Thursday, September 16, 2021

Help: Set 'nested' switches to work on a custom subnet

First off, I'm new to this subreddit and didn't see any rules posts, so please let me know if there is a better way to post this question :)

----

Basic Question:

What settings should we use so that our 'nested' switches serve up local IPv4 addresses according to our custom subnet, which the 'main' switch is set up to administer?

----

Issue Details:

We have a 'main' switch (Cisco RV325) that is set up to issue a subnet to everything downstream (in this case, we use 10.0.1.#). We have several switches (also Cisco RV325's) 'nested' to that one, which provide additional cable drop locations to workstations, ETC.

The problem is that certain workstations will be initially unable to access the network (neither local server nor internet), and the only solution is to "ipconfig /release" and "ipconfig /renew" several times until it manages to connect. As best I can tell, the issue seems to be that the workstation PC is finding the 'nested' switch into which it is plugged, which is offering up the default subnet (192.168.1.#), and is therefore unable to talk to the rest of the network. This is my best guess based on clues gathered while troubleshooting.

Therefore, my proposed solution is to reset and configure the 'nested' switches to sort of "slave" to the 'main' switch, acting only as 'pass-through' switch. Problem is, I can't find clear direction on what settings to use to achieve this. I've been pouring over the RV325 manual and see a lot of different configuration options, but none that clearly state they will work for the kind of 'nested' condition we are trying to achieve.

Do I use the Cisco manual's process for "Adding a Subnetwork" to the 'nested' switch? Won't that configure the 'nested' switch to think it is 'administering' the subnetwork and cause it to argue with the 'main' switch which is already configured to do so?

Do I simply set the "WAN Connection Settings" to "Obtain an IP Automatically"? Will that cause the 'nested' switch to receive it's subnet instructions from the 'main' switch and serve up the desired subnet to all devices plugged into it?

----

Some background information:

  1. I'm an architect who also wears the I.T. manager hat. Myself and two others here are out 20-person firm manage all aspects of I.T. in-house. I'm very "tech-savy" and have done the I.T. role it past jobs, but I am by no means a trained expert.

  2. Why are we using a subnet this way? Simple answer, because it was originally set up that way, and currently all our server settings, firewall settings, and remote access settings rely on those subnet addresses. I'm sure it's not the perfectly ideal scheme to be using, but at the moment we DO NOT have the ability to re-configure the entire office; we're just so insanely busy with architectural work.

  3. For context: we have 4 new employees arriving on Monday and I coming in on the weekend to install a new switch that will provide network drops for the new employees' workstations, and I was hoping to reconfigure the existing 'nested' switches while I was at it and eliminate this pesky "ipconfig" issue.

---

Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated!



No comments:

Post a Comment