Hi Shannon,
If you are looking for a reliable solution that allows you to easily learn and manage new MAC addresses, then the switches themselves are not the best solution. When managing MAC lists on switches, for example, it is hard to keep the information consistent across all switches and there is no option to lern new macs.
The solution to this problem is a Radius servers or NAC gateways. Specifically, Extreme's XMC (Extreme Management Center, new XIQ Site Engine) and NAC (Network Access Control) is a good solution for learning and managing MAC addresses. In addition, with NAC you can also create a set of rules that allows you to dynamically assign different rights or VLANs to individual groups to which the MAC addresses have been assigned.
Simplified, the process can look like this:
- A new device is connected to a switch
- The switch takes the MAC address and asks the NAC (Network Access Control / Radius) if the device with the MAC is allowed to enter the network and in which VLAN the device should communicate, as well as with which policy(ACL) the device should work.
- The NAC reports this information back to the switch based on a set of rules (via radius protocol).
- The switch implements this.
In NAC you can see at any time which end devices in the network are connected to which switch and a lot more of end system information.
New devices can be handled separately and then assigned to groups manually or automatically.
MAC addresses can also be imported via CSVs or via the API if desired.
See here:
https://www.extremenetworks.com/product/extreme-management-center/
https://www.extremenetworks.com/product/extremecontrol/
Regards
Stephan
