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Management VLAN on PowerConnect 28XX Switches
I had previously tried out the PowerConnect 27XX switches (primarily the 2708), and, while it functioned okay, it had one very, very frustrating feature: the management IP address was always assigned to VLAN 1 - there was no way to change this. I'm wondering if anyone who has the 28XX series (2708 or 2716) could tell me whether they've added a way to change the management VLAN, or if the management VLAN is still glued to VLAN1? This is a make-or-break feature - I can't waste a port on VLAN1 on the switch just to be able to manage it, as our current environment uses a different VLAN for management.
Thanks,
Nick
bh1633
909 Posts
2
November 17th, 2010 14:00
management vlan is always vlan 1 on 28xx switches.
An option is to externally loop back a vlan 1 access port to a vlan XX access port. This will allow you to manage the switch on any vlan. Of course this burns 2 ports, not just 1. But these switches are inexpensive, so you may have a hard time finding a less expensive solution just to avoid managing on vlan 1 or using the external loopback hack.
Note: 28xx runs a single STP, so you will have to disable STP on the looped back ports if you go with this hack.
necouchman
4 Posts
0
November 17th, 2010 14:00
Hmmm...this is a shame. If there are any developers for the PowerConnect web-managed switches who read this forum, please consider doing away with this silly limitation. This completely eliminates these switches for use in the target environment. Oh well...
Thanks for the answer.
necouchman
4 Posts
0
November 17th, 2010 14:00
By the way, there are similarly inexpensive switches that allow for this functionality. NetGear's GS108T and GS108Tv2 both allow you to switch the management VLAN, and they are priced in a very similar range. I'd venture a guess that most of the small, "smart switches" in this price range actually do allow for switching the management VLAN. Unfortunately the NetGear switches don't support GVRP, while the PowerConnect ones do. But, there are some smaller Cisco and Dlink options that probably support both GVRP and manageable management VLANs.