VLAN UPDATE

The Basic Definition

The acronym VLAN expands to Virtual Local Area Network. A VLAN is a logical local
area network (or LAN) that extends beyond a single traditional LAN to a group of LAN
segments, given specific configurations. Because a VLAN is a logical entity, its creation
and configuration is done completely in software.

How Is a VLAN Identified

Since a VLAN is a software concept, identifiers and configurations for a VLAN must be
properly prepared for it to function as expected. Frame coloring is the process used to
ensure that VLAN members or groups are properly identified and handled. With frame
coloring, packets are given the proper VLAN ID at their origin so that they may be
properly processed as they pass through the network. The VLAN ID is then used to
enable switching and routing engines to make the appropriate decisions as defined in the
VLAN configuration.

Why Use VLANs

Traditional network designs use routers to create broadcast domains and limit broadcasts
between multiple subnets. This prevents broadcast floods in larger networks from
consuming resources, or causing unintentional denials of service unnecessarily.
Unfortunately, the traditional network design methodology has some flaws in design

• Geographic Focus - Traditional network designs focus on physical locations of

equipment and personnel for addressing and LAN segment placement. Because of
this there are a few significant drawbacks:
• Network segments for physically disjointed organizations cannot be part of the
same address space. Each physical location must be addressed independently, and
be part of its own broadcast domain. This can force personnel to be located in a
central location, or to have additional latency or connectivity shortfalls.
• Relocations of personnel and departments can become difficult, especially if the
original location retains its network segments. Relocated equipment will have to
be reconfigured based on the new network configuration.

A VLAN solution can alleviate both of these drawbacks by permitting the same broadcast
domain to extend beyond a single segment.

• Additional Bandwidth Usage - Traditional network designs require additional

bandwidth because packets have to pass through multiple levels of network
connectivity because the network is segmented.

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A proper VLAN design can ensure that only devices that have that VLAN defined on it
will receive and forward packets intended as source or destination of the network flow.

Types of VLAN
There are only two types of VLAN possible today, cell-based VLANs and frame-based
VLANs.

• Cell-based VLANs are used in ATM switched networks with LAN Emulation (or
LANE). LANE is used to allow hosts on legacy LAN segments to communicate
using ATM networks without having to use special hardware or software
modification.
• Frame-based VLANs are used in ethernet networks with frame tagging. The two
primary types of frame tagging are IEEE 802.10 and ISL (Inter Switch Link is a
Cisco proprietary frame-tagging). Keep in mind that the 802.10 standard makes it
possible to deploy VLANs with 802.3(Ethernet), 802.5(Token-Ring), and FDDI,
but ethernet is most common.

VLAN modes
There are three different modes in which a VLAN can be configured. These modes are
covered below:

• VLAN Switching Mode - The VLAN forms a switching bridge in which frames
are forwarded unmodified.
• VLAN Translation Mode - VLAN translation mode is used when the frame
tagging method is changed in the network path, or if the frame traverses from a
VLAN group to a legacy or native interface which is not configured in a VLAN.
When the packet is to pass into a native interface, the VLAN tag is removed so
that the packet can properly enter the native interface.
• VLAN Routing Mode - When a packet is routed from one VLAN to a different
VLAN, you use VLAN routing mode. The packet is modified, usually by a router,
which places its own MAC address as the source, and then changes the VLAN ID
of the packet.

VLAN configurations
Different terminology is used between different hardware manufacturers when it comes
to VLANs. Because of this there is often confusion at implementation time. Following
are a few details, and some examples to assist you in defining your VLANs so confusion
is not an issue.

Cisco VLAN terminology

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You need a few details to define a VLAN on most Cisco equipment. Unfortunately,
because Cisco sometimes acquires the technologies they use to fill their switching,
routing and security product lines, naming conventions are not always consistent. For this
article, we are focusing only one Cisco switching and routing product lines running Cisco
IOS.

• VLAN ID - The VLAN ID is a unique value you assign to each VLAN on a single
device. With a Cisco routing or switching device running IOS, your range is from
1-4096. When you define a VLAN you usually use the syntax "vlan x" where x is
the number you would like to assign to the VLAN ID. VLAN 1 is reserved as an
administrative VLAN. If VLAN technologies are enabled, all ports are a member
of VLAN 1 by default.
• VLAN Name - The VLAN name is an text based name you use to identify your
VLAN, perhaps to help technical staff in understanding its function. The string
you use can be between 1 and 32 characters in length.
• Private VLAN - You also define if the VLAN is to be a private vlan in the VLAN
definition, and what other VLAN might be associated with it in the definition
section. When you configure a Cisco VLAN as a private-vlan, this means that
ports that are members of the VLAN cannot communicate directly with each other
by default. Normally all ports which are members of a VLAN can communicate
directly with each other just as they would be able to would they have been a
member of a standard network segment. Private vlans are created to enhance the
security on a network where hosts coexisting on the network cannot or should not
trust each other. This is a common practice to use on web farms or in other high
risk environments where communication between hosts on the same subnet are
not necessary. Check your Cisco documentation if you have questions about how
to configure and deploy private VLANs.
• VLAN modes - in Cisco IOS, there are only two modes an interface can operate
in, "mode access" and "mode trunk". Access mode is for end devices or devices
that will not require multiple VLANs. Trunk mode is used for passing multiple
VLANs to other network devices, or for end devices that need to have
membership to multiple VLANs at once. If you are wondering what mode to use,
the mode is probably "mode access".

