VLAN Beginner

Nov 03, 2004 2 Replies
B

I'm VERY new to anything besides the concept of VLANs and would like some feedback/guidance.



Here is the scenario:


1 Building w/ DSL for internet connectivity
7 floors with 12 apartments each with 4 network jacks each


Looking to use a Cisco Router and some Dell switches (models ytbt).



I'd like each apartment VLAN'd with an External IP (not many demands huh?)



What would be the best approach to do this? (what hardware would i need?) I have conduit between each floor and running cat 5e to each apartment as needed.



Thanks in advance! Ben



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M

Make sure that you get a Dell switch that supports 802.1q and a Cisco router that can do 802.1q. Some of the lower end models might not be able to.

Whatever you decide, document the crap out of it. VLANs are a great concept, but can be a nightmare if you do not have good documentation when you are troubleshooting. Or when you have to hand your system off to someone else.

-mike

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C

I agree with this advice. Create a vlan for each apartment and trunk all of the vlans to the router (hence the need for 802.1q trunking). You're talking about 84 vlans for just the apartments so get switches that support at least that many (some older switches only handle 64). At the router NAT each vlan to an external IP. You can provide dhcp services at the router as well.

This will let them see each others computers within the same apartment and keep the apartments seperated. You may get some folks who want to access computers between apartments, but I don't recommend doing that for everyone as it invites a lawsuit when someone gets hacked by his/her neighbor.

On top of all that, I recommend blocking unsafe ports at the router. Stuff like the netbios ports. Better safe than sorry.

-Chris

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