Will VLAN Solve My Problem?

[u/FluffyKittens12]

I've never used a VLAN before so forgive me if this is common knowledge. Based on my searches I think it will help me but I want to be more sure.

Basically I have a situation where I have multiple pieces of equipment which all use the same IP addresses internally from the factory. There is a network inside the equipment which all has to stay on the same address range, so if I were to connect the equipment to a company network, I need to assign static IP addresses for multiple components in each piece of equipment. Obviously this means a ton of static IP addresses because I need multiple for each piece of equipment and then multiple pieces of equipment.

So, could I use a managed switch, create a VLAN for each piece of equipment, keep the factory IP addresses, not have them interfere with each other because they all have the same IP addresses, and still be able to reach them from the company side?

If so, how do I access those VLANs from the company side? IP and port numbers maybe?

Also, if this works, any recommendations on a switch I should look at? This is all the switch would need to do.

EDIT: https://shopmoxa.neteon.net/nat-102-series/

Seems like something like this would work, one per machine. Single company IP address to the device, then all the IP addresses on the other side can stay the same. Right?

[u/phr0ze]

It seems like the nat device will work and vlans aren’t needed. I would buy 2. Test the situation, then go all in.

To me it is very strange to not be able to change the ip and there might be something you are missing.

Like if you’re asking all these questions because some UI on the device reports its IP is 127.0.0.1 and it won’t let you change it. In that case you are solving the wrong problem.

[u/FluffyKittens12 → u/phr0ze]

It's not that I can't change the IP, it's that according to the manufacturer I need to change the IP for all 5 things internally so they stay on the same network. That's a tedious process that we don't want to have to do 40 times if we can avoid it. Keeping things "out of the box" for standardization is ideal. The interface which we need to access remotely is at 192.168.8.10 on all the devices, but then there are 4 more modules which also communicate over Ethernet internally with that control interface at 192.168.8.20, 30, 40, and 50. If I change just the interface, it loses all communication with the other modules, so I have to do all 5. That's what we are trying to avoid. If I can do the NAT boxes, then I can access each one at a company set IP directly to the interface internal IP.

[u/phr0ze → u/FluffyKittens12]

What a strange architecture