VLAN design

[broskeychtr]

I am trying to figure out how I would VLAN the type of network I am involved in with. We have about 150 windows servers and about 15 (cisco, dell) switches. Right now there are no VLANS and everything is being broadcast to everyone. Each windows server we have has to ports with one plugged into one switch and the other port plugged into another switch. Would I create a VLAN called vlan (example) 3 and assign both ports on both switches to vlan 3 for that one server? And do the same thing with all the other servers and switches?

The next question is what about the DNS and backup servers I have for these windows servers. Would I put them on a separate VLAN since they will not be on the same switches as any of the servers? How would a server on a separate VLAN know how to get to the DNS and backup servers?

 

[routerman]

150 Windows servers, Yeah, and I bet the performance is bad eh?

The problem your going to run into is L3 connectivity. If you allocate VLAN's to groups of servers then you are effectivley isolating them into L2 clusters. You would use a L3 switch to connect the VLAN's together. In this case each VLAN would need to have its own L3 IP subnet, and the L3 switch (router) would route between the different subnets.

The big advantage of doing this is reduce the size of the broadcast domain, the downside is the pain of readdressing the IP structure.

Think of this in terms of a routed network, then you'll see how the DNS and other issues you mention are resolved.

 

[broskeychtr]

The only problem is I do not have a layer three switch. Just multiple L2 switches and an F5 as a gateway.

 

[IPKONFIG]

You need a L3 device. Without it you cannot communicate between the vlans.

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