Friday, April 23, 2021

Connecting a managed switch to a managed switch for additional capacity

I know this isn't an ideal situation, but can I safely connect a managed switch to another managed switch?

General idea: Core switch --(fiber)--> closet switch stacked (3) C9200 48port POE --(eth)--> C9200 24port POE

I work for a university and manage things at a small annex campus. We provide courses via distance learning classrooms with a bunch of AV equipment. Our network closets are in different closets than the AV equipment. As time goes on, more and more AV components (controllers, audio amps, etc) require network connectivity.

The current proposal is to replace some dumb switches we're currently using with C9200 24-port managed switches trunked via ethernet back to the main closet for that area of the building. This will provide more ports for the AV hardware without having to run all new cabling, etc. The Cisco Codecs will still be connected directly to the main closet switch, but we'd like to connect the rest of the AV hardware (mostly AV controllers, audio amps, etc) to the secondary switch in the AV closet. We'll also need to provide access to two VLANs.

Our core switch is at capacity for fiber uplinks, and we're not in a position to run new fiber to the AV closets and replace components on the core. Is this all functionally doable while not ideal?



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