Cisco VLAN implementations

VLAN Definition

To define a VLAN on a cisco device, you need a VLAN ID, a VLAN name, ports you
would like to participate in the VLAN, and the type of membership the port will have
with the VLAN.

• Step 1 - Log into the router or switch in question and get into enable mode.
• Step 2 - Get into configuration mode using "conf t".
• Step 3 - Create your VLAN by entering "vlan X" where X is the ID you would
like to assign the VLAN.

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 • Step 4 - Name your VLAN by entering "name <VLAN Name>". Replace <Vlan
Name> with the string you would like to identify your VLAN by.
• Step 5 - If you want your new VLAN to be a private-vlan, you now enter "private-
vlan primary" and "private-vlan association Y" where Y is the secondary VLAN
you want to associate with the primary vlan. If you would like the private VLAN
to be community based, you enter "private-vlan community" instead.
• Step 6 - Exit configuration mode by entering "end".
• Step 7 - Save your configuration to memory by entering "wr mem" and to the
network if you have need using "wr net". You may have to supply additional
information to write configurations to the network depending on your device
configuration.

VLAN Configuration

A VLAN isn't much use if you haven't assigned it an IP Address, the subnet netmask, and
port membership. In normal network segment configurations on routers, individual
interfaces or groups of interfaces (called channels) are assigned IP addresses. When you
use VLANs, individual interfaces are members of VLANs and do not have individual IP
addresses, and generally don't have access lists applied to them. Those features are
usually reserved for the VLAN interfaces. The following steps detail one method of
creating and configuring your VLAN interface. NOTE: These steps have already
assumed that you have logged into the router, gotten into enable mode, and entered
configuration mode. These specific examples are based on the Cisco 6500 series devices.

• Step 1 - Enter "Interface VlanX" where X is the VLAN ID you used in the VLAN
definition above.
• Step 2 - This step is optional. Enter "description " where VLAN description
details what the VLAN is going to be used for. You can just simply re-use the
VLAN name you used above if you like.
• Step 3 - Enter "ip address <address> <netmask>" where <address> is the address
you want to assign this device in the VLAN, and <netmask> is the network mask
for the subnet you have assigned the VLAN.
• Step 4 - The step is optional. Create and apply an access list to the VLAN for
inbound and outbound access controls. For a standard access list enter "access-
group XXX in" and "access-group YYY out" where XXX and YYY corresponds
to access-lists you have previously configured. Remember that the terms are taken
in respect to the specific subnet or interface, so "in" means from the VLAN INTO
the router, and "out" means from the router OUT to the VLAN.
• Step 5 - This step is optional. Enter the private VLAN mapping you would like to
use if the port is part of a private VLAN. This should be the same secondary
VLAN you associated with the primary VLAN in VLAN definition above. Enter
"private-vlan mapping XX" where XX is the VLAN ID of the secondary VLAN
you would like to associate with this VLAN.
• Step 6 - This step is optional. Configure HSRP and any other basic interface
configurations you would normally use for your Cisco device.
• Step 7 - Exit configuration mode by entering "end".

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 • Step 8 - Save your configuration to memory by entering "wr mem" and to the
network if you have need using "wr net". You may have to supply additional
information to write configurations to the network depending on your device
configuration.

Now you have your vlan defined and configured, but no physical ports are a member of
the VLAN, so the VLAN still isn't of much use. Next port membership in the VLAN is
described. IOS devices describe interfaces based on a technology and a port number, as
with "FastEthernet3/1" or "GigabitEthernet8/16". Once you have determined which
physical ports you want to be members of the VLAN you can use the following steps to
configure it. NOTE: These steps have already assumed that you have logged into the
router, gotten into enable mode, and entered configuration mode.

