Module 4: Inter-VLAN Routing

Switching, Routing and Wireless

Essentials (SRWE)
Module Objectives
Module Title: Inter-VLAN Routing

Module Objective: Troubleshoot inter-VLAN routing on Layer 3 devices

Topic Title Topic Objective

Inter-VLAN Routing Operation Describe options for configuring inter-VLAN routing.

Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN
Configure router-on-a-stick inter-VLAN routing.
Routing
Inter-VLAN Routing using Layer 3
Configure inter-VLAN routing using Layer 3 switching.
Switches
Troubleshoot common inter-VLAN configuration
Troubleshoot Inter-VLAN Routing
issues.

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4.1 Inter-VLAN Routing
Operation

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Inter-VLAN Routing Operation
What is Inter-VLAN Routing?
VLANs are used to segment switched Layer 2 networks for a variety of reasons. Regardless of the
reason, hosts in one VLAN cannot communicate with hosts in another VLAN unless there is a router or
a Layer 3 switch to provide routing services.

Inter-VLAN routing is the process of forwarding network traffic from one VLAN to another VLAN.

There are three inter-VLAN routing options:

• Legacy Inter-VLAN routing - This is a legacy solution. It does not scale well.
• Router-on-a-Stick - This is an acceptable solution for a small to medium-sized network.
• Layer 3 switch using switched virtual interfaces (SVIs) - This is the most scalable solution for
medium to large organizations.

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Inter-VLAN Routing Operation
Legacy Inter-VLAN Routing
• The first inter-VLAN routing solution relied on using a router with multiple Ethernet interfaces. Each
router interface was connected to a switch port in different VLANs. The router interfaces served as
the default gateways to the local hosts on the VLAN subnet.
• Legacy inter-VLAN routing using physical interfaces works, but it has a significant limitation. It is
not reasonably scalable because routers have a limited number of physical interfaces. Requiring
one physical router interface per VLAN quickly exhausts the physical interface capacity of a router.
• Note: This method of inter-VLAN routing is no longer implemented in switched networks and is
included for explanation purposes only.

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Inter-VLAN Routing Operation
Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing
The ‘router-on-a-stick’ inter-VLAN routing method overcomes the limitation of the legacy inter-VLAN routing
method. It only requires one physical Ethernet interface to route traffic between multiple VLANs on a
network.
• A Cisco IOS router Ethernet interface is configured as an 802.1Q trunk and connected to a trunk port on
a Layer 2 switch. Specifically, the router interface is configured using subinterfaces to identify routable
VLANs.
• The configured subinterfaces are software-based virtual interfaces. Each is associated with a single
physical Ethernet interface. Subinterfaces are configured in software on a router. Each subinterface is
independently configured with an IP address and VLAN assignment. Subinterfaces are configured for
different subnets that correspond to their VLAN assignment. This facilitates logical routing.
• When VLAN-tagged traffic enters the router interface, it is forwarded to the VLAN subinterface. After a
routing decision is made based on the destination IP network address, the router determines the exit
interface for the traffic. If the exit interface is configured as an 802.1q subinterface, the data frames are
VLAN-tagged with the new VLAN and sent back out the physical interface
Note: The router-on-a-stick method of inter-VLAN routing does not scale beyond 50 VLANs.

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Inter-VLAN Routing Operation
Inter-VLAN Routing on a Layer 3 Switch
The modern method of performing inter-VLAN routing is to use Layer 3 switches and switched virtual
interfaces (SVI). An SVI is a virtual interface that is configured on a Layer 3 switch, as shown in the
figure.

Note: A Layer 3 switch is also called a multilayer switch as it operates at Layer 2 and Layer 3.
However, in this course we use the term Layer 3 switch.

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4.2 Router-on-a-Stick Inter-
VLAN Routing

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Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing
Router-on-a-Stick Scenario
• In the figure, the R1 GigabitEthernet 0/0/1 interface is
connected to the S1 FastEthernet 0/5 port. The S1
FastEthernet 0/1 port is connected to the S2 FastEthernet
0/1 port. These are trunk links that are required to forward
traffic within and between VLANs.
• To route between VLANs, the R1 GigabitEthernet 0/0/1
interface is logically divided into three subinterfaces, as
shown in the table. The table also shows the three VLANs
that will be configured on the switches.
• Assume that R1, S1, and S2 have initial basic
configurations. Currently, PC1 and PC2 cannot ping each
other because they are on separate networks. Only S1 and
S2 can ping each other, but they but are unreachable by Subinterface VLAN IP Address
PC1 or PC2 because they are also on different networks.
G0/0/1.10 10 [Link]/24
• To enable devices to ping each other, the switches must be
configured with VLANs and trunking, and the router must be G0/0/1.20 20 [Link]/24
configured for inter-VLAN routing.
G0/0/1.30 99 [Link]/24
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Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing
S2 VLAN and Trunking Configuration
The configuration for S2
is similar to S1.

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Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing
R1 Subinterface Configuration (Cont.)
In the configuration, the R1
G0/0/1 subinterfaces are
configured for VLANs 10, 20,
and 99.

