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Router on Stick or SVI

Sam-Aloala
Level 1
Level 1

Hi,

I like to get some suggestions to plan my network.

I want to design a network for a school, around 2000 students and 200 staff at this network, all students and teachers using Google classroom, they are not using any of the servers inside. around 25 staff are using an internal server for accounts purposes.

I like to know which scenario will be a better router on a stick or SVI (with layer 3 switch).

 

3 Replies 3

balaji.bandi
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

Both does the same job nearby, depending on the use case and hardware you have.

 

If you have Only switched then VLAN SVI is the use case here.

If you have switch only act as a Layer 2, the router on a stick is the use case.

 

If you like only that 25 staff to be connected only Local, then you need to put them in different VLAN and restrict to connect to internet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BB

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pman
Spotlight
Spotlight

Hi,

 

what equipment are available to you (routers/switches)?

are you before purchasing or after?

 

Thanks,

Joseph W. Doherty
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

If the situation is as you've described, i.e. routing will need to pass through your router, as almost all traffic is not local (excluding some/few hosts accessing one internal server for "accounts purposes" [low volume?]), you could use your router, on-a-stick, for all routing.

That noted, most L3 switches often have much, much (more) more capacity for routing than most "comparable" routers.  I.e. if you're doing any local routing, beyond low volume, a L3 switch is a better choice.

However, many times I've used both L3 switches with routers.  I.e. L3 switch routing in conjunction with the router.  (The router being used for features not usually available on many switches, such as NAT/PAT, advanced QoS, non-Ethernet media, etc.)  The goal being to perform all routing such that's "optimal" for our goals.  In such combined routing environments, you might have all traffic routed through the L3 switch, with the L3 switch switch routing to/from the router for non-local site traffic.

Using both a L3 switch and router (the latter being basically a router-on-stick), together, it's also possible to have both L3 switch and router having interfaces in all local networks, using L3 SVIs interfaces as the gateway IP for local networks.  This allows traffic returning from off-site to transit the L3 switch at L2.  Optionally, if you allow the L3 switch to "redirect", it can also inform hosts to redirect off-site traffic to the router's IP, again bypassing the L3 switch's SVI.  (NB: generally, as most L3 switches perform routing at the same speed/capacity as L2, there's often little advantage bypassing the switch's SVI for off-site traffic.

(If the prior is unclear, please let me know, as sometimes learning to use L3 switches, as both L2 and L3, concurrently, can be a bit confusing.)

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