Lost in Translation: A Tale of a Tricky VLAN Mismatch
- Tony Fortunato
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
A long time client and online friend reached out with an interesting scenario.
A consultant installed a switch and they were having issues getting it to 'get along' with the existing switches. The consultants opinion was that the current equipment was too 'old' and probably 'not compatible'. the easiest solution was to replace the dozen or so old' switches to the same make and model to ensure compatibility.
He told me that "this recommendation reminds me of spring time in the country running the spreader" , lol. in other words, he didn't believe the consultant.
i explained that unfortunately my calendar is packed at the moment but he could send the logs from the 2 switches they were trying to interconnect, i would take a peek. i received the logs and called him and asked if he looked at the logs? He responded "no, why?" i asked him to look at the logs from his old switch and I'll wait.
Man, oh man, was he mad!!! After letting him vent for a minute or two, I calmly asked him why he, or his team, didn't look at the logs. He said that the consultant said he already looked at them and there was nothing there. Woops... A screen shot of the log is below and i'm sure you can figure out what the issue is. one side was vlan 172 nd the other was 99. A simple config change the they were up and running...
Moral of the story is that it doesn't take much to validate what you are being told. Most times you will find that its a quick process and fairly anticlimactic. But the odd time you will spot something others have missed or possibly learn something. Either way its a win-win in my book..
