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I am wondering if it is possible to configure some ports of the web managed ProCurve Switch 1810G to participate in all VLAN traffic. Even if no VLAN with that ID has been set up inside the switch.

Scenario

The issue is that I have two virtualization servers that will use yet unknown VLANs of a certain range to communicate with each other. But the range is larger than the 64 supported VLANs this switch can manage. The switch also offers static and LACP Link Trunks. But I guess there will also apply the Ingress Filter that drops packets with unconfigured VLAN IDs?

Ideas / Questions:

A separate unmanaged switch that connects the two hosts and one ProCurve Port would work. Or better replacing the 1810G with a superior model, of course. To be sure I summed it up:

  1. Will one or two Trunk Ports do what I want? (I think not)
  2. Will disabling "Admin Mode" of the port help? (I think not)
  3. Must I get a new switch? Be it a 'bigger' or additional one.

Thanks

Roman
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1 Answers1

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Put the two devices on ports associated with the same VLAN (untagged ports) and either disable tagging on the devices, or just let them communicate with each other without adding any logic to the ports. Can you tell us what the devices are, as this seems like an odd request.

ewwhite
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  • The 'devices' are virtualization hosts. So they rely on tagged VLANs among themselves. The VLANs to the outer world are well known and set up on the switch. Do you know a way to "disable logic" on a port? I stumbled across the option to disable "Admin Mode" for each port. But I think this disables all outgoing traffic. – Roman Sep 16 '12 at 13:40
  • Which virtualization hypervisor technology are you using? – ewwhite Sep 16 '12 at 13:42
  • I ran CloudStack. Hypervisor is XenServer but can be VMware, KVM or somthing. – Roman Sep 16 '12 at 13:45
  • I work at a firm that uses CloudStack. I can ask what's used. This may just be a hard limitation of your 1800G ProCurve, though, since 64 VLAN's is a fixed number. – ewwhite Sep 16 '12 at 13:48
  • I fear that, too. And the remaining ~ 60 VLANs would not bring me far. Would be nice to hear what is used at your company. – Roman Sep 16 '12 at 13:57
  • Higher-end ProCurve and Cisco. So, Cisco 2960, 3750... and ProCurve 2910 and such. – ewwhite Sep 16 '12 at 14:00
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    The ProCurve 1810 is a super-cheap excuse of a "managed" switch, meant for small businesses who need a few management functions (LACP, vLAN, etc) but only in very small doses. Someone didn't do their homework if it was bought for a hypervisor cluster. – Chris S Sep 16 '12 at 14:06
  • You are both right. If investment is needed, thats okay. It' a small project which has currently no proper budget for a new switch. Hence the question. – Roman Sep 16 '12 at 14:18