[Tfug] "Opening" a physical ethernet connection

[Christopher Robbins]

On May 1, 2013, at 7:20 PM, John Hubbard <ender8282 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> On 5/1/2013 4:33 PM, Bexley Hall wrote:
>> On 5/1/2013 4:17 PM, Bender wrote:
>>> Why don't you really tell us what you are trying to do?
>> 
>> Ideally, I want to be able to "unplug" a "physical ethernet
>> connection" (i.e., a *cable*).  This prevents the service(s)
>> available on that connection from being accessed *and*
>> protects the fabric from "assault" (e.g., someone taking a
>> line cord and connecting it to the pins of the connector
>> thereby frying a port in an *expensive* switch).
> 
> What about routing your connection through a cheap switch[1], and power it via a wall switch.  Turn off the wall switch, the cheap switch looses power and cannot talk to the rest of the network. This only partially protects against your physical assault.  If someone did plug mains power into the RJ45, then you'd be out a $20 switch, but not your fancier many-port managed switch on the other side.
> 

I may be a little late to the party...This sounds like an ideal solution.  Use cheap switches as an access layer, and shut the switches off as necessary.  Do ports have to be unplugged via an on/off switch, or is it okay if the connection is actually unplugged?