Question : Problem: Two networks on the same physical Lan need to communicate

Hello,

I am currently in the situation where I need to communicate between two seperate networks that are on the same physical lan. Some background:

Created a new environment for a small company which has an application and a small number of PC's which now need migrating to the new environment.

The application server and PC's are configured with a different IP subnet to that of the main infrastructure.

Basically the new infrastructure was setup on a new switch with no connectivity to the old environment (as this was not going to be required).

Now the application people want to be able to communicate to both networks at the same time, however we have no router on site to achieve this.

I was thinking of connecting the two switches together and then using static routes to enable the communication between the networks, however am unsure if this is the right way to go.

Answer : Problem: Two networks on the same physical Lan need to communicate

What are the 2 IP ranges in use?

1: If they are for instance 192.168.0.0 and 192.168.1.0 and you link the 2 networks to be physically one (thats what you ment with the linking of the switches) you can set a 23bit mask on all the PC's, pretty much combining the 2 networks into 1.

2: Link the switches and give the PC's that need to be in communication with both networks and IP on both networks (you can give PC's several IP's on several networks on 1 single adapter. Letting them talk to the multiple networks transparantly.

3: Link the switches and use VPN tunnels between the gateways on both networks (which is a bit of overkill since your not actually at a different location).

I know a load more ways to connect networks, but it all depends on the details of what your trying to establish.

Do these devs want easy access to their project network?
Does everyone need access to the project network?
Is there a need for additional security, so that people on the normal network can't stumble on the project network?

Etc.