Procurve Vlans

[jevans6744]

I am kind of new to vlans, done more with cisco than procurve. I need some help to determine if I'm doing this right. Here is my setup.

I have a Procurve 5406zl that has 4 10GB fiber links and then a 24 Port Ethernet modules.
Now the 4 Fiber connections go to each core switch at different buildings, while the ethernet module is my servers and various other things.

What I'm wanting to do is put a VLAN on each of the fiber ports to cut down on broadcast traffic but still want them to be able to talk to each other along with the servers.

What I have done is enable IP routing created 4 vlans on different subnets. Each port I tagged in the appropriate VLAN and that is all I have done.

I'm unsure if this is actually working or if I must untag some ports. The terminology is a little confusing to me so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Marco Wessel]

Probably you don't want the ports to be tagged, unless they connect to another switch with its ports set-up the same way (there are some other reasons).

VLAN tags mean the packets sent out over that link have an extra ethernet header inserted, called a VLAN tag, that tells the receiving equipment what VLAN the packet belongs to. This is useful for trunking VLANs between switches you don't need a link per VLAN. Most of the time to servers and clients, one would not do this.

[Jeff Carrell]

a couple of tidbits:

Cisco - ProVision (ProCurve)
access port = untag port
trunk port = tagged port


Get this CLI ref guide, it shows how to configure HP ProVision, HP Comware5 and Cisco switches for lots of different functions, in a side-by-side comparison, so if you know one CLI, you see how to do it in a different CLI:
http://h17007.www1.hp.com/docs/interoperability/Cisco/HP-Networking-and-Cisco-CLI-Reference-Guide_June_10_WW_Eng_ltr.pdf

basically, devices connect to ports "untagged" in vlans, switch-to-switch links with multiple vlans crossing are connected on "tagged" ports in those vlans.

in order to route traffic, each vlan must have an IP addr in it, and that is the def g/w for the connected devices in that vlan, and of course 'ip routing' enabled.

hth...Jeff

[jevans6744]

Ok so I think I understand what you're saying. So if I want to make this work right all ports that are devices will be untagged?

Then each of my links should have their own vlan and be tagged in it, along with the switch at each building should have the same vlan and be tagged as well? Like this:

Fiber Port 1 core ----10GBlink---- Fiber port building 1 = Both tagged in Vlan 100 (with different IP's)

Fiber port 2 Core ----10GBlink---- Fiber port building 2 = Both tagged in Vlan 200

And so on for the rest of the links correct? Or does each fiber port on the core need to be tagged in all the vlans (100,200...)?

[Jeff Carrell]

So if I want to make this work right all ports that are devices will be untagged?

JC - yes

Then each of my links should have their own vlan and be tagged in it, along with the switch at each building should have the same vlan and be tagged as well? Like this:

Fiber Port 1 core ----10GBlink---- Fiber port building 1 = Both tagged in Vlan 100 (with different IP's)

Fiber port 2 Core ----10GBlink---- Fiber port building 2 = Both tagged in Vlan 200

And so on for the rest of the links correct?

JC - yes

Or does each fiber port on the core need to be tagged in all the vlans (100,200...)?

JC - only tag the vlans on the switch-to-switch links that need them...so if in the future you need vlan 100 at building 2, you would tag the links (both ends) into vlan 100, then add some untag ports in the building 2 switch for devices.

hth...Jeff

[Marco Wessel]

"JC - only tag the vlans on the switch-to-switch links that need them..."

I'd always tag the links between switches. This way you can more easily add vlans in the future if you need, without getting into the situation where there is a combination of tagged and untagged vlans on a link.

[Jeff Carrell]

ditto :-)

[jevans6744]

Thank you guys. I think I have them setup correctly now. Everything seems to be working just fine. Not sure how to tell if the vlans are doing what I want but I'm sure they are.

[Jeff Carrell]

jevans6744 said: "Not sure how to tell if the vlans are doing what I want"

Your users will tell when things don't work...hahahaha

Have a great weekend!