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I have 24-port gigabit HP 2824 switch and 4 servers in a 42U rack that I want to put online. University's policy is that no switch should be attached "to the wall" (a good policy). I want to run 4 cables from the wall into the switch ports #1-4 and then use mirroring to connect my servers to ports #5-8, thus effectively glueing together servers and wall RJ45 sockets. Ports will be mirrored: 1<->5, 2<->6, etc

Question: Is it possible to use port mirroring to essentially create direct connection between two ports on a switch? Or should I get a nice little 1U patch panel with feed-through connectors (thus saving time on punching cables but spending $150+ for patch panel).

I will also setup VLAN on this switch to connect IPMI devices of those servers.

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    Maybe I'm not understanding the question, but this seems like a simple application for VLANs... Set ports 1&5 to be untagged into VLAN 101, ports 2&6 untagged into VLANs 102, etc... Also, you should be able to get a patch panel pretty reasonable, or wouldn't some simple CAT-5e couplers work, they are easily found for $3/each online.
    – acejavelin
    Jan 29, 2016 at 12:43

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From my understanding of the documentation Cisco SPAN (and possibly others) makes a duplicate of both inward and outward streams on the mirrored port, but doesnt divert that level 2 traffic, so traffic from the Uni's distribution switches will still be switched by yours.

The patch panel option is also simpler and reduces your possible points of failure. If its only a 1U that you need there should be affordable options, even 2nd hand would be fine.

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  • Yeah, more I think about it, more it seems like doing it the right way might be much easier. Jan 30, 2016 at 19:44

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