Configure Cisco Switches for Easy Server Deployments

“A switch port can be placed in “dynamic” mode, which means the
switch can dynamically change the VLAN membership of the port. This
works via VLAN Management Policy Server (VMPS), which defines which
hosts, by MAC address, are associated with which VLANs. When a
switch port comes up, the switch checks with the VMPS to determine
what VLAN to put the port in, then does it. The concept is quite
simple and attractive because you can manage all MAC-to-VLAN-number
mapping in a central place.

“There are, of course, a few minor issues to contend with. Like
most Cisco features, you need to know how they work to avoid being
surprised. The main issue is that when connecting a new host to the
network, its MAC address must be defined in the VMPS, or else it
will not get network access. Before deploying a new server, the
server admins generally configure network install services
(jumpstart, kickstart) that require MAC address association with
the host name. Wrapping the addition of the MAC address procedure
in a script to get the data in both places at once shouldn’t be too
difficult.”

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