have 3 x VLANs on each switch spanning multiple ports and connect each switch on each floor together by a trunk port.

Does this make sense?

If any of you are using VoIP I'd *HIGHLY* recommend putting your IP phones on a separate VLAN!

FYI we can also do content filtering, security and app control on a per VLAN basis using Fortigates.

Ta

Dave

Is anyone able to advise on setting up vlans as I have never needs to do this before

[Jamo]

I would say a UPS on each edge switch is a waste of time! imagine the battery replacement cycle on that!

[Chris_Cook]

It depends, if you have POE switches powering voip phones, Access Points or CCTV, it might be a good idea. Then the phone system and laptop users can keep working during a power outage. Small UPSs are pretty cheap these days, and if you only have a few cabinets to protect, it probably isn't going to be that expensive.

We have a few of the 1910s and the 3com equivalent, haven't had any problems with them.

[Chris_]

I would say a UPS on each edge switch is a waste of time! imagine the battery replacement cycle on that!

Replacement batteries every 2-3 years. Doesn't seem too much of an issue?

[sjatkn]

It depends, if you have POE switches powering voip phones, Access Points or CCTV, it might be a good idea. Then the phone system and laptop users can keep working during a power outage.

I would agree with this, though the need to keep the whole phone system up and running is not quite as vital as it used to be given the proliferation of mobiles. If the budget is limited then picking the appropriate targets, such as the main office would make sense.

What I will be doing is a risk assessment on the results of a power failure taking into account the frequency of them and the cost of installing UPS' all over the place. In our situation it is quite likely that I and SLT will decide that we don't have sufficient power failures and the impact of those failures is minimal after protecting some critical staff members.

[synaesthesia]

Fair enough

Frankly a power outage would be a godsend every now and then. No phones? Bliss!

[Iain.Faulkner]

I would say a UPS on each edge switch is a waste of time! imagine the battery replacement cycle on that!

I can understand the practical reasoning behind it (and wouldn't say it's a complete waste of time), I just don't think I could fit it into my budget...