So does that man that i can "manage" the switch through either port? From my understanding of what being posted, both "ports" allow for managment, it's just that one is more of a "direct" connection, and the other is a "network" connection.
- yes..However, mostly when inband or out of band networks are not reachable, console becomes the option of last resort. Also it is used during the root password recovery or upgrades..
Also, with the oob network connection (and pardon me for my ignornace), am i just running a cat cable from that back oob port to a port on the front side of the switch? What is best practice for where people plug the cable from the oob port to? -
couple of ways you may want to try it.
1. you can create seperate network of switches for connecting OOB ports
2. Or you may create a seperate vlan in the same switch and loop the oob cable in one of front port to carry that vlan till core switch.
HTH..