I'm hoping someone will help me since I've been googling around for some answers but I can't seem to get a straight forward answer.
Disclaimer first… I'm not a network guy, programmer by trade.
So I inherited an environment consisting of a Dell PowerConnect 2848. All our workstations, servers and VOIP system is hooked up into this one device. Looking in the admin utility, it seems that it's just one VLAN (the default #1). Here's what I want to do. I want to break it up to 3 VLANs, one for voice, another for vmware esxi/storage and one for everything else. What do I need to do.
What I've done so far: read the dell pdf. Created the 2 addition vlan membership (101 – vmware, 201 – voice for a total of 3… include default 1). Now I think I'm supposed to tag and untag which ports are associated to which vlan membership but I'm stuck at that point. What should be a T and what should be a U and I'm guessing I also need to put in an ethernet cable connecting the T and U correct?
Thanks in advance.
Best Answer
None of the ports need to be tagged. Tagging would be relevant to a trunk port if your VLAN's span two or more switches or if you're planning on using VST (Virtual Switch Tagging) in whatever VMware product you're using. With only a single switch and no VST, tagging is unneccessary.
You need to configure which ports are members of which VLAN's.
You need a router to route traffic between the VLAN's. The PowerConnect 2848 is a layer 2 switch and doesn't have any routing ability.
Your statement:
Is incorrect. You shouldn't connect any switch port to any other switch port. You need to connect the correct hosts/devices to the correct switch ports based on their VLAN membership.