Managed switch on routing mode for dhcp

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tonynsx wrote:

I have a few CNC machines at work that have RS232 connectors.  ... I don't want these machines to be on the company network. 

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A smart decision - simple serial network converters don't offer much security. Exposing a serial port via some serial converter to the same IP subnet would imply a major risk. 

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tonynsx wrote:

So instead of connecting them to our firewall, and doing firewall rules, I was thinking about connecting them straight to a Netgear managed switch.

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You could (read: should) create multiple VLANs for the company network and the manufacturing network. Some ports can be configured as access ports for the company network [read VLAN] (and IP subnet), other ports can be configured as access ports to the manufacturing network [read another VLAN] (and IP subnet), so the switch can deal with multiple networks.

The connection to the router could be done by dedicated physical ports, or by a trunk port, handling multiple VLANs over a single physical link, or for the sake a LAG combining multiple ports to achieve higher bandwidth.

Routing between the IP subnets could be done easily on the primary router, or as short cut L3 routing for attached networks on the XS728T.

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tonynsx wrote:

For example XS728T, if I enabled routing mode, then the switch will act as a router, and I can do DHCP for the devices?

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No, the XS728T and similar switches don't offer a DHCP service, but could transport both networks to your primary router, where routing, and DHCP, and whatever more can be done. This is under the assumption that your router / firewall is able to handle multiple VLANs and IP subnetworks individually.