assign IP for SNMP

[gormond25]

Currently I have 3 back end switches that switch traffic for 2 active VLAN's. I have the respective VLAN traffic propagated between the 3 switches using 802.1q trunking. There is no IP enabled. I would like to assign IP addresses to each switch for SNMP only (I want to measure bandwidth utilization). I do not need routing...just an IP to collect stats for each switch. How do I do this? by assigning an IP to the VLAN interface? I tried that, but it seemed to break some processes.

[s.jafar]

Assign the IP address to the Management VLAN of these switches, generally vlan 1 is used as management VLAN. You should be carefull that it should be a free IP address (IP address should not be already in use) also you will have to ensure one of the following:

1. The Server (where you will be monitoring the bandwidth) should be in same management VLAN

or

2. If the server is in another VLAN (say Server VLAN) then there should be routing for these vlans (Management VLAN & Server VLAN).

regards,

sjafar

[gormond25]

Thank you! That makes sense, because I tried to assign the IP address to a VLAN that was already in use. I will attempt to do this on a VLAN that is not in use.

[s.jafar]

Did your problem resolved? Were you able to successfully assing an ip address and get pull SNMP statastics?

[gormond25]

I haven't tried it yet...I was waiting on a quad port NIC to arrive for the monitoring server. However, since your reply, I thought about one thing. The 3 switches on the back end are trunked, so the VLAN's propagate to each switch. So...I assume I assign a different IP address to each switch? e.g.-

switch 1-

int vlan 10

ip 1.1.1.1 /24

switch 2-

int vlan 10

ip 1.1.1.2 /24

switch 3-

int vlan 10

ip 1.1.1.3 /24

[s.jafar]

Bingo..!! you got it. This should work only thing that you should consider is that the SNMP server that you use to gather SNMP stats should also be in VLAN 10. (Also please ensure that these IP addresses are not used any where else in the network)

Another point to note is using 1.1.1.1/24 is not a very good idea if you are connected to internet. I suggest you should consider using IP address from a private range i.e.

10.0.0.0/8

or

172.16.0.0 /16

or

192.168.0.0 /16

Use any range that doesnt existed on your network you may use /24 bit. I also assume that you are using VLAN10 for switch management purposes only.

Hope this help..!!!

Cheers mate,

[gormond25]

That did it! Thanks so much for your help! Found a great low cost solution to pull the % utilization too...I hate messing with MRTG!

[s.jafar]

Great to know that its done, Please rate my posts also let me know incase you need any help with MRTG

Cheers...!!