ipmi Would this work for managing multiple Dedicated servers?

[ivanlauhk]

I have multiple dedicated servers both capable of IPMI. Accessing them via a public network would be really unwise, so I have been thinking about making a private network for them. I have tried setting up a VPN then use IP limit access, however the cost would be too high as I have to purchase an IP address for every server. So I have been thinking:

What if I use a Pi to create a VPN to access the "internal network" with a public IP, then plug a network switch into the Pi's second network port, and then assign a private IP address to each port on the network switch. Finally I would plug the IPMI port on my servers to the network switch.
If I were to access the IPMI of server A, I would first connect to the VPN (Pi), then type in e.g. 192.168.0.1 on my browser to access it. Same goes for server B, except I would type 192.168.0.2 to access the IPMI.

This way, I do not have to purchase multiple IP address for multiple servers. I only need ONE ip address for the Pi VPN. So the cost is really just the IP, Pi and the switch.

Am I correct in the above case? Would this work? Or is there any other cheaper/simpler way to do so?

[ivanlauhk]

Forgot to mention that I want to keep everything small and tiny. Maybe hide the Pi inside one of my server and power the Pi with it? My provider wouldn't really appreciate me doing this, I am simply trying to avoid their unbelievable pricing for a fortigate colocation.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Yea this is a suggest way to setup IMPI interfaces with out anouther management solution for the impi.

 

Id just setup a baic router router here instead of a pi. Cheaper and better user interface. 

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

7 minutes ago, ivanlauhk said:

Forgot to mention that I want to keep everything small and tiny. Maybe hide the Pi inside one of my server and power the Pi with it? My provider wouldn't really appreciate me doing this, I am simply trying to avoid their unbelievable pricing for a fortigate colocation.

What servers are these? 

 

Do you have a seperate switch for the impi network?

[ivanlauhk]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Yea this is a suggest way to setup IMPI interfaces with out anouther management solution for the impi.

 

Id just setup a baic router router here instead of a pi. Cheaper and better user interface. 

 

 

How would I setup a VPN on it though?
 

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What servers are these? 

 

Do you have a seperate switch for the impi network?

Some of them are 5U and some are 2U, I think I could hide a Pi inside one of the "PCIe slot" plate at the back of the machine. But for the switch, I am planning to purchase one with at least 10 ports. Not sure what the size will be though? My original thought would be just getting a Pi, then use some cheap USB-to-Ethernet adapters to skip the switch part. Not sure if it will work.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, ivanlauhk said:

How would I setup a VPN on it though?

A basic router like a mikrotik or edge router supports a vpn seter.

 

1 minute ago, ivanlauhk said:

Some of them are 5U and some are 2U, I think I could hide a Pi inside one of the "PCIe slot" plate at the back of the machine. But for the switch, I am planning to purchase one with at least 10 ports. Not sure what the size will be though? My original thought would be just getting a Pi, then use some cheap USB-to-Ethernet adapters to skip the switch part. Not sure if it will work.

If your colocating, id really just try to reduce the rack space your using, you can probalby get away with 1u servers here.

 

usb to ethernet adapters aren't great, id really just get a switch here, some even have a vpn server built in so you can have one device for this.

[ivanlauhk]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

A basic router like a mikrotik or edge router supports a vpn seter.

 

If your colocating, id really just try to reduce the rack space your using, you can probalby get away with 1u servers here.

 

usb to ethernet adapters aren't great, id really just get a switch here, some even have a vpn server built in so you can have one device for this.

Is there a switch that's not big in size you recommend (that supports VPN)? I would definitely look into mikrotik and edge!

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, ivanlauhk said:

Is there a switch that's not big in size you recommend (that supports VPN)? I would definitely look into mikrotik and edge!

Here is a switch that would work fine here https://mikrotik.com/product/CRS326-24G-2SplusRM 

 

24 gig ports, run router os on it, and setup a vpn and your good to go. 

 

If you want to save money, id really try to reduce the amount of rack space those servers are using. I got 1u servers in my colo working well. 2u and 5u servers seems way to big fo rmost uses.

[ivanlauhk]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Here is a switch that would work fine here https://mikrotik.com/product/CRS326-24G-2SplusRM 

 

24 gig ports, run router os on it, and setup a vpn and your good to go. 

 

If you want to save money, id really try to reduce the amount of rack space those servers are using. I got 1u servers in my colo working well. 2u and 5u servers seems way to big fo rmost uses.

Some of the servers belong to my clients since I am managing servers for them too, so they are kind of fixed. Also with 1U servers I just don't get enough hard drive slots. Cannot really save any space here as I already bought them, but I will look into getting the switch fit. Thank you so much for the quick response. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, ivanlauhk said:

Some of the servers belong to my clients since I am managing servers for them too, so they are kind of fixed. Also with 1U servers I just don't get enough hard drive slots. Cannot really save any space here as I already bought them, but I will look into getting the switch fit. Thank you so much for the quick response. 

There are 1u servers with 12 hdd bays, just saying.