InterVLAN Communication

Question

I am pretty much a novice when it comes to networking, but I think VLAN's may help with what I believe is a congested network. Here is the scenario:

CAT 6 LAN

Dell PowerEdge R70 Server 2K8 R2 (10.49.25.7)

Dell PowerConnect 2848 Switch (10.49.25.4)

35 Windows 7 Pro PC's and various other wired clients (Smart TV's, Linux server, CCTV DVR, etc) (10.49.25.31-254)

Cisco RV042G Dual WAN Router (10.49.25.1)

Cisco WAP4410N (10.49.25.9)

TWC Business Class Internet Service (35x5)

The TWC router is connected to the Cisco router which is connected to the Dell switch.

My Dell server is the primary DC, DNS and DHCP. It's connected to the Dell switch as are all the various clients listed.

We have one department that does most of their work from data stored on the primary server.

We have another department that works mostly with a web-based agency management system.

Our company also allows employees to stream music and we have at least 5 users that do so on a regular basis.

Of our 30 or so employees, most have at least a smart phone connected to our WiFi.

During the busiest part of the day our network begins to lag quite a bit. I have not done any testing, but I think segmenting the network might help us with congestion.

Assuming VLAN's are a good approach, this is what I need to be able to do:

1) Allow the VLAN's to communicate with each other as we allow users to share out folders on their PC's

2) Ensure all VLAN's can communicate with the server and our Cisco router which acts as an Internet gateway.

Does this make sense? How do I configure the switch to do this? I checked the specs and it has L3 routing capability. I've already setup the VLAN's and assigned the ports, but I've left the PVID's at 1 for now, because when I assigned them I lost server and Internet gateway connectivity, obviously because I'm missing a very critical piece. Can anyone help me with steps to configure this setup?

Thank you.

jaboumrad · Answer

Thanks, Daniel. I appreciate the quick reply.

I was under the impression from the product spec page for the 2848 that it has Layer 3 capabilities. Does it have some, but just not VLAN routing? Do you have any recommendations of Dell Layer 3 devices?

On the firewall suggestion, I appreciate that and have considered it. We do not use a firewall appliance, but instead Norton Endpoint Protection for Small Business. We also employ a LogMeIn Hamachi (VPN access) in a Gateway configuration. It runs on a non-domain PC used solely for this purpose.

Also, just a few more questions/comments:

1) Considering that I have all ports using the PVID 1, I assume I just have a Simple Port VLAN setup? Is this doing anything for me?

2) Incidentally, all VLAN ports were set to Untagged, except the Server and Gateway (left on the default VLAN 1) which I set to Tagged. So, for example, in the VLAN port assignment I identified the ports for the VLAN and then also included port 36 and 48 (Server and Gateway ports). I set all the ports to Untagged except ports 36 and 48, which I set to Tagged. Am I accomplishing anything here or it this pointless. I might add I was trying to find a way to get the VLAN's to communicate with the Server and Gateway (at least...giving up on VLAN's communicating with each other (except, I guess VLAN 1), for the moment).

3) With respect to the WAP and associated traffic, I decided to take it off the LAN altogether; it was isolated anyway. It's now connected directly to LAN port 2 of the Cisco router; I put the router in DHCP mode to serve out addresses for the WAP.

4) Where would a Layer 3 device sit on my network? Would it just plug in to a port on the 2848?

Thanks again for the help.

John

Networking General

InterVLAN Communication

Was this post helpful?