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VLAN Port Assignment coloring


sevenpounds

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It appears that you copied the script "Berechne Ausgabefeld mit cf” into your file, and it is missing a table and field.

 

BTW, is this a commercial product?

 

HTH

 

Lee

Edited by Lee Smith
added the commercial product part
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It appears that you copied the script "Berechne Ausgabefeld mit cf” into your file, and it is missing a table and field.

BTW, is this a commercial product?

HTH

Lee

Hello Lee

No, it's not a commercial product. I am trying to create a database to manage the 50 switches in our school network. The script you mentioned is a part of the help system which I removed from the attached file. The goal is to have a record for every switch with all the information like which device is connected to which port, VLAN tagging of the ports, etc. - In the end I would like to have a complete solution with a vertical navigation, documentation, links to the firmware, administration passwords and so on. The switch models I've created directly in FileMaker. In the models table I will store all the different switch models. I have problems to setup relationships between the tables "ports", "switches" and "models". Can you give me a hint?

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You'll have a challenge there. How will you cope with a trunk port that is part of multiple vlans? Or a voicevlan and a datavlan? The latter I suppose could be solved by creating two triangles in the square, one for an optional voicevlan and if thats not used use the same coloring as the data vlan.

Trunks I suppose could be colored completely different.

Probably the best way to do that is through conditional formatting of each port. It does mean you'll need to CF each port in the layout. And if you want voicevlan formatting in there as well, then that's a lot of work for a 48 port switch...

I would question why even go to the trouble? HP Procurves (and many others for that matter) have perfectly good webinterfaces. Your DB is likely to be out of date in notime with the changes that tend to happen around companies every day.

If you have a large number of switches to take care of, you're probably better off looking at some purpose built management software for these. If you have only HP's, I'd stick with their software. It's already done. If you need something that will accomodate different products, there's solutions for that too. Even open source ones if money is a problem. The benefit of those applications is that they'll get their info directly from the source, the switches.

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Thanks for your reply and your thoughts. I couldn't find a software which fits my needs, so I have to build my own solution. The costs aren't irrelevant but not decisive. With FileMaker I will be much more flexible now and in the future, if I'm going to modify or extend my database. I can change, move or add whatever I need. I can build a user-friendly, easy to use software. With commercial or Open Source products I'm always limited and you shouldn't underestimate the effort to adapt such a solution to your own needs.

 
Except VLAN Tagging I need further information like
 
- Where is the Switch located (building and room)
- Wich device is connected to which switch port
- Where are the corresponding network sockets located (building, floor, room, exact position)
- Possibility to add documentation, notes and pictures
- Integration with my inventory (a FileMaker solution)
 
By the way, I'm already using The HP Intelligent Management Center Software (IMC Basic w/50-node E-LTU) to monitor and manage ProCurve switches.
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I hear what your saying. FM is certainly a very flexible tool, but it has its limits. I've been a networking engineer for the better part of my career (20+ years) and have dealt with networks large and small.

The problem that I see with your solution is mainly that the information you're storing will be outdated too quickly (ie, which device is connected to what port,  vlan tagging) which will render that information useless. The other items you mention are valid, but devices on a network can change so quickly, it's not really something you want to capture. Unless you plug right into the switch with FM, and that will prove a challenge.

What I would probably do, is try and integrate the webbased interface of the switch through a webportal of sorts. Or a simple link to the webUI from FM.

You also might want to consider configuration management, alerting and stuff.

I think a solution like Solarwinds Orion will suit your needs much better for the stuff where you need data direct from the switches. I've used it for some years (am a certified Solarwinds Professional). It's one of the cheapest and best commercial products.

Complement it with FM where needed, but when it comes to managing network equipment, there are better products than FM.

Things like http://www.ocsinventory-ng.org/en/, http://www.glpi-project.org/spip.php?lang=en, http://www.observium.org/wiki/Main_Page.

 

With FM you'll run into all sorts of issues if you need to maintain new kit. You'll be adapting your DB continously modifying it to accommodate new technology. A lot of data your collecting will be out of date way too quickly. A dedicated piece of software like Solarwinds, observium, etc, is updated continously and all you have to do is update your installation ever so often. They plug in to networking equipment natively without you having to worry about it. Much easier.

Seriously. :-D

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Just re-reading some of your posts. With 50 switches in your network, you'll have routers, wifi (which school these days can live without wireless?), plenty of servers and heaps of desktops to manage. Not to mention any of the printers and gadgets. You'd need to monitor/manage all of those.

Products like Solarwinds Orion have modules to accomodate most networks, you take what you need and leave what you don't. Solarwinds has training and good support, so passing on knowledge and training others is much easier. I know I'm advocating a single products here, but I've used it, like it and recognize when it's appropriate to use. You can create various dasboards for different support groups or management.

Start with a good network monitoring/management tool, and then complement that with additional tools. Use FM where appropriate or to fill gaps. FM is very usefull in lots of situations.

Another approach to consider is using different equipment (when its time to refresh). Vendors such as Cisco Meraki (Cisco purchased Meraki some 2 years ago, great move) have cloud managed switches, routers and APs. I have all three in my network. No worries about firmware upgrades or support. Plenty of insight into what goes on in my network. I manage a small company (around 50-60 PC's and a handful of servers) and have to do it by myself (mostly). For me easy of management is key. I outsource as much of this sorta stuff as I can. I push as much as I can into the cloud. Less hardware to maintain, less to break.

 

Cheers! Olger.

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