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Would a VLAN be a solution to a distant WAN connection point?

Hi, We are about to change our two factory floor timeclocks from an analog connections to networkable. I would like to assign them outside WAN addresses instead of internal LAN addresses, as outside vendors would be accessing the data and I don't want to grant them internal network access. This has worked fine in the past (like our HV/AC control) when I have routed the cat5 cable direct to our WAN switch, but one of the units would require a cable run of over 400 feet away from the WAN switch so that won't do. I'm a virgin to VLAN technology but I thought this might provide a solution to my problem. Specifically to provide a vlan connection for just the 2 timeclocks. Would this work, and if so could you give me a primer on how to get started? I'll be using a netgear prosafe smart switch for testing this concept out.
Thank you!

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cosmicfox

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jszczesu

ASKER

Hi Cosmicfox, Thanks for your help with this. I think the VLAN would be the best fit. We have a fiber optic feed from the server room to a switch on the factory floor. We will be routing cat5 from this point to the new timeclocks. Do I have this right...? On the factory floor switch I would create a vlan for the 2 ports that are "mapped" to use the 2 WAN ip addresses, then trunk this vlan to the switch in the server room? I'm guessing that this trunk is only for the port that feeds the factory floor switch? Could you suggest any source for step by step instructions to get me going?
Thank you!

ged125

If you provide makes and models of your switches, as well as the current running config, that would be helpful. If the fiber run between your two switches is not already configured as a trunk, this may involve a service outage.

jszczesu

ASKER

Hi, Please know that within the next month we will be replacing all these switches. I haven't started shopping yet. Currently, the primary switch is a dell 5324. Fiber is in 2 of the combo ports. The factory switch is a 3-com 4500. Other than the switches static ip address and web mgt interface password change, they are both running at default settings. The 3-com does have the latest available software upgrade installed. With learning and testing setting this up though I'm going to use a laptop (static WAN address, to act as the timeclock) a netgear Prosafe smart switch (to act as the factory switch) and the Dell 5324 (using an available port instead of the fiberoptic feed). I can't risk a service outage, at least during the workday timeframe. If you could help me understand the basics using the netgear as reference, I should be good to go from there.
Thank you for your time.

ged125

Rule number 1, make backups of your configuration. I'm not sure about the 3Com, but I know you can get into the Dell via telnet or SSH and do a show run. I actually have a 5324 here in my lab, so I can help with that side, but I'm not sure on the 3COM side, I will look it up. For the purpose of this sample, let's assume that you have VLAN1 for your private network and VLAN200 for the timeclock. All ports are in VLAN1 by default, so this will minimize the need to change your private connections.

vlan database
vlan 1,200

interface ethernet g24
description Trunk to Warehouse
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan add 1
switchport trunk allowed vlan add 200

interface ethernet g1
description Example TimeClock port
switchport access vlan 200

Like I said, I don't know how the 3Com or the Netgear would be configured, but the basic rule of thumb is that you need the connection between the two switches to be configured as a trunk, and the timeclock ports to be assigned to 200 and the rest will be 1 by default. If you send me a config dump of your other switches I may be able to help.

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ged125

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jszczesu

ASKER

Thank you to both of you, ged125 and cosmicfox. Thank you!