Totally new on networking and on switches, so excuse me if I use some wrong terminology.
Problem
I have 1 computer and 7 instruments. I would like to form a network setup fulfilling the following requirements:
- A LAN for computer+instruments.
- The computer needs to be connected to an outside WAN.
- The instruments should not be directly addressable.
- I wanna set this up and not tweak anything for long periods of time. The instruments can be set to have static IPs.
Question
There is an already installed HP1820 (24 port) switch on the instrumentation rack I am using. 4 ports of it occupied with instruments using reserved WAN IP addresses (let's call it 192.168.1.x). My question is:
- Can I use this device to form a LAN with the e.g. IP space 10.10.0.x for computer+instruments?
- Can this configuration also accommodate the computer having a reserved WAN IP (supplied by my institution)?
Below is a mock up graphic for what I'm trying to say:
If this is not possible I am going to opt for buying a router with 8 LAN ports and 1 WAN port and connect to the switch. Is there any better option than this?
I am not in charge of the switch, and currently don't have an access to it. If it's possible I may ask the person in charge to use it, so that's basically why I can't try it out.
Best Answer
You cannot simply use a switch to connect different IP networks. The switch can form a LAN but it cannot connect that to "WAN". You need a router between 10.10.0.0/24 and "192.168.1.0/24" WAN/uplink.
If the upstream router doesn't know about 10.10.0.0/24 then the router needs to use source NAT. If you need access to the 10.10.0.0/24 network from "WAN" then you need to use destination NAT aka port forwarding as well.
If you just want connectivity from the PC to both networks you can use two NICs in the PC and partition the 1820 ports into two VLANs (or simply use one NIC for "WAN" and one for the 1820 LAN). Instead of two NICs you could use VLAN trunking between switch and PC if that is supported.