Quanta LB4M 48-Port Gigabit Switch Discussion

[doop]

Thank you! I think "Private Edge VLAN" is a weaker version of "Private VLAN". It would suit my needs if it was possible to do "switchport protected 0" on a VLAN and not the whole interface. If I can't get private-vlan to work I will just get some more cables and do your method.

 

[pingo83]

I'm getting a bit out of my depth, but will the switchport allowed vlan command help you?

 

[doop]

My switch didn't have that command.

 

[pingo83]

Did you look at the whole syntax?

switchport allowed vlan {add [tagged | untagged] | remove} <vlanid>}
        add - The interface is always a member of this VLAN. This is equivalent to registration  fixed.
            tagged - All frames transmitted for this VLAN will be tagged.
            untagged - All frames transmitted for this VLAN will be untagged.
        remove - The interface is removed from the member of this VLAN. This is equivalent to
                          registration forbidden.
        <vlanid> - VLAN ID (Range: 1 –3965).

I found the full manual link in a review here :

A switch for datacenters: Quanta LB4M

Manual should still be here :

https://acm.cs.uic.edu/wiki/_media/lb4m.pdf

P.

 

[doop]

Yes. Many of the commands in that manual doesn't exist for some reason. It's a bit weird since the manual is from 2008 and the 1.1.1.8 firmware is from 2012. Maybe it needs the routing firmware. I tried the routing firmware yesterday, but it didn't have have any "private-vlan" commands at all and was much older (2009), so I changed back to the switch firmware.
I think I will just get some extra cables and do it the way you suggested first. I just confirmed now that "switchport protected 0" works.

 

[eroji]

If I want a port to be able to participate in multiple VLANs by specifying the VLAN ID, would this be the right config for that port? My usecase is for ESXi to have multiple networks using the same physical NIC, each with respective VLAN ID set.

interface 0/31
no shutdown
vlan participation include 10,20,30,50
exit

 

[microram]

This is what I am using. I believe you need to add the tagging.

interface 0/50
description '10GbE'
mtu 9216
vlan pvid 10
vlan ingressfilter
vlan participation exclude 1
vlan participation include 2,10,20,30,40,90
vlan tagging 2,20,30,40,90
exit

 

[eroji]

This is what I am using. I believe you need to add the tagging.

interface 0/50
description '10GbE'
mtu 9216
vlan pvid 10
vlan ingressfilter
vlan participation exclude 1
vlan participation include 2,10,20,30,40,90
vlan tagging 2,20,30,40,90
exit

Cool thank you. I assume the ingressfilter setting is because this port is for uplink?

 

[microram]

Not really for uplink, that port goes to a Proxmox server with VLAN interfaces setup. I chose that port as it has all of the VLAN commands I use in one.

I also use MAC address to VLANs, but I have to use the GUI to set them.

 

[TheBloke]

Hi all

Yesterday I took delivery of my very own Quanta LB4M and Quanta LB6M. I plan to use the 4M for all the 1G devices around my house, and then uplink via the 10G ports to the LB6M which will be used for 10G links between my server/NAS and workstation.

My LB4M came with firmware 1.1.0.8, but this morning I have tried flashing both of the other two versions, 1.0.2.17 and 5.13.12.14. I wanted to check out the Web UI and I thought maybe having L3 routing might be useful in future.

Flashing worked fine, and 1.0.2.17 worked fine including the Web UI. But I can't get 5.13 working properly - no doubt just because of my own ignorance.

5.13 flashes fine, but when it's in place I get no port lights on the switch and I can't access the management port despite having the network setup.

With 1.1.0.8 and 1.0.2.17 I get lights on any active ports, and all I needed to do to access the switch via network was to set a static IP (network parms 192.168.0.253 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1).

With 5.13.12.14, I get no lights on any port, and despite setting the same network config, I cannot access the switch via network. When I run show port all in 5.13 it shows Link Status as Down for all ports.

I'm guessing there's some extra config I need in the 'routing' mode to enable the ports, but I'm not sure what it is? It worked automatically on the other two, switching firmwares, but not for 5.13.

Thanks in advance

 

[aj84]

@TheBloke
In the Routing FW (and some of the other versions) the network ports are disabled by default (AdminMode of all ports is set to "disabled")...simply enable them:

enable
configure
no shutdown all
exit
show port all

 

[TheBloke]

Awesome thanks a lot @aj84, I will give that a go tonight.

