01-26-2010 01:27 PM
I built my own gigabit router using FreeBSD on an old PowerEdge 2400 with a few gigabit cards and IPF. My bosses want a more "turnkey" solution, presumably something they can manage "if I get hit by a truck". So, I bought the RVS4000 thinking, "gigabit router, should work..". I come to find out that not only can it not handle multiple IP addresses on the WAN port, but it refuses to allow DHCP to pass through the VLANs, at least in the way I have it set up.
Can anybody give me some tips as to how to get all of my VLANs to talk to the same DHCP server? Is this thing only designed to be used by "small business owners with no IT training" and thus incapable of more advanced functions?
Thanks!
01-26-2010 08:18 PM
Hello and good evening Nate. I hope you are doing well.
DHCP requests are broadcast and by default will not pass a L3 / vlan boundary.
On the RVS4000 you can set up DHCP relay to relay packets to your DHCP server. Have you tried this yet? Have you also configured the vlans?
Here is a link to the user guide:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/routers/csbr/rvs4000/administration/guide/RVS4000_V10_UG_B_web.pdf
Nate - you mentioned some advanced features. What additional configs, applications, redundancy etc ... are you all looking for?
Do please let me know if this helps. Kindest regards,
Andrew
01-27-2010 08:56 AM
Nope, the option for DHCP pass through is greyed out when you specify a VLAN for an interface.
It also doesn't work experimentally, either
As far as advanced features, if you're taking requests (some of these might exist, I haven't had time to fully explore the device):
Commandline interface
IPF-style firewall rules
More robust WAN interface
I'm using a SonicWall TZ170 for most of these features, but of course it's only 100mb so I can't use it as my internal router (wouldn't want to, anyway).
I mean, I know this is only a $100 router, and all of these features exist on the $5000+ routers Cisco sells, but dangit, I'm not gonna spend $5000 for a router I can build myself for $50 - especially in a small business situation (i.e., no budget).
01-29-2010 08:34 AM
Hi Nate,
Not that i'm going to debug your dhcpd.conf file, but it would be interesting to see that file, can you please post it ?
I will set up my RVS4000 in the mean time to so that I and the wider community can also understand it's functionality.
regards Dave
01-29-2010 09:01 AM
I'm assuming you mean the dhcpd.conf from my FreeBSD box. I'm using FreeBSD as the router/IDS, but not the DHCP server. For that I'm using MS Server 2003.
01-30-2010 09:29 PM
Hi Nate.
DHCP relay works according to the release notes on this software version.
What follows is the results from my ipconfig /all from my XP PC.
Please note Nate, the default gateway IP address is VLAN 1 ip address of my RVS4000.
The 192.168.1.100 is the IP address of my microsoft small business server, which is providing DHCP services for VLAN1.
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : cisco.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-6B-67-6C-3D
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.10
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : fe80::21a:6bff:fe67:6c3d%5
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.25.5.147
fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
The following is a screen capture from my RVS4000;
Lastly, for the last few releases, the release notes have stated that;
DHCP Relay is not supported when multiple VLANs are created..
I'm guessing this has to be the case because the RVS4000 will not pass VLAN infomation with the DHCP request, so how can a DHCP server provide services for multiple VLAN.
Anyway, I set up two vlans on my RVS4000, I set a Microsoft small business server to provide DHCP services on VLAN1 at IP address 192.168.100.
I then allowed the RVS4000 to provide DHCP services to VLAN2.
All worked ok
I figured that DHCP relay will work on one VLAN, but you have to use the RVS4000 to provide DHCP services to subsequent VLANs.
I do hope this answers your questions.
regards Dave
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