For access ports

• Step 1 - Enter "Interface <interface name>" where <interface name> is the name
Cisco has assigned the interface you would like to associate with the VLAN.
• Step 2 - This step is optional. Enter "description <interface description>" where
<interface description> is text describing the system connected to the interface in
question. It is usually helpful to provide DNS hostname, IP Address, which port
on the remote system is connected, and its function.
• Step 3 - This step depends on your equipment and IOS version, and requirements.
Enter "switchport" if you need the interface to act as a switch port. Some
hardware does not support switchport mode, and can only be used as a router port.
Check your documentation if you don't know the difference between a router port
and a switch port.
• Step 4 - Only use this step if you used step 3 above. Enter "switchport access vlan
X" where X is the VLAN ID of the VLAN you want the port to be a member of.
• Step 5 - Only use this step if you used step 3 above. Enter "switchport mode
access" to tell the port that you want it to be used as an access port.
• Step 6 - Exit configuration mode by entering "end".
• Step 7 - Save your configuration to memory by entering "wr mem" and to the
network if you have need using "wr net". You may have to supply additional
information to write configurations to the network depending on your device
configuration.

For trunk ports

• Step 1 - Enter "Interface <interface name>" where <interface name> is the name
Cisco has assigned the interface you would like to associate with the VLAN.
• Step 2 - This step is optional. Enter "description <interface description>" where
<interface description> is text describing the system connected to the interface in
question. It is usually helpful to provide DNS hostname, IP Address, which port
on the remote system is connected, and its function.
• Step 3 - This step depends on your equipment and IOS version, and requirements.
Enter "switchport" if you need the interface to act as a switch port. Some

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 hardware does not support switchport mode, and can only be used as a router port.
Check your documentation if you don't know the difference between a router port
and a switch port.
• Step 4 - Only use this step if you used step 3 above. Enter "switchport trunk
encapsulation dot1q". This tells the VLAN to use dot1q encapsulation for the
VLAN, which is the industry standard encapsulation for trunking. There are other
encapsulation options, but your equipment may not operate with non Cisco
equipment if you use them.
• Step 5 - Only use this step if you used step 3 above. Enter "switchport trunk
allowed vlan XX, YY, ZZ" where XX, YY, and ZZ are VLANs you want the trunk
to include. You can define one or more VLANs to be allowed in the trunk.
• Step 6 - Only use this step if you used step 3 above. Enter "switchport mode
trunk" to tell the port to operate as a VLAN trunk, and not as an access port.
• Step 7 - Exit configuration mode by entering "end".
• Step 8 - Save your configuration to memory by entering "wr mem" and to the
network if you have need using "wr net". You may have to supply additional
information to write configurations to the network depending on your device
configuration.

For private VLAN ports

• Step 1 - Enter "Interface <interface name>" where <interface name> is the name
Cisco has assigned the interface you would like to associate with the VLAN.
• Step 2 - This step is optional. Enter "description <interface description>" where
<interface description> is text describing the system connected to the interface in
question. It is usually helpful to provide DNS hostname, IP Address, which port
on the remote system is connected, and its function.
• Step 3 - This step depends on your equipment and IOS version, and requirements.
Enter "switchport" if you need the interface to act as a switch port. Some
hardware does not support switchport mode, and can only be used as a router port.
Check your documentation if you don't know the difference between a router port
and a switch port.
• Step 4 - Enter "switchport private-vlan host association XX YY" where XX is the
primary VLAN you want to assign, YY is the secondary VLAN you want to
associate with it.
• Step 5 - Enter "switchport mode private-vlan host" to force the port to operate as a
private-vlan in host mode.
• Step 6 - Exit configuration mode by entering "end".
• Step 7 - Save your configuration to memory by entering "wr mem" and to the
network if you have need using "wr net". You may have to supply additional
information to write configurations to the network depending on your device
configuration.

You should now have your VLAN properly implemented on a Cisco IOS device.

HP VLAN terminology

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HP's Procurve line of switchgear is becoming more and more prevalent in enterprise and
other business environments. Because of this, it isn't uncommon to have to get Cisco and
Procurve hardware to integrate, and because of terminology this can be a challenge.
Below some of the VLAN terminology is defined so there is less opportunity for
confusion.