One more question if you don't mind: is there any reason not to use the routing firmware? I don't expect to be doing any L3 stuff immediately, and maybe I never will. But if the routing firmware is just as good at basic L2 switching then I would rather have it on there, so it's already installed and ready if and when I do ever want to experiment and try some L3 stuff.

That is, unless the routing firmware has any disadvantage that would mean I should only install it if I actually need it?

Thanks again.

 

[aj84]

That's a good question - asked that myself multiple times, too. For now I flashed all my LB4Ms with the routing firmware just to have the L3 features available if they are needed (exactly as you describe your situation). Haven't found any show-stopper, yet. But to be honest: never did a peformance comparison of the different firmware versions and I don't use the WebUI. The only facts I have for you:
- has more features than all other firmware versions
- it's the oldest firmware (potentially more bugs / security flaws?)
- some commands differ (slightly) between the firmware versions (that's annoying if you have a config and want to switch to a other firmware version)

Please let me know if you find something that keeps you away from the routing fw.

 

[TheBloke]

That's a good question - asked that myself multiple times, too. For now I flashed all my LB4Ms with the routing firmware just to have the L3 features available if they are needed (exactly as you describe your situation). Haven't found any show-stopper, yet. But to be honest: never did a peformance comparison of the different firmware versions and I don't use the WebUI. The only facts I have for you:
- has more features than all other firmware versions
- it's the oldest firmware (potentially more bugs / security flaws?)
- some commands differ (slightly) between the firmware versions (that's annoying if you have a config and want to switch to a other firmware version)

Please let me know if you find something that keeps you away from the routing fw.

Thanks so much for the detailed answer, aj. That's great.

I actually didn't pick up on the fact that the routing firmware is older than all the others - I thought it was around the same as 1.0.2.17. That's definitely a shame and could lead to reasons why it might not be preferred.

It's a shame the latest firmware is the one that has neither routing nor Web UI. I suppose people are saying the UI is pretty awful, but it's something I, as someone very rusty/ignorant on switching config (the last time I can remember using Cisco-style commands was about 2005 I think), would find quite useful to see what options are available and configure them the easy way, then hopefully learn from the generated config.

But I think I'll have a go with the routing at least to start with. My needs are so minimal that I can't imagine it could be slower in a way I'd notice - if it couldn't manage 1GB/s on 6 - 8 ports out of the 48 then it would be downright broken.

Your third point was the sort of thing I was most worried about - like how the switch didn't even work out-of-the-box with the routing firmware, forcing me to ask for help. If I found it was constantly a struggle to do anything basic because everything was more complicated to get running right and/or the commands I Googled and found in this thread didn't immediately work, that would definitely be a reason to go back to a simpler firmware.

But hopefully the UI can help me out most of the time, and again as I'm not likely to do much advanced stuff, I'll probably not even notice the difference until such time that I have a go at some L3 routing. Which will mostly just be for the fun of it and experience/learning - I expect I'll have to invent reasons to use advanced stuff like that in my home network!

Thanks again for all your help, much appreciated.

 

[Tristan Gray]

Hoping someone can provide some assistance. I just picked up an LB4M off ebay, and I am having some difficulty getting it functional. I'm wanting to just use it as a dumb switch for the time being. It's on version 1.1.0.8 so I didn't even mess with trying the webui. I'm connected to it via the console port. First issue I'm having is doing a factory reset. After reloading the switch, I boot into the boot menu and try to choose option 10 for factory reset. Nothing happens.
Assuming it was reset before I got it, I enabled all ports, "no shutdown all", ports are showing link, but they are not pulling DHCP from my dhcp server. Any ideas? Suggestions. Thanks in advance!

 

[Visseroth]

log into the switch

enable

log in (hit enter if no password is set)

erase startup-config

write memory

reload

This will erase the configuration and default the switch.
You may need to "no shutdown all" again

 

[Tristan Gray]

log into the switch

enable

log in (hit enter if no password is set)

erase startup-config

write memory

reload

This will erase the configuration and default the switch.
You may need to "no shutdown all" again

Thank you! I will give it another go when I get home tonight.

 

[Tristan Gray]

Upon following those steps, I receive " Error! Couldn't erase startup-config."

 

[Visseroth]

That should have reset it. Have you tried updating the firmware or rolling back the firmware. Many of us have dropped 1.1.0.8 for 1.0.2 and changing the firmware typically resets the configuration anyhow.

 

[Tristan Gray]

I have not, I'm not familiar with the downgrade process, or where to get the firmware. I'll take a look through this thread again, I know I saw some information regarding upgrading, assuming that the process is the same for downgrading.