VLAN Setup

[hoojar]

Sorry if this thread appears twice - had a couple of crashes posting...

I'm looking to setup a network in a small business center with around 10 clients. Each client needs their own static IP address which I've bought in from our ISP. They also need to be on their own networks and unable to interact with each other but if possible still access some public services such as printers (the printer part isn't essential).

I'm new to networking so I'm learning as I go but I need to know what equipment I need in order to setup the network as above and how it would all be linked together. I'll deal with the actual setup and config once I have the correct kit to play with.

I've been told VLANs would be ideal for seperating out the clients networks but can I assign each VLAN its own static IP and if so which part of the equipment does that - the router, switch etc?

thanks in advance for any help.

 

[cajuntank]

Of course, you need to be behind a security device (firewall) and not be using public addressing on your hosts. Is the business center 10 different clients (as in 10 different businesses) or 1 business with 10 users?

 

[hoojar]

its 10 different businesses, each with several pcs, servers etc. some of then have asked for a static ip for setting up exchange and remote access.

 

[cajuntank]

So then the question is where does your realm of support end?
What I mean is, you could go in and offer this public access and let each of the businesses fend for themselves with their own router/firewall to secure and NAT to non-routable subnets (i.e. 10.0.0.0, 172.16.0.0, 192.168.0.0). Or you could be the one to provide that firewall and create VLANs for each of the businesses. You will need a security device that can handle VLANs and rules so that they can route to the Internet while restricting access to each other. You also will have to have a switch to create these VLANs on and "trunk" (a Cisco term) those VLANs to the security device.
I use Sonicwall and they just came out with a NSA 2400MX apliance that I think has everything you will need built into one device (switch and security appliance). I would engage a respected reseller to discuss the hardware and it capabilities to see if it fits your needs.

 

[hoojar]

Thanks for that. I will look at the sonicwall. So will it also allow me to pass on the static ips to each vlan or would I need anything else?

Also, it only has 24 ports so would this mean I could have 24 vlans each with a switch running off a port on the sonicwall?

 

[cajuntank]

According to the documentation on this unit, it does support up to 25 VLANs. I would assume the capability to pass your statics down to your individually created VLAN interfaces as with any good firewall, but again, since I don't have this particular unit, I cannot speak with 100% certainty. Get with a good Sonicwall reseller for specifics.