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Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing
Verify Connectivity Between PC1 and PC2

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Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing
Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing Verification
In addition to using ping between devices, the following show commands can
be used to verify and troubleshoot the router-on-a-stick configuration.
• show ip route
• show ip interface brief
• show interfaces
• show interfaces trunk

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4.3 Inter-VLAN Routing using
Layer 3 Switches

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Inter-VLAN Routing using Layer 3 Switches
Layer 3 Switch Scenario

In the figure, the Layer 3

switch, D1, is connected to
two hosts on different VLANs.
PC1 is in VLAN 10 and PC2
is in VLAN 20, as shown. The
Layer 3 switch will provide
inter-VLAN routing services
to the two hosts.

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Inter-VLAN Routing using Layer 3 Switches
Layer 3 Switch Configuration
Complete the following steps to configure S1 with VLANs and
trunking:
• Step 1. Create the VLANs. In the example, VLANs 10
and 20 are used.
• Step 2. Create the SVI VLAN interfaces. The IP address
configured will serve as the default gateway for hosts in
the respective VLAN.
• Step 3. Configure access ports. Assign the appropriate
port to the required VLAN.
• Step 4. Enable IP routing. Issue the ip routing global
configuration command to allow traffic to be exchanged
between VLANs 10 and 20. This command must be
configured to enable inter-VAN routing on a Layer 3
switch for IPv4.

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4.4 Troubleshoot Inter-VLAN
Routing

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Troubleshoot Inter-VLAN Routing
Common Inter-VLAN Issues
There are a number of reasons why an inter-VAN configuration may not work. All are related to
connectivity issues. First, check the physical layer to resolve any issues where a cable might be
connected to the wrong port. If the connections are correct, then use the list in the table for other
common reasons why inter-VLAN connectivity may fail.
Issue Type How to Fix How to Verify

show vlan [brief]

•Create (or re-create) the VLAN if it does not exist.
Missing VLANs show interfaces switchport
•Ensure host port is assigned to the correct VLAN.
ping
•Ensure trunks are configured correctly. show interface trunk
Switch Trunk Port Issues
•Ensure port is a trunk port and enabled. show running-config
•Assign correct VLAN to access port.
show interfaces switchport
•Ensure port is an access port and enabled.
Switch Access Port Issues show running-config interface
•Host is incorrectly configured in the wrong
ipconfig
subnet.
•Router subinterface IPv4 address is incorrectly
Router Configuration show ip interface brief
configured.
Issues show interfaces
•Router subinterface is assigned to the VLAN ID.
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4.5 Module Practice and
Review

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Module Practice and Review
What Did I Learn In This Module?
• Inter-VLAN routing is the process of forwarding network traffic from one VLAN to another VLAN.
• Three options include legacy, router-on-a-stick, and Layer 3 switch using SVIs.
• To configure a switch with VLANs and trunking, complete the following steps: create and name the VLANs,
create the management interface, configure access ports, and configure trunking ports.
• The router-on-a-stick method requires a subinterface to be created for each VLAN to be routed. A
subinterface is created using the interface interface_id subinterface_id global configuration mode
command.
• Each router subinterface must be assigned an IP address on a unique subnet for routing to occur. When all
subinterfaces have been created, the physical interface must be enabled using the no shutdown interface
configuration command.
• Enterprise campus LANs use Layer 3 switches to provide inter-VLAN routing. Layer 3 switches use
hardware-based switching to achieve higher-packet processing rates than routers.
• Capabilities of a Layer 3 switch include routing from one VLAN to another using multiple switched virtual
interfaces (SVIs) and converting a Layer 2 switchport to a Layer 3 interface (i.e., a routed port).
• To provide inter-VLAN routing, Layer 3 switches use SVIs. SVIs are configured using the same interface
vlan vlan-id command used to create the management SVI on a Layer 2 switch.

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Module Practice and Review
What Did I Learn In This Module? (Cont.)
• To configure a switch with VLANS and trunking, complete the following steps: create the VLANS, create the
SVI VLAN interfaces, configure access ports, and enable IP routing.
• To enable routing on a Layer 3 switch, a routed port must be configured. A routed port is created on a Layer
3 switch by disabling the switchport feature on a Layer 2 port that is connected to another Layer 3 device.
The interface can be configured with an IPv4 configuration to connect to a router or another Layer 3 switch.
• To configure a Layer 3 switch to route with a router, follow these steps: configure the routed port, enable
routing, configure routing, verify routing, and verify connectivity.
• There are a number of reasons why an inter-VAN configuration may not work. All are related to connectivity
issues such as missing VLANs, switch trunk port issues, switch access port issues, and router
configuration issues.
• A VLAN could be missing if it was not created, it was accidently deleted, or it is not allowed on the trunk
link.
• Another issue for inter-VLAN routing includes misconfigured switch ports.
• In a legacy inter-VLAN solution, a misconfigured switch port could be caused when the connecting router
port is not assigned to the correct VLAN.

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Module 4: Basic Device Configuration
New Terms and Commands
▪ Inter-VLAN Routing

▪ Router-on-a-Stick

▪ encapsulation dot1q X [ native ]

▪ no switchport

▪ router ospf

▪ ip routing

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