How to initialize a vswitch

In most instances, you can remove any brand of switch from the box, turn on the power, and enable the switch to provide the connection you need without any configuration, just like a hub that does not need to be managed. In this article, we will discuss when you need additional configuration.

First, each network device has a minimum level of security standards. These security standards include:

· Set a password (if an attacker sets a password for you, you will not like it ).

· Set Unencrypted Password (community strings) or disable the Simple Network Management Protocol if you do not plan to use it (especially if you set it to "public" or "private ").

· If you set a server as a system logon server to store remote logon logs, disable all management methods you do not use, in particular, you need to disable Web-based configuration logon or authentication server (radius or TACACS + ).

· Our other configuration list depends on your specific situation, such as what you want to do to the vswitch, to what extent and the complexity of your environment.

If there are more than one vswitch in your broadcast domain, you need to configure the Spanning Tree Protocol. The tree generation function may be enabled by default. However, this default setting may select a root node that is not optimal. Set the priority of the switch you want to act as the root node, and keep other switches as the default setting.

If your switch has more than one IP subnet, you may need to configure a VLAN or trunk. After creating a VLAN, do not forget to add the user port to the appropriate VLAN. It should be noted that if you use a Cisco switch, even if you only have one subnet, I strongly recommend that you do not use default VLAN 1, because it is very different from other virtual LAN. Create another VLAN and add all ports to it.

If you plan to connect to an IP phone, you need to configure "voice Virtual LAN". You can also use the Ethernet power supply function. The default setting of Ethernet power supply is disabled.

Of course, you can also make some settings to make your network better. For example, you can set labels for each port to help you track the devices that insert those ports, you can also manually set the speed and duplex mode of some ports, or disable unnecessary protocols such as the port aggregation protocol (pagp. However, this list is sufficient for most networks to run efficiently with proper configuration.

ArticleInput: CSH responsible editor: CSH