× NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
Reply

Re: [M4300] M4300-24X24F (XSM4348S) Stacking, new environment, other brand switches

XanderVR
Aspirant

[M4300] M4300-24X24F (XSM4348S) Stacking, new environment, other brand switches

Good morning all,

 

For the company I work for I am currently desinging a brandnew IT environment.

  • This will be based on Hyper-V, Windows Server 2016 with S2D.
  • It will consist of 2 hosts, each supplied with 4x 10GbE SFP+ (each server has 2 Mellanox ConnectX-4 2x25GbE cards)
  • The core switches will be 2 stacked M4300-24X24F switches.
  • There will be other switches for desktops, AP's and cameras which have to be connected to this stack
  • We also have several VLAN's to separate our business network and various wireless net works and guest networks, as well as our phone system.

Our current network is a so-called star network:

  • 1 central switch (HP 1910 48-port, little bit undersized, with a 17Gbps switching capacity.....)
  • All servers direct on this switch
  • 3 very old HP PoE switches for the desktops and phones, each connected with 2 port copper LAG/LACP (2 VLANs)
  • 2 other HP PoE (HP 1920-24G-PoE+ (180W)) switches, each connected with 2 port SFP LAG/LACP (5 VLANs)

 

Now comes the issue/problem/question

 

Now ofcourse the current servers and current "core" switch will disappear so:

  • can I connect those other switches to the stack somehow? (2 of them are in hard to reach places..., and it will save me 7000 euros also if I choose for additional M4300 switches...)
  • can I still use VLAN's? I read something that VLAN's cannot be used with a Leaf-Spine setup? Or am I misunderstanding things?
  • regarding Windows Server 2016 I don't need to set up any distributed LACP, thanks to the build-in NIC teaming Windows has, so no issue here

So what can I do to make this all work?

Or should I convince the management to invest in additional switches, and if so, what kind of (S3300 series?)?

Message 1 of 5
DaneA
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: [M4300] M4300-24X24F (XSM4348S) Stacking, new environment, other brand switches

Hi XanderVR,

 

Welcome to the community! 🙂 

 

Let me share this forum link and the information you will read from it might help you. 

 

 

Regards,

 

DaneA

NETGEAR Community Team

 

Message 2 of 5
Jedi_Exile
NETGEAR Expert

Re: [M4300] M4300-24X24F (XSM4348S) Stacking, new environment, other brand switches

Now ofcourse the current servers and current "core" switch will disappear so:

  • can I connect those other switches to the stack somehow? (2 of them are in hard to reach places..., and it will save me 7000 euros also if I choose for additional M4300 switches...)
    • You can connect them to stack switches but as just another uplink switch.  You need to setup a trunk link (basically port which tags all vlans) on both M4300 and existing switch in order to transit the VLAN across.  You can also connect it to both stacked switches via 2 cables if you want but for that you will need to create a LAG on both sides and make sure they use the same settings and then configure the LAG to be trunk or tagging all VLAN on both sides.
  • can I still use VLAN's? I read something that VLAN's cannot be used with a Leaf-Spine setup? Or am I misunderstanding things?
    • VLAN's is not limited by network design topology.  As such you can use VLAN for leaf and spine.  You are definety miss understanding leaf and spine.   On M4300 you can create a Leaf and spine setup using stacking technology to build a single 8 port stack of switches (2 acting as Core and rest acting as distribution or end nodes)  or you can use the old method which is 2 stacked spine and each switch is hooked up to spine via 2 cables (1 to each switch) but only 1 is is forwarding state but other is in BLK state by spanning tree to prevent loops.  VLAN can be designed on the switching network and have nothing to do with topology or design implementation.
  • regarding Windows Server 2016 I don't need to set up any distributed LACP, thanks to the build-in NIC teaming Windows has, so no issue here
    • Windows by default teams using Switch independent method (Not using LAG or LACP method) as such it will use active load balancing method (1 sided) to achieve teaming.  This is very limited in capabilty compared to true team LAG using layer 3 hash where load is more equally distributed but that is bit harder to setup as you need to have switch support.  M4300 should be able to provide both LACP and IP hashing methods to do any type of teaming to the server.

 

As you where to start.  I think first step for you should be document the existing network.  Build the network topology map and export the configuration.  Second step would be create action plan on whether you want to migrate the network offline or online.   The online migration is harder as you are literly building a network in parallel in order to transfer equipment to new stuff without much downtime and will require quite a lot of planning.  The offline migration is easier as long as you plan ahead the configuration and maybe even validate part of before taking the existing network offline.

Message 3 of 5
XanderVR
Aspirant

Re: [M4300] M4300-24X24F (XSM4348S) Stacking, new environment, other brand switches

Good morning all,

 

thank you for the warm welcome and the load of information!

 

The new network will be build next to our current network.

All servers will be replaced with the new setup.

 

What tool can I use to make a graphical view of our current network?

(Sorry, I'm good at my work en the tech stuff, but documentation is not one of those...)

 

My guess was with the Netgear M4300s stacked, to be able to create distribute LACP which I can use with the existing switches? (Especially the 2 HP 1920  switches...)

 

And as for Windows Server, I figured it it common practise to use the Switch Independent LACP, as it is used in every Walkthrough, Guide, Whitepaper, etc.

Message 4 of 5
XanderVR
Aspirant

Re: [M4300] M4300-24X24F (XSM4348S) Stacking, new environment, other brand switches

Hi all,

 

here I am again.

This week I received 2 M4300 24X24F switches so I could start experimenting.

 

Just to say: It are the first switches I manage which I can actually connect with a USB cable, and I love it 🙂

ALready have extra PSUs ordered also 🙂

 

Now some questions.

I gave the 2 switches each their own IP addres, and updated their firmware to the latest version:

  • 192.168.0.2 (SW1)
  • 192.168.0.3 (SW2)

Now I created the stack on SW1 according to the manual, and now I was able to connect to the stack on 192.168.0.2

And no possibility to connect to 192.168.0.3, is that correct? So all configuration is being done through the IP address of SW1?

I now changed this to 192.168.0.1, are 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.3 now free to use? Or is SW2 IP address needed in case SW1 fails?

And all configuration I do now is saved on both switches?

 

I also created VLANs and LACP distributed over both switches, all are working great.

However in the web interface I see something unusual.

I configured port 41-48 on both switches being stacking ports.

Now when I go to the VLAN configuration and I look at VLAN members, it does not matter which VLAN I select, on these ports they will always be shown as untagged.

Is this a glitch in the web interface? Or is it a serious problem?

 

And now my last question, something I have not been able to find a real answer on yet.

I plan on running several VLAN (1, 80-83,90-91,101|) on this stack for various services.

For 1 VLAN (101) I want this stack to act as DHCP server, other VLANs have their own DHCP.

However it should also still be possible to have traffic between VLAN 1 and 101.

How can I accomplish this best?

 

Message 5 of 5
Top Contributors
Discussion stats
  • 4 replies
  • 2634 views
  • 0 kudos
  • 3 in conversation
Announcements