• VLAN ID - Fortunately, VLAN id's are pretty much the same everywhere, the
only significant differences are the range of IDs that can be used. With Procurve
devices, the number of VLANs is defined in the configuration. The default
maximum VLANs supported on a Procurve device differs between models and
firmware revisions, but is commonly set to 8. Newer Procurve hardware supports
4,096 VLAN ids, but only 256 concurrently defined VLANs on a single device.
VLAN ID 1 is reserved for the "DEFAULT_VLAN" or the default administrative
VLAN.
• VLAN names - VLAN names are text fields that assist technicians to identify
VLANs. Procurve allows names up to 32 characters, but if you want it to properly
display in menu configuration mode, you should probably limit the name to 12
characters.
• VLAN modes - Procurve has three modes of operation for VLANs on the chassis,
Untagged, Tagged, and No. Untagged mode is cisco's access mode. This mode is
used for ports that connect to end nodes, or devices that will not be passing
VLAN traffic forward. Tagged mode is the same as Cisco's trunk mode. This
mode is used for ports that are connecting to devices that will be passing VLAN
traffic forward, or for trunking multiple VLANs. No mode means that the port in
question has no association whatsoever with that VLAN.
• Special note on "trunk" - Lots of confusion surrounds the word "trunk" when you
go between vendor equipment. In Cisco's case, trunking is only used with
VLANs. If you want to group multiple ethernet ports into a single logical ethernet
group, they call it a channel-group. This is regardless of whether FEC or LACP is
used for the channel properties. Procurve uses "trunk" to define a group of
ethernet ports when using the HP trunking protocol, and the term "Tagged" for
what Cisco calls a VLAN trunk. Of course, these two technologies have nothing
to do with each other, but because of naming conventions, confusion arises.

HP Procurve VLAN implementations

VLAN Definition

Most modern Procurve switches enable VLAN use by default, but if, for some reason,
you have an older model, log into the switch, get into manager mode, go to the switch
configuration menu (usually item 2), then the VLAN menu (usually item 8), then the
VLAN support item (usually item 1), and make sure VLANs are enabled. If you change
this setting, you will need to reboot the switch to get it to activate properly. The
configuration menu is useful for these kinds of activities, troubleshooting, and other
things, but is a little more difficult for configuring multiple switches or for using
configuration templates, so the rest of the HP Procurve configuration details will be

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provided for the console configuration mode. Aside for enabling VLAN support as a
whole, VLAN definitions and configuration are created in the same place, so the rest of
the configuration examples will be provided under the VLAN configuration topic.

VLAN Configuration

Configuring VLANs on a modern Procurve is pretty simple, you must first define the
VLAN, set its properties, and then set up membership for ports and the VLAN mode they
will support. The following list should help you accomplish these tasks. NOTE: HP has
defined its interface ports by using a module/port convention. If you have a non-modular
chassis (such as the 3448cl) then ports are numbered only using numbers, such as 1 or 36.
If the chassis is modular (such as the 5308) then the ports number is prepended with the
module slot, such as A1 or H6. No reference to the type of switch port (ethernet, fast
ethernet, gigabit ethernet) is used for port reference.

• Step 1 - Log into the switch and get into manager mode. If, after logging in, you
are in the configuration menu, exit the configuration menu by selecting item 5 (in
most cases) or by using the arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight the
"Command Line (CLI)" item.
• Step 2 - Enter "conf t" to get into terminal configuration mode.
• Step 3 - Enter "vlan X" where X is the VLAN id of the VLAN you would like to
create.
• Step 4 - Name your VLAN by entering "name "<VLAN Name>"" where <VLAN
Name> is a text string from 1 to 32 characters (12 characters if you care about the
configuration menu display). You should use quotes when naming the VLAN.
• Step 5 - Give the VLAN an IP address by entering "ip address <ip address>
<netmask>" where <ip address> is the IP address you want to assign this switch
in that subnet, and <netmask> is the network mask for the subnet assigned.
• Step 6 - This step is optional. If you want to assign some end node ports to the
VLAN enter "untagged <port-list>" where <port-list> is a list of ports either
comma delimited if they are non-sequential, or using a dash between list
beginning and end if they are. An example of this is "untagged 1,3,5,7-16". This
would configure ports 1, 3, 5, and 7 through 16 to be untagged on that VLAN.
• Step 7 - This step is optional. If you want to assign some VLAN trunk ports to the
VLAN enter "tagged <port-list>" where <port-list> is a list of ports either comma
delimited if they are non-sequential, or using a dash between list beginning and
end if they are. An example of this is "untagged 1,3,5,7-16". This would configure
ports 1, 3, 5, and 7 through 16 to be untagged on that VLAN.
• Step 8 - Enter "exit" to leave VLAN configuration mode.
• Step 9 - Exit configuration mode by entering "exit" again.
• Step 10 - Save your configuration by entering "wr memory".

You have now successfully configured your HP Procurve VLAN.

Vendor Summary

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If you are going to integrate Cisco and HP Procurve hardware on the same network, and
you intend to use VLANs there are only a few things you need to remember:

• For end nodes - Cisco uses "mode access", HP uses "untagged" mode.
• For VLAN dot1q trunks - Cisco uses "mode trunk", HP uses "tagged" mode.
• For no VLAN association - Cisco uses no notation at all, HP uses "no" mode in
the configuration menu, or you have VLAN support turned off.

Next time you have to integrate the two with VLANs, this simple list should help keep
you out of trouble.