keeping lab and home network separate

MHTECH · May 2016

Only a quick question please. What I want to avoid is using my lab, then going on my home network to find the internet doesn't work.

Am I best to use a virtual router like vyos ? I only have one physical internet connection at home using a normal sky router.

JohnnyUtah41 · May 2016

you could purchase a managed switch and create a few vlans. keep everything separate. Thats what i did. I also purchased a quad nic and tied them to vms...plus other hyper v running on a different server. I dont know. Spend some money on your home lab my friend. You will learn this way.

OctalDump · May 2016

I have dual NICs on my workstation, one for the lab network and one for my home network. I have a second ethernet cable running into the lab room that I can use to hook up any individual devices to the internet through my home network. The lab equipment rarely connects directly to the internet anyway, so this works for me.

Another option is to set up VLANs, keep your home network on one VLAN and the lab on others. This can allow you to manage the lab traffic completely separately.

illmortalized · May 2016

I just wanted to thank OP for creating this thread.
In the near future I will need to start learning Network (in this case VLANs) and I'm heading into the same direction as OP. Keeping everything separate.

BornToBeMild · May 2016

I'm curious to know what happens on your lab network to break your internet connection?

The best way to keep lab and home networks separate depends to some extent on your lab setup. If your lab is distributed across multiple servers/PCs then VLAN is a good option, on the plus side you get to practise VLAN configurations, on the minus side you need to buy a managed switch.

In my case I have a single lab server hosting multiple VMs, with the requirement to emulate a multi-site office environment. I found vyos worked well for me, with the added advantage that it's free. It allows your VMs to access the internet (if you want) by using NAT/PAT onto your home network.

MHTECH · May 2016

Thanks for the suggestions. My current network is all dhcp running from my sky router. I have an 2 x unmanaged switch with connects to various things like TV etc, I also have a wi fi access point to extend my wi fi signal.
Currently I don't have a problem with my network, I just read a few people have had problems.
I do have a Cisco router and switch which I've been given but afraid not the knowledge to configure them, I will do that when I do ccna etc in the future.

So think my best bet is multiple nic in my server and a vyos router? Unless anyone has other suggestions?

teknologikal · May 2016

I just use pfsense on the same physical network. I'll eventually get a hard box, but I am not learning routing\switching yet, so I am OK with having a virtual router that separates my lab from my network without physically separating them. I am running pfsense in VMware Workstation, but you can run it in VMware Player or any other virtual emulator

Setting Up a Pentest Lab with pfSense in VirtualBox - InfoSec Resources

https://www.pfsense.org/download/

Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do!

MHTECH · May 2016

Thanks everyone, will see how I get on over the weekend

illmortalized · May 2016

teknologikal wrote: »

I just use pfsense on the same physical network. I'll eventually get a hard box, but I am not learning routing\switching yet, so I am OK with having a virtual router that separates my lab from my network without physically separating them. I am running pfsense in VMware Workstation, but you can run it in VMware Player or any other virtual emulator

Setting Up a Pentest Lab with pfSense in VirtualBox - InfoSec Resources

https://www.pfsense.org/download/

Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do!

Awesome.. have some reps (measilies.. tho)

keeping lab and home network separate

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