I have been contemplating how to provide an interface into the rack that would allow me to provide an interface to the RPis and the Proxmox server on the rack. So far I have had an interface to the Edgerouter-12 (ER-12) through a SLATE router. However, I found out that the rule set that is being used here in the retirement community doesn’t allow me to access ports on the SLATE unless I am connected to their portal vlan. I decided to start some experiments to find out what I can actually do with the network. Be aware that all IP addresses within the retirement community are RFC1918 private addresses.
I had previously connected the SLATE router to the ER-12 through two AV2000 Ethernet over power interfaces, each with two Ethernet ports apiece. So it was SLATE LAN -> AV2000 -> AV2000 -> ER-12 WAN. The SLATE was connected into the resident vlan which does not allow conversation between hosts on the resident vlan. However, I have been able to connect between a host on the resident vlan and a host on the portal vlan. I decided to put an RPi connected to the portal vlan, but also connected to a vlan within the rack. That way, I can connect my laptop, or iPhone/iPad to any port on the RPi. To do this, I decided to implement a trunk line between the two AV2000s.
I resurrected one of the managed switches from the tubs that I brought to the community and configured a trunk port and an untagged port to a vlan (vlan32) specifically for traffic between the SLATE and the ER-12. I configured the same vlan (vlan32) on my M4100-26G switch along with a trunk port that had the same setup as the trunk port on the managed switch from my tub stores. By connecting these up I now have the following: SLATE LAN (vlan32) -> managed switch -[T]-> AV2000 -> AV2000 -[T]-> M4100-26G -[vlan32]-> ER-12 WAN (vlan32).
Since I can get to the managed switch within the rack from the Admin vlan, I was able to set other vlans so that I can add an RPi Gateway (ServerNet vlan/portal vlan). This allows me to setup a firewall with open ports to the ServerNet vlan from the portal vlan which is wifi facing. Next up is the configuration of the RPi Gateway.
