Segregated Switch Ports

Hi all,

I have a question about switches. Right now I have 7 servers in a rack
enclosure, and they each have two NICs. One NIC is assigned an IP from
our cable connection and the other assigned to our DSL, and we use a
custom-built DNS tool and short TTLs to provide redundancy across both
connections. One NIC on each server needs to be connected to one
physical switch, and the other NICs need to be connected to a
different physical switch to prevent confusion in the ARP tables that
has caused issues in the past. I know we could accomplish this with
VLANs on a managed switch but my boss is skeptical about this. Does
anyone know of an unmanaged rackmountable switch that comes with two
sets of ports, already physically separate from the other? I'd rather
not have to have an extra switch taking up space if I can help it.
Thanks!

There is no such thing. A switch,..almost by definition of what it is, how
it works, and the OSI Layers it works in,...means it won't be like that.

You use either VLans or two switches.

I agree with your boss,...not because of any distrust of VLans but simply
having the "visual" configuration of separate devices is easier to keep
track of what you have and what it does,...rather than VLans that you have
to refer back to documentation (that hopefully someone kept) to keep track
of what you have.

Switches are cheap, and the 1u or 2u Rack space doesn't amount to anything
worth worrying about.

The one thing you are doing that I would never do is multi-home all those
servers and leave them on the Public Network Edge like that. That is a
hacker's smorgasbord and a disaster waiting to happen. Anyone who gains
control of any one of those servers (even just one) could potentially *own*
your whole LAN.


--
Phillip Windell
www.wandtv.com

The views expressed, are my own and not those of my employer, or Microsoft,
or anyone else associated with me, including my cats.
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"Isarian" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:52684e48-b831-423d-a268-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi all,
>
> I have a question about switches. Right now I have 7 servers in a rack
> enclosure, and they each have two NICs. One NIC is assigned an IP from
> our cable connection and the other assigned to our DSL, and we use a
> custom-built DNS tool and short TTLs to provide redundancy across both
> connections. One NIC on each server needs to be connected to one
> physical switch, and the other NICs need to be connected to a
> different physical switch to prevent confusion in the ARP tables that
> has caused issues in the past. I know we could accomplish this with
> VLANs on a managed switch but my boss is skeptical about this. Does
> anyone know of an unmanaged rackmountable switch that comes with two
> sets of ports, already physically separate from the other? I'd rather
> not have to have an extra switch taking up space if I can help it.
> Thanks!