How to configure switching between network interfaces?

How to configure switching between network interfaces?
I would like to determine how, or if, the following can be
accomplished with FreeBSD. 
Configuration:
A BSD box setup with 1 GbE NIC and a 4 port 10/100 NIC
The GbE interface will have a static IP configured
(192.168.10.x/24)
Planned Implementation:
  Along with possibly serving other data such as NFS or HTTP
traffic, I would like the interfaces to work as a switch.
The GbE interface is a fiber optic NIC which connects to the
rest of the network 100 or so meters away. I plan to use the
other 4 interfaces to attach hosts to my network. I would
prefer all of my hosts to be on the same subnet if possible,
otherwise I would just configure routing between the
appropriate interfaces. My question then is: Can the
interfaces be configured to function as a switch would,
allowing the connected hosts to recieve DHCP and other
traffic "routing" from the fiber optic interface
via the FreeBSD box. I know that in a basic configuration, 2
interfaces on the same subnet are not a best practice and
would required special routing information. I assume that
somewhere this can be configured. A good shove in the right
direction would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike 
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Myself, I'd get a couple of small fiber/ethernet convertors
and then connect
everything to a small ethernet switch.

A bit more money, but simpler and I like simple.


-- 
Martin

On 12/31/06, mstrickland16nc.rr.com
<mstrickland16nc.rr.com> wrote:
>
> How to configure switching between network interfaces?
> I would like to determine how, or if, the following can
be accomplished
> with FreeBSD.
> Configuration:
> A BSD box setup with 1 GbE NIC and a 4 port 10/100 NIC
> The GbE interface will have a static IP configured
(192.168.10.x/24)
> Planned Implementation:
>   Along with possibly serving other data such as NFS or
HTTP traffic, I
> would like the interfaces to work as a switch. The GbE
interface is a fiber
> optic NIC which connects to the rest of the network 100
or so meters away. I
> plan to use the other 4 interfaces to attach hosts to
my network. I would
> prefer all of my hosts to be on the same subnet if
possible, otherwise I
> would just configure routing between the appropriate
interfaces. My question
> then is: Can the interfaces be configured to function
as a switch would,
> allowing the connected hosts to recieve DHCP and other
traffic "routing"
> from the fiber optic interface via the FreeBSD box. I
know that in a basic
> configuration, 2 interfaces on the same subnet are not
a best practice and
> would required special routing information. I assume
that somewhere this can
> be configured. A good shove in the right direction
would be most
> appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Mike
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-questionsfreebsd.org mailing list
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> freebsd-questions-unsubscribefreebsd.org"
>
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mstrickland16nc.rr.com wrote:
> How to configure switching between network interfaces?
> I would like to determine how, or if, the following can
be accomplished with FreeBSD. 
> Configuration:
> A BSD box setup with 1 GbE NIC and a 4 port 10/100 NIC
> The GbE interface will have a static IP configured
(192.168.10.x/24)
> Planned Implementation:
>   Along with possibly serving other data such as NFS or
HTTP traffic, I would like the interfaces to work as a
switch. The GbE interface is a fiber optic NIC which
connects to the rest of the network 100 or so meters away. I
plan to use the other 4 interfaces to attach hosts to my
network. I would prefer all of my hosts to be on the same
subnet if possible, otherwise I would just configure routing
between the appropriate interfaces. My question then is: Can
the interfaces be configured to function as a switch would,
allowing the connected hosts to recieve DHCP and other
traffic "routing" from the fiber optic interface
via the FreeBSD box. I know that in a basic configuration, 2
interfaces on the same subnet are not a best practice and
would required special routing information. I assume that
somewhere this can be configured. A good shove in the right
direction would be most appreciated.

You can configure the interfaces together as a bridge and
FreeBSD will act as 
a "smart switch"-- see the bridge(4) manpage or
the Handbook for more info.

Note that this configuration might make sense if you wanted
to impose firewall 
rules to limit cross-segment traffic while still letting the
client machines 
all be on one subnet.  Or you might divert all WWW traffic
seen going by to a 
transparent proxy server.

But unless you plan to do something with this traffic like
that-- if all you 
want to do is have a switch-- you'd otherwise be better off
getting a 4-port 
gigabit Cu or Fibre switch then setting up a dedicated
server for the task.

-- 
-Chuck
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   Thanks,
  I believe thats what i'm looking for.  I will probably end
up with a cu-fiber switch, but I wanted to know if that was
possible in theroy.  The switches make more sense anyway
because, otherwise, i'll have to setup a makeshift bridge on
the server on the other end of the fiber.
 
  - Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Chuck Swiger <cswigermac.com> 
Date: Sunday, December 31, 2006 12:49 pm 
Subject: Re: How to configure switching between network
interfaces? 
To: mstrickland16nc.rr.com 
Cc: freebsd-questionsfreebsd.org 

> mstrickland16nc.rr.com wrote: 
> > How to configure switching between network
interfaces? 
> > I would like to determine how, or if, the
following can be 
> accomplished with FreeBSD. 
> > Configuration: 
> > A BSD box setup with 1 GbE NIC and a 4 port 10/100
NIC 
> > The GbE interface will have a static IP configured
(192.168.10.x/24) 
> > Planned Implementation: 
> > Along with possibly serving other data such as NFS
or HTTP 
> traffic, I would like the interfaces to work as a
switch. The GbE 
> interface is a fiber optic NIC which connects to the
rest of the 
> network 100 or so meters away. I plan to use the other
4 
> interfaces to attach hosts to my network. I would
prefer all of my 
> hosts to be on the same subnet if possible, otherwise I
would just 
> configure routing between the appropriate interfaces.
My question 
> then is: Can the interfaces be configured to function
as a switch 
> would, allowing the connected hosts to recieve DHCP and
other 
> traffic "routing" from the fiber optic
interface via the FreeBSD 
> box. I know that in a basic configuration, 2 interfaces
on the 
> same subnet are not a best practice and would required
special 
> routing information. I assume that somewhere this can
be 
> configured. A good shove in the right direction would
be most 
> appreciated. 
> You can configure the interfaces together as a bridge
and FreeBSD 
> will act as 
> a "smart switch"-- see the bridge(4) manpage
or the Handbook for 
> more info. 
> 
> Note that this configuration might make sense if you
wanted to 
> impose firewall 
> rules to limit cross-segment traffic while still
letting the 
> client machines 
> all be on one subnet. Or you might divert all WWW
traffic seen 
> going by to a 
> transparent proxy server. 
> 
> But unless you plan to do something with this traffic
like that-- 
> if all you 
> want to do is have a switch-- you'd otherwise be better
off 
> getting a 4-port 
> gigabit Cu or Fibre switch then setting up a dedicated
server for 
> the task. 
> 
> -- 
> -Chuck 
> 
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