asked on Cisco Layer 2 Switches
Good Morning All,
This question is for idea purposes, I'm not having any technical issue.
So I have 3 Cisco switches
SwitchA
SwitchB
SwitchC
All three switches are completely separate, on separate subnets.
The user, for some reason, wants to minimize there new rack space(not current) down by utilizing one fiber connection from the three switches into a new switch which is vlan'd accordingly.
Now, right now my plan is to actually just run three ethernets(one from each switch) into an 8 port, then run a single fiber over to the new switch. Obviously creating the trunk for the vlan traffic to pass to the necessary ports on the new switch.
Now, my question is - Does anyone have any better ideas on how to achieve only one connection from the 3 switches to the new switch?
(The switches cannot be on the same subnet, and they must remain in play)
Any ideas welcome :)
This question is for idea purposes, I'm not having any technical issue.
So I have 3 Cisco switches
SwitchA
SwitchB
SwitchC
All three switches are completely separate, on separate subnets.
The user, for some reason, wants to minimize there new rack space(not current) down by utilizing one fiber connection from the three switches into a new switch which is vlan'd accordingly.
Now, right now my plan is to actually just run three ethernets(one from each switch) into an 8 port, then run a single fiber over to the new switch. Obviously creating the trunk for the vlan traffic to pass to the necessary ports on the new switch.
Now, my question is - Does anyone have any better ideas on how to achieve only one connection from the 3 switches to the new switch?
(The switches cannot be on the same subnet, and they must remain in play)
Any ideas welcome :)
CiscoNetworking
Last Comment
Rob Leaver
If the three switches are located in the same rack, you could probably stack them together. Then have a single connection to the new switch.
ASKER
Theyre not stackable
My only other thought would be instead of sticking an 8-port switch in-between, you could connect switches a/b/c together with a trunk link, and then connect a single fiber from any of those switches to the new switch - whichever is most convenient or makes most sense. Depending on what you really want to accomplish, this might be a fine solution.
I suppose a good question would be - does the new switch need to access all the vlans that the 3 existing switches have? Or would the new switch only need to have access to a single vlan?
I suppose a good question would be - does the new switch need to access all the vlans that the 3 existing switches have? Or would the new switch only need to have access to a single vlan?
ASKER
Hi Rauenpc,
Thank you for the response.
I had thought of your idea, however there is only one snag. The current switches (a,b,c) are all standalone sat on the native vlan (Wasn't set up by me) Meaning if I want to trunk link the switches and use a single fiber, i will have to setup new vlans on each switch and move the ports accordingly then setup the necessary trunking. This would be fine, however the switches are in production and are business critical so this would cause more paperwork my side.
In answer to your question, I guess i will say yes the new switch does require access to all three vlans however because the current switches aren't vlan tagged and the end user only wants one fiber from one rack to another, implementing an 8 port switch and running 3 cat5e cables from each individual switch to this 8 port - which will have 3 interfaces, vlan'd out with corresponding subnets then a trunk port running from from the 8 port to the new 24 port (which is then vlan'd accordingly)
I guess this answers your second question also, as the end plan is to have the new 24 port switch VLAN'd to ultimately get back to one of the three original switches.
Hope that makes sense.
Thank you for the response.
I had thought of your idea, however there is only one snag. The current switches (a,b,c) are all standalone sat on the native vlan (Wasn't set up by me) Meaning if I want to trunk link the switches and use a single fiber, i will have to setup new vlans on each switch and move the ports accordingly then setup the necessary trunking. This would be fine, however the switches are in production and are business critical so this would cause more paperwork my side.
In answer to your question, I guess i will say yes the new switch does require access to all three vlans however because the current switches aren't vlan tagged and the end user only wants one fiber from one rack to another, implementing an 8 port switch and running 3 cat5e cables from each individual switch to this 8 port - which will have 3 interfaces, vlan'd out with corresponding subnets then a trunk port running from from the 8 port to the new 24 port (which is then vlan'd accordingly)
I guess this answers your second question also, as the end plan is to have the new 24 port switch VLAN'd to ultimately get back to one of the three original switches.
Hope that makes sense.
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ASKER
Thanks, i'll grant you the points as you were the only one to make an effort for ideas on what I was trying to accomplish. At this stage i am going to go with original idea as